KANSAS CITY [url=http://www.raidersfootballauthentics.com]Oakland Raiders Jerseys Womens[/url] , Mo. — The end is near.
No, not for the season, although for the Kansas City Royals, it can’t come soon enough. Shortstop Alcides Escobar’s string of starting 406 consecutive games at shortstop might be coming to an end.
Escobar may or may not be at shortstop Wednesday night when the Royals close out a three-game series against the Texas Rangers. It will also be the finale of an eight-game homestand with the Royals failing to collect a victory in the first seven.
The Royals are in a full-fledged youth movement with a 22-51 record. Escobar, 31, is not part of the future. The Royals are optimistic Adalberto Mondesi, 22, will be.
“Esky’s been our shortstop for a long time,” Royals manager Ned Yost said Tuesday. “It’s a pretty big change, seeing somebody different at short, but it’s exciting, too because now you’re starting to give other younger players opportunities to see what they can do.”
Escobar has been the Royals starting shortstop since he arrived in 2011 from the Milwaukee Brewers as part of the Zack Greinke deal. He started for the American League in the 2015 All-Star game, claimed a Gold Glove that year and the Royals won the World Series.
The Royal re-signed him to a one-year contract during the winter after he declared for free agency.
“It’s a good chance to experiment right now,” Yost said. “There’s nothing that is going to make or break us. You can start looking at thing a little bit differently and start experimenting with some things.”
He said he plans to play Mondesi a couple of games a week at shortstop [url=http://www.eaglesfootballauthentics.com]Philadelphia Eagles Jerseys Womens[/url] , which is his natural position. Meanwhile, he said he would use Escobar in different positions, including center field, second base and third base.
While the Rangers have won a season-high four straight, the Royals have lost eight in a row — equaling their season-high — and 14 of 15.
They managed a mere four singles in a 4-1 loss on Tuesday night to the Rangers’ Cole Hamels and relievers Jake Diekman and Keone Kela. In June, the Royals are hitting .186 and averaging 2.2 runs per game. They have scored 36 runs in 17 June games. They went 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position on Tuesday and are batting .196 with RISP this month.
Left-hander Yohander Mendez was scheduled to start Wednesday for the Rangers, but instead he was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock for violating team rules. The incident occurred away from Kauffman Stadium and after the Monday night game.
Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said the violation did not involve the police, was criminal or involve Major League Baseball.
The Rangers recalled right-hander Austin Bibens-Dirkx from Triple-A Round Rock and he will make the start Wednesday. He had a 2-3 record with a 4.47 ERA in 11 starts in the Pacific Coast League. He made two starts earlier this season for Texas, going 0-2 with a 6.55 ERA.
Bibens-Dirkx spent 12 seasons in the minors before making his big-league debut last season. He went 5-2 with a 4.67 ERA in 24 games, including six starts, for the Rangers as a rookie in 2017.
The Royals will counter with right-hander Jakob Junis, who is 5-7 with a 4.43 ERA. He has dropped his past four decisions. He yielded six runs, matching his career high, over 5 1/3 innings in his last start [url=http://www.steelersfootballauthentics.com]Pittsburgh Steelers Jerseys Womens[/url] , a loss to the Houston Astros.
Junis is 3-5 with a 4.84 ERA in eight home starts this season. He has allowed 18 home runs, 13 of them at Kauffman Stadium.
This will be Junis’ first appearance against the Rangers.
The Rangers have won 16 of their last 19 games against the Royals, dating to July 23, 2016, including winning four of six this season.
Shin-Soo Choo singled in the sixth inning Tuesday night and has reached base in 33 consecutive games. The Rangers outfielder is hitting .328 during the streak, which is the second longest in the majors this year.
Eric Thames has a penchant for game-changing home runs this season.Thames hit a two-run homer that accounted for the game’s only runs as the Milwaukee Brewers slipped past the Minnesota Twins 2-0 on Tuesday. Thames has three home runs in the past six games.
