2009 Kansas City Royals season

Last updated

2009  Kansas City Royals
League American League
Division Central
Ballpark Kauffman Stadium
City Kansas City, Missouri
Record65–97 (.401)
Divisional placetied for 4th
Owners David Glass
General managers Dayton Moore
Managers Trey Hillman
Television Fox Sports Kansas City
(Ryan Lefebvre, Bob Davis, Paul Splittorff, Frank White)
Radio KCSP 610 AM
(Denny Matthews, Ryan Lefebvre, Steve Stewart, Bob Davis)
←  2008 Seasons 2010  →

The 2009 Kansas City Royals season was the 41st season for the franchise, and their 39th at Kauffman Stadium. The season began on April 7 with a game against the Chicago White Sox at U. S. Cellular Field, which Chicago won. [1] On April 10, the Royals hosted the New York Yankees in the first game at the newly renovated Kauffman Stadium for the Royals' home opener. [2] Interleague opponents included the St. Louis Cardinals, Arizona Diamondbacks, Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros and Pittsburgh Pirates. [2]

Contents

The Royals looked to improve on their 2008 record of 75–87 and sought their first playoff appearance since 1985, as manager Trey Hillman returned for his second season with Kansas City. The Royals' payroll for the 2009 season was $70.5 million, approximately 25 percent higher than their 2008 payroll (and 21st in the major leagues). [3] [4] [5]

There was much optimism for the Royals heading into the season, with some experts saying they had the potential reach the postseason. [6] [7] After a strong start and 18–11 record, the Royals suffered several losing streaks and fell back to a losing record, finishing with a dismal 65-97 record.

Off-season

Coaching staff changes

Following the 2008 season, third base coach Luis Silverio and hitting coach Mike Barnett were not retained on Trey Hillman's coaching staff. [8] In October 2008, the Royals hired Kevin Seitzer as the team's new hitting coach and John Gibbons as bench coach. [8] Seitzer served as the hitting coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2008, and Gibbons was the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays for five seasons. [8] Both were dismissed from their respective teams before the 2007 season was completed. [8] Dave Owen, the team's bench coach from 2008, will be the third base coach. [8] Bob McClure (pitching), Rusty Kuntz (first base), and John Mizerock (bullpen) were all retained to complete the six-man staff. [8]

Winter meetings

After the acquisitions of Mike Jacobs and Coco Crisp, the Royals entered the Winter Meetings not seeking to add another big free agent acquisition like in years past (Gil Meche in 2007 and José Guillén in 2008). [9] Through trades, Kansas City sought to acquire relief pitching, a middle infielder, and a starting pitcher. [10] [11] The Royals pursued both RHP Kyle Farnsworth and RHP Brandon Lyon, [12] and signed Farnsworth to a two-year contract. [13] The Royals also signed LHP Horacio Ramírez, who was previously with the team in 2008, [13] and RHP Doug Waechter. [13]

The Royals were also one of the final four teams that were in talks with SS Rafael Furcal. [14] The acquisition of Furcal would have resulted in the Royals moving SS Mike Avilés to second base. [14] Furcal played with the Atlanta Braves, where Royals general manager Dayton Moore worked prior to joining the Royals' front office. [14] Reports said that Kansas City was maneuvering to clear payroll so that they could sign Furcal, or sign Orlando Cabrera, who was in the Royals' backup plan. [15] Kansas City bowed out of talks with Furcal after they could not work around their payroll. [3]

The Boston Globe reported that the Royals had "serious discussions" concerning a trade of RHP Zack Greinke to the Atlanta Braves for OF Jeff Francoeur. [16] Reports about Kansas City's purported interest in Francoeur also surfaced weeks before the Winter Meetings but there had been no concrete evidence that the Royals pursued such a deal. [16] Dayton Moore quickly denied the report. [16] Moore showed a reluctance to trade Greinke or outfielders Mark Teahen and David DeJesus, all of whom were attached to rumors throughout the off-season. [16]

Roster moves

Royals players eligible for arbitration

Kansas City entered the 2008–2009 off-season with 15 players eligible for arbitration.

