Baseball – Page 44 – North Platte Post Archive

Lester Leads Athletics Past Royals, 11-3

Posted on August 12, 2014August 12, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jon Lester pitched six strong innings and Josh Donaldson homered twice and drove in four runs as the Oakland Athletics beat Kansas City 11-3 Tuesday night, snapping the Royals’ eight-game winning streak.

Lester (13-7) has won all three of his starts since the A’s acquired him in a July 31 trade for All-Star outfielder Yoenis Cespedes. Lester struck out nine and allowed three runs on six hits and two walks.

The Royals have won 11 of 13 with both losses to Lester, who is 9-3 with a 1.84 ERA in 13 career starts against Kansas City.

Donaldson homered in the seventh and eighth off left-hander Bruce Chen for his third multi-homer game of the season.

Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie (8-10) allowed six runs on 11 hits in 4 2-3 innings.

Royals Place LHP Downs on 15-Day DL

Posted on August 12, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals placed left-hander Scott Downs on the 15-day disabled Tuesday with a stiff neck.

The Royals had to open a roster spot with the arrival of Josh Willingham, acquired in a trade Monday with Minnesota. Willingham was in the lineup as the designated hitter and batting sixth for the second game of a four-game series with Oakland.

Downs, who had not pitched since Aug. 2, is 0-1 with a 3.48 ERA in 12 relief appearances with the Royals. The 38-year-old was signed July 6 after the Chicago White Sox released him.

Selig Eager to Step Aside and Introduce Successor

Posted on August 12, 2014

BALTIMORE (AP) — Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig is looking forward to writing a book, teaching history and relaxing when he retires this winter.

Before that happens, however, he hopes to introduce his successor — perhaps as soon as Thursday.

Baseball’s 30 owners will meet in Baltimore this week to vote on Selig’s replacement. A seven-man committee whittled down an expansive list to three candidates: MLB Chief Operating Officer Rob Manfred; Boston Red Sox chairman Tom Werner and Tim Brosnan, MLB Vice President of Business.

Speaking at Camden Yards on Tuesday, Selig said, “The process has worked just the way I thought it would. I gave them a great list of names, and these names were on it.”

To win Thursday’s vote, a candidate must receive approval from 23 owners.

First-Place Royals? Better Start to Believe It

Posted on August 12, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — When the Royals rolled out of bed Tuesday morning and glanced at the standings, they saw something that hadn’t been the case since many of them were in junior high school.

Kansas City was sitting atop the AL Central and the playoffs were closer than opening day.

After they won their eighth straight game Monday night, against AL West-leading Oakland no less, the Royals assumed control of their division at the latest point in a season since 2003.

Perennial powerhouse Detroit had been relegated to second place, at least for a day, and an entire city that has been starved for winning was able to relish the moment.

Solarte’s 2-Run Homer Lifts Padres to 4-3 Win

Posted on August 12, 2014

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Yangervis Solarte hit a go-ahead, two-run home run in the seventh inning and the San Diego Padres beat the last-place Colorado Rockies 4-3 Monday night for their ninth win in 12 games.

Solarte’s third shot with the Padres, and ninth overall this season, came an inning after Colorado’s Corey Dickerson hit a three-run homer to give the Rockies a 3-1 lead.

Yonder Alonso hit a solo homer in the fourth for the Padres, who improved to 14-8 since the All-Star break.

Solarte homered to left with one out in the seventh on a 1-0 pitch from Boone Logan (2-3), who came on to start the inning. Pinch-hitter Abraham Almonte hit a leadoff double and was sacrificed by Will Venable ahead of Solarte’s shot.

Nick Vincent (1-2) pitched two perfect innings for the win.

Royals Win 8th in a Row, Top A’s, Take Central Lead

Posted on August 12, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals won their eighth straight game and took over the AL Central lead Monday night when Yordano Ventura outdueled Sonny Gray during a 3-2 win over Oakland Athletics.

The victory, coupled with a loss by Detroit in Pittsburgh, gave the long-suffering Royals a division lead at the latest point in a season since 2003.

Alcides Escobar drove in a run in the second inning before delivering a two-out single off Gray (12-6) in the seventh, putting Kansas City in front and sending the crowd to its feet.

Kelvin Herrera (3-2) took over for Ventura and tossed spotless seventh inning, and Wade Davis breezed through the eighth. Greg Holland worked the ninth for his 35th save.

Royals get Willingham from Twins for Minor Leaguer

Posted on August 12, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Royals have acquired outfielder Josh Willingham from the Twins for minor league pitcher Jason Adam in an attempt to bolster their offense for the stretch run.

The move was made shortly before the Royals, winners of seven straight, opened a four-game series against AL West-leading Oakland on Monday night. Kansas City had climbed into the second wild-card spot and was just a half-game behind Detroit in the AL Central entering the day.

Willingham was hitting just .210 for the Twins this season, but his 12 homers in limited at-bats were appealing for a Royals club that has struggled to find power.

He hit a career-best 35 homers with 110 RBIs two years ago.

Adam is 5-9 with a 4.67 ERA with Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha this season.

Female Pitching Star Leads Team to LLWS

Posted on August 10, 2014

BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — Female pitcher Mo’Ne Davis led her team into the Little League World Series, throwing a three-hitter Sunday to lead Taney Youth Baseball Association Little League of Philadelphia to an 8-0 victory over a squad from Delaware.

Mo’Ne struck out six in the six-inning game in the Mid-Atlantic Regional championship game.

The 13-year-old will become only the 17th girl to play in the Little League World Series in 68 years. It starts Thursday in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

It was her second win over Delaware-Newark National Little League in the regional. She struck out 10 in the previous victory.

Rockies Outlast Diamondbacks in 10

Posted on August 10, 2014

PHOENIX (AP) — Corey Dickerson hit a tiebreaking homer with two outs in the top of the 10th inning, and the Colorado Rockies avoided a seventh straight loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks with a 5-3 win Sunday.

Dickerson, hitless in four previous at-bats, sent an 0-1 pitch from Oliver Perez (2-2) into the pool deck in right field for his 14th home run of the season.

The Rockies snapped a three-game skid overall and won for just the second time in 10 games.

Wilin Rosario, whose throwing error allowed the Diamondbacks to take a 3-2 lead in the fourth, hit a solo home run to tie the game in the sixth. Rosario singled in a run in the 10th to pad the Rockies’ lead.

Ben Paulsen, called up Sunday to replace the injured Carlos Gonzalez on the roster, hit his first major league home run in the second, evening the score at 2.

Gordon, Perez Homer, Royals Beat Giants 7-4

Posted on August 10, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Alex Gordon and Salvador Perez each homered and Danny Duffy pitched into the seventh inning as the Kansas City Royals beat the San Francisco Giants 7-4 Sunday to extend their winning streak to seven games.

The Royals, who won 10 in a row in June, have put together two winning streaks of seven or more games this season for the first time since 1985, the last time they were in the playoffs.

Gordon hit a two-run shot off Tim Lincecum (9-8) in a four-run first. The inning also included Billy Butler’s run-producing double and Perez scoring on a wild pitch.

Perez homered off Juan Gutierrez with Nori Aoki aboard in a three-run third. Aoki reached base four times — two walks and two singles — and stole three bases.

Jarrod Dyson went 3 for 3 and also swiped three bases. The Royals’ seven steals was one shy of the club record set on August 1, 1998.