Royals go quietly in 2-1 loss to Twins

Joe Mauer has enough at bats to earn another American League batting championship, and pretty soon, he'll have enough plate appearances.After going 3-for-3 with two walks Wednesday afternoon in the Minnesota Twins’ 5-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals, he spiked his batting average to .392, making him just eight plate appearances short of the 3.1 per game needed to qualify...

The month of June say many promotions and demotions throughout the Minnesota Twins’ minor league organization. A handful of Top-Ten prospects were promoted this past month, as well as other key minor-leaguers. As a whole, the Minnesota affiliates went 50-56 in the month of June; not poor enough to statistically boot any team from their [...]

Wednesday's MLB news briefs: Shortstop Mike Aviles, Kansas City's player of the year last season, will undergo Tommy John surgery and be sidelined for up to 12 months.

It’s no secret the Royals will be watching closely this afternoon to see if right-hander Gil Meche shows any signs of the “dead arm” that limited his effectiveness last Friday in Pittsburgh. You can play along, too, by tracking Meche’s velocity on the radar gun in the 1:10 p.m. game against the Twins. If he is topping out in the high 80s, regard that as a warning siren.

Gil Meche produced a thumbs-up Monday afternoon after a pregame throwing workout to test whether his “dead arm” can handle his scheduled start Wednesday against Minnesota. Meche rested his arm for two days, saying that Monday’s throwing session from flat ground would determine his availability to pitch the series finale against the Twins at Kauffman Stadium.

As soon as today, right-hander Luis Ayala could be a Marlin.

Twins 2, Royals 1

Kansas City Royals catcher Miguel Olivo was given a one-game suspension by Major League Baseball and will not be available when the club concludes a three-game set at home on Wednesday.

The Twins released Luis Ayala after failing to trade him, according to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. He was designated for assignment after struggling on the mound and failing to get along with manager Ron Gardenhire.Ayala's name came up in trade talks with the Pirates, and there are indications that Eric Hinske was part of the discussions until he was dealt...

Royals 4, Twins 2

(Sports Network) -- A pair of American League Central foes resume a three-game series tonight at Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium, where the host Royals will be vying for a second straight win over the Minnesota Twins.

Gil Meche showed no signs of a “dead arm” Wednesday afternoon against the Minnesota Twins. The problem was, and remains, all of those dead bats. Throw in another ill-timed defensive blooper and a leaky bullpen and the Royals were left with a 5-1 loss at Kauffman Stadium that served to waste another solid performance from the rotation.

Justin Morneau homered for the third straight game and Scott Baker labored through five tough innings, lifting the Minnesota Twins to a 2-1 victory over the hapless Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.

This is, on the surface, all about the Kansas City Royals. But really, I think, it’s not. It’s about unexpected consequences, the vision thing and why two plus two does not always equal four. So, here’s the thing: Royals general manager Dayton Moore knows about a hundred times more about baseball than I do. I mean [...]

When a throwaway line in yesterday's post that has nothing to do with the main point -- Zack Greinke -- generates the bulk of the comments, it's probably best to address what's on your mind. A lot of you are frustrated, and that's fine, you should be. These were real hopes you had in spring training, fanned by an 18-11 start that had people in Kansas City dreaming in the clouds. read more