In October, the Royals acquired 1B Mike Jacobs from the Florida Marlins in exchange for SP Leo Núñez. [24]

In November, the Royals acquired CF Coco Crisp from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for RP Ramón Ramírez. [25]

In December, the Royals did not tender contracts to OF Joey Gathright, LHP John Bale, RHP Jairo Cuevas, and 2B Jason Smith. [20] Bale was later re-signed on a one-year deal, [17]

In January, the Royals agreed to a four-year, $38 million contract with RHP Zack Greinke. [22]

Regular season

Season standings

AL Central
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Minnesota Twins 8776.534—49‍–‍3338‍–‍43
Detroit Tigers 8677.528151‍–‍3035‍–‍47
Chicago White Sox 7983.4887½43‍–‍3836‍–‍45
Cleveland Indians 6597.40121½35‍–‍4630‍–‍51
Kansas City Royals 6597.40121½33‍–‍4832‍–‍49

Record vs. opponents

TeamBALBOSCWSCLEDETKCLAAMINNYYOAKSEATBTEXTORNL
Baltimore –2–165–42–53–54–42–83–25–131–54–58–105–59–911–7
Boston 16–2–4–47–26–15–34–54–29–95–52–49–92–711–711–7
Chicago 4–54−4–10–89–99–95–46−123–44–54–56–22–41–612–6
Cleveland 5–22–78–10–4–1410–82–48–103–52–56–45–31–84–45–13
Detroit 5–31–69–914–4–9–95–47–121–55–45–45–27–23–510–8
Kansas City 4–43–59–98–109–9–1–96–122–42–65–41–93–34–38–10
Los Angeles 8–25–44–54–24–59–1–6–45–512–710–94–28–114–414–4
Minnesota 2–32–412–610–812–712–64–6–0–74–65–53–36–43–512–6
New York 13–59–94–35–35–14–25–57–0–7–26–411–75–412–610–8
Oakland 5–15–55–45–24–56–27–126–42–7–5–146–411–83–65–13
Seattle 5–44–25–44–64–54–59–105–54–614–5–5–38–113–411–7
Tampa Bay 10–89–92–63–52–59–12–43–37–114–63–5–3–614–413–5
Texas 5–57–24–28–12–73–311–84–64–58–1111–86–3–5–59–9
Toronto 9–97–116–14–45–33–44–45–36–126–34–34–145–5–7–11
This box:

Monthly summaries

April

Zack Greinke finished the month of April with a 5-0 record and 0.50 ERA. He won Pitcher of the Month honors and was featured on Sports Illustrated. Zack Greinke on July 29, 2009.jpg
Zack Greinke finished the month of April with a 5-0 record and 0.50 ERA. He won Pitcher of the Month honors and was featured on Sports Illustrated.

The Royals' season opener against the Chicago White Sox was originally scheduled for April 6 but was postponed due to snow forecasts in the Chicago area. [2] [26] The game was rescheduled for April 7, which was originally an off-day for both teams. [1] The Royals lost the first game of the season after Kyle Farnsworth gave up a game-losing, three-run homer to Chicago's Jim Thome. [27] After losing the first game to Chicago, the Royals won two of three games against Chicago to open the series. [28] The Royals played the New York Yankees on April 10 at the newly renovated Kauffman Stadium for their home opener. [2] It was the first game of a three-game series. Kansas City lost the first two games and trailed late in the 8th inning of the third game before Brayan Peña scored a game-tying RBI double and then scored the go-ahead run on Alberto Callaspo's RBI single. [29] Peña is the team's third-string catcher and was listed as designated hitter for the day. [29] The Royals would hold on to the 6–4 lead for their third win on the season. [29]