”I’d say that’s a hot streak,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said.
Eight of Thames’ 12 homers have put the Brewers on the board and seven have given his team a lead.
Milwaukee broke through in the fifth against Minnesota starter Jake Odorizzi (3-6) when pinch-hitter Nate Orf walked and stole second before Thames lined a homer that just cleared the right-field fence.
”It was a cutter that didn’t get in far enough,” Odorizzi said. ”I just didn’t execute it, plain and simple. I just didn’t get enough break on it. Right pitch, just bad execution and it turns out to be the deciding factor.”
Thames reached base three times in four at-bats. After the game, he credited Milwaukee’s pitching, which held Minnesota to two hits.
”Our bullpen has been the hammer for us,” Thames said. ”They have been the ones to pick us up, but we need to start scoring more [url=http://www.seahawksfootballauthentics.com]Seattle Seahawks Jerseys Womens[/url] , getting guys on base and driving them in and give them breathing room.”
It wasn’t just the bullpen on this day.
Milwaukee starter Junior Guerra (5-5) pitched five shutout innings. He gave up two hits while walking three and striking out eight and pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the first after giving up a double and two walks.
”Being able to put up a zero up there and not let them score was very big,” Guerra said through team translator Carlos Brizuela. ”Walks are very lethal, especially for a starter.”
Josh Hader pitched a season-high three innings in relief for the Brewers and didn’t allow a hit. Closer Corey Knebel notched his ninth save in 11 attempts by striking out the side in the ninth.
Both starting pitchers held their opponents in check but struggled with high pitch counts. Guerra threw 89 pitches. Odorizzi gave up two runs and four hits in five innings. He walked four and struck out nine but threw 109 pitches.
The Twins fell to 1-7 on their current nine-game road trip.
INFIELD INACTIVITY
The Twins became the first team whose first baseman, Joe Mauer, played an entire game and had no putouts or assists since Edwin Encarnacion did it with Toronto against Baltimore on Aug. 25, 2012. This has happened just six other times in the past 20 years and never to the Twins.
”There wasn’t a ground ball today, which is a baseball oddity,” Molitor said. ”I can’t really explain it other than Odorizzi, we know, is a fly ball guy.”
CHOKED UP
In the ninth, home plate umpire Marty Foster called Jake Cave out on strikes but didn’t raise his arm right away with the signal, prompting an argument from Molitor.
”It looked like, as simply as I can state it, that he wasn’t going to make the call [url=http://www.titansfootballauthentics.com]Tennessee Titans Jerseys Womens[/url] ,” Molitor said. ”Jake made the mistake of walking away, and it looked like (Foster) put his arm up after the fact. He said that he had called it right away but that he was choking on his Nicorette mints.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Twins: Recalled LHP Gabriel Moya from Triple-A Rochester and optioned RHP Zack Littell to Rochester. Littell was the losing pitcher in Monday’s 10-inning game. …2B Brian Dozier didn’t start so he could rest but entered the game in the seventh. ”It’s always tough to sit (Dozier),” Molitor said. ”I think if he had his druthers, he would play 162 games and start them all.”
Brewers: OF Christian Yelich didn’t start for the fifth consecutive game due to lower back tightness but entered in the ninth as a defensive replacement. ..OF Lorenzo Cain (left groin strain) is eligible to come off the DL on Wednesday, but Brewers manager Craig Counsell said he likely won’t be in the lineup right away. ”There’s enough caution there that we’ve got to get over the last hurdle,” Counsell said. ”We’re not to 100 percent yet.” … RHP Zach Davies (right shoulder tightness) is dealing with back soreness and stiffness. ”He won’t throw until that’s gone,” Counsell said. ”That’s going to set him back.”
UP NEXT
Twins: Jose Berrios (8-6, 3.52 ERA) gets the start in the three-game series finale. Berrios will face the Brewers for the first time in his career.
Brewers: Chase Anderson (6-6, 4.18) has held opponents to a .208 batting average this season.
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