On April 17 the Royals began a three-game series with the Texas Rangers and eventually won two of them. On that day, 3B Alex Gordon was placed on the disabled list and was ruled out for at least two months after having surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right hip. [30] Despite the bad news, the Royals beat the Rangers 12–3 in the opening game of the series. [31] In the second game against the Rangers (on April 18), RHP Zack Greinke recorded his first career shut-out and extended his scoreless inning streak to 34. [32] The streak dated back to the 2008 Kansas City Royals season. [33] This brought Greinke's statistics to three wins in three starts and an 0.00 ERA, the best in the American League at the time. [32] Texas' Kevin Millwood, who started for the Rangers, had the American League's second lowest ERA entering the game with a 0.64 ERA. [32] The Royals entered the third game of the series against Texas looking for their first series sweep of the season. [34] After trailing 5–3 in the bottom of the eighth, the Rangers tied the game at 5 by the ninth inning after Royals set up pitchers Ron Mahay and Jamie Wright allowed two runs. [34] [35] Texas' Michael Young hit a game-winning leadoff home run off of reliever Kyle Farnsworth's second pitch of the inning. [34] The loss brought Kansas City down to a three-way tie for first place in the American League Central with Detroit and Chicago. [35] Royals manager Trey Hillman kept closer Joakim Soria in the bullpen for the entire series instead reasoning that he didn't want Soria to be used for more than one inning in the third game. [35] RHP Brian Bannister was recalled from Triple-A Omaha to pitch for Kansas City on April 22 and replaced both the injured Doug Waechter, who was placed on the DL, and the struggling Horacio Ramírez in the pitching rotation. [36] Bannister and Jamie Wright pitched eight shut-out innings before closer Joakim Soria returned from an eight-day hiatus to close out the 2–0 victory. [36] Soria battled injuries for most of the month. [37]

Zack Greinke's scoreless innings streak ended at 38 when an unearned run was scored after an errant throw by Mike Avilés in a 6–1 Royals victory over the Detroit Tigers. [38] The run was unearned so Greinke's ERA stayed at 0.00 and his record improved to 4-0 on the season. [38] The game was also Greinke's second complete game of the season. [38] Greinke was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated's May 4, 2009, issue (Volume 110, Issue 18) for a cover story by Joe Posnanski called "The Best Pitcher in Baseball." [39] Greinke is the first Royals player to appear on the magazine cover since pitcher David Cone on April 5, 1993, for the magazine's baseball preview. [39] The last Kansas City player to appear in an in-season cover was back on June 12, 1989, when SI featured outfielder Bo Jackson. [39]

The team won three of four games against the Toronto Blue Jays, who entered the series with baseball's best record. [40] On April 29 Zack Greinke was the first pitcher of the season to record his fifth win and allowed only two runs to the Blue Jays in an 11–3 victory. [41] This brought his ERA for the season from 0.00 to 0.50. [41] By finishing with a 12-10 record for the month, the Royals registered their first winning April since 2003 when they began the season with a 16-7 record. [40]

May

Twins pitcher Scott Baker held the Royals scoreless through six innings on May 3 but the Royals tallied seven runs once he left the game. 0923 028c Scott Baker.jpg
Twins pitcher Scott Baker held the Royals scoreless through six innings on May 3 but the Royals tallied seven runs once he left the game.

The Royals entered the month of May in sole-possession of first place in the American League Central. [40] They traveled to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome to play the Minnesota Twins in a three-game series to start off the month. The series was hotly contested with the Royals scoring 22 runs and the Twins scoring 19 and several lead changes. The second game of the series was decided in 11 innings. [42] In the third game, the Royals were no-hit by Scott Baker through six innings before an offensive but then suddenly unleashed an offensive flurry in the seventh, scoring five runs to roar ahead and hold on for a stunning 7–5 victory. [43] Zack Greinke threw his third complete game in a 3–0 shutout of the White Sox on May 4 and improved his record to 6-0 on the year with a 0.40 ERA. [44] Greinke lost his first game of the season to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on May 9 in a 1–0 loss. [45] Greinke pitched a complete game and his ERA rose to 0.51. [45]

Joakim Soria continued to battle injuries to his shoulder and his appearances were limited in the early part of May. [37] [46] He was placed on the disabled list and Sidney Ponson was sent to the bullpen in exchange for Luke Hochevar being called up from Triple-A Omaha. [47] In his first appearance of the season, Hochevar lasted only two innings and allowed eight runs in a 12–3 loss to the Oakland Athletics. [48] Entering the game, Kansas City's team ERA led the American League, but took a hit with Hochevar's performance. [48] By the beginning of the fifth inning, Oakland led the game 12–0 and the Royals never recovered and dropped their fourth consecutive game. [48] The Royals lost all five games of their road trip against the Angels and Athletics after sweeping their four-game homestand against the White Sox and Mariners.

Zack Greinke's eighth start of the season was delayed by two and half hours of rainfall, but the Royals still won the game 8–1 against the Baltimore Orioles. [49] The game was held at Kauffman Stadium and had a sell-out crowd of 38,353 along with many other games in the season selling out for Greinke's starts. [49] [50] The Royals split their four-game home series against the Orioles. [51]

On May 19, Kansas City trailed Cleveland 5–2 entering the ninth inning but accomplished their biggest comeback victory of the season. [52] After two consecutive home runs by Mike Jacobs and Mark Teahen, the Royals rallied to a 6–5 victory after a sacrifice fly by Willie Bloomquist brought David DeJesus home for the winning run. [52]

Kansas City began Interleague play against their cross-state rival St. Louis Cardinals. After losing the first two games of the series by scores of 5–0, [53] [54] the Royals fell to a 21-22 record and under the .500 mark for the first time since April 11 when they were 2-3. [54] After optioning three players (Mike Avilés, Luke Hochevar, and Robinson Tejeda) to the inactive roster, [55] Kansas City won the final game 3–2 and regained a .500 record on the season.

By the end of the month, the Royals began to slip from the top of their division standings in the American League Central, especially following a three-game sweep by the Chicago White Sox left the team with a 23–27 record. An 11–17 record in May dropped the Royals down to fourth place in the division.

June

Looking to rebound from a sub-par month of May, the Royals began June with a three-game series at Tampa Bay on June 2, but continued to flounder, dropping all three games. They lost their eighth game in a row on June 5 at Toronto, but broke the losing streak the next day thanks to a strong performance from Luke Hochevar. In the 2009 Major League Baseball draft held on June 9 the Royals selected RHP Aaron Crow with the 12th overall selection. Crow attended the University of Missouri, was born in nearby Topeka, Kansas, and was a longtime Royals fan prior to being selected with the team. [56] That same day, the Royals' defense and bullpen allowed eight unanswered runs to the Indians in an 8–4 loss. [57] The loss dropped the Royals to fifth place in the American League Central.

Roster

2009 Kansas City Royals
Roster
PitchersCatchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

Coaches

Game log

2009 game log
April (12–10)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
April 6@ White Sox Postponed
1April 7@ White Sox 4–2 Dotel (1–0) Farnsworth (0–1) Jenks (1)37,4490–1
2April 8@ White Sox 2–0 Greinke (1–0) Floyd (0–1) Soria (1)22,8171–1
3April 9@ White Sox 2–1 Mahay (1–0) Jenks (0–1) Soria (2)18,0912–1
4April 10 Yankees 4–1 Pettitte (1–0) Ponson (0–1) Rivera (1)38,0982–2
5April 11 Yankees 6–1 Sabathia (1–1) Ramírez (0–1)31,2712–3
6April 12 Yankees 6–4 Cruz (1–0) Coke (0–1) Soria (3)17,6293–3
7April 13 Indians 4–2 Greinke (2–0) Carmona (0–2) Soria (4)10,0614–3
8April 14 Indians 9–3 Davies (1–0) Pavano (0–2)11,7565–3
9April 15 Indians 5–4 Lewis (1–0) Farnsworth (0–2) Wood (1)13,5895–4
10April 17@ Rangers 12–3 Meche (1–0) Harrison (0–2)24,0626–4
11April 18@ Rangers 2–0 Greinke (3–0) Millwood (1–1)37,6357–4
12April 19@ Rangers 6–5 Francisco (1–0) Farnsworth (0–3)27,6357–5
13April 21@ Indians 8–7 Laffey (1–0) Ponson (0–2) Wood (2)11,4087–6
14April 22@ Indians 2–0 Bannister (1–0) Lee (1–3) Soria (5)13,5098–6
15April 23@ Indians 5–2 Lewis (2–2) Meche (1–1) Wood (3)12,8528–7
16April 24 Tigers 6–1 Greinke (4–0) Porcello (1–2)36,3639–7
17April 25 Tigers 9–1 Miner (2–1) Davies (1–1)37,6479–8
18April 26 Tigers 3–2 Galarraga (3–0) Ponson (0–3) Rodney (4)13,5209–9
19April 27 Blue Jays 7–1 Bannister (2–0) Purcey (0–2)9,68510–9
20April 28 Blue Jays 8–1 Richmond (3–0) Meche (1–2)15,19110–10
21April 29 Blue Jays 11–3 Greinke (5–0) Tallet (1–1)10,61911–10
22April 30 Blue Jays 8–6 Davies (2–1) Burres (0–2) Cruz (1)11,89612–10
May (11–17)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
23May 1@ Twins 7–5 Slowey (4–0) Ponson (0–4) Nathan (4)24,72712–11
24May 2@ Twins 10–7 (11) Soria (1–0) Breslow (0–1)29,06113–11
25May 3@ Twins 7–5 Meche (2–2) Baker (0–4) Soria (6)31,84514–11
26May 4 White Sox 3–0 Greinke (6–0) Colón (2–2)21,84315–11
27May 5 White Sox 8–7 (11) Cruz (2–0) Broadway (0–1)13,41916–11
28May 6 Mariners 9–1 Ponson (1–4) Silva (1–3)15,32417–11
29May 7 Mariners 3–1 Bannister (3–0) Washburn (3–2) Soria (7)32,71418–11
30May 8@ Angels 4–1 Palmer (3–0) Meche (2–3) Fuentes (8)41,01918–12
31May 9@ Angels 1–0 Saunders (5–1) Greinke (6–1)39,77618–13
32May 10@ Angels 4–3 Shields (1–2) Wright (0–1) Fuentes (9)43,64618–14
33May 12@ Athletics 12–3 Cahill (2–2) Hochevar (0–1)10,15618–15
34May 13@ Athletics 7–2 Outman (1–0) Bannister (3–1)16,05718–16
35May 14 Orioles 9–5 Guthrie (3–3) Meche (2–4)24,43118–17
36May 15 Orioles 8–1 Greinke (7–1) Eaton (2–4)38,35319–17
37May 16 Orioles 3–2 Hill (1–0) Davies (2–2) Sherrill (7)26,72019–18
38May 17 Orioles 7–4 Cruz (3–0) Johnson (2–2)22,79120–18
39May 19 Indians 6–5 Farnsworth (1–3) Wood (1–2)25,02421–18
40May 20 Indians 6–5 Laffey (3–0) Ponson (1–5) Wood (6)19,65221–19
41May 21 Indians 8–3 Pavano (4–4) Ramírez (0–2) Betancourt (1)23,09521–20
42May 22@ Cardinals 5–0 Wellemeyer (4–4) Davies (2–3)43,42921–21
43May 23@ Cardinals 5–0 Lohse (4–3) Hochevar (0–2)43,82921–22
44May 24@ Cardinals 3–2 Bannister (4–1) Piñeiro (5–4) Cruz (2)44,21322–22
45May 25 Tigers 13–1 Verlander (5–2) Meche (2–5)34,52422–23
46May 26 Tigers 6–1 Greinke (8–1) Jackson (4–3)16,36623–23
47May 27 Tigers 8–3 Porcello (6–3) Davies (2–4)16,56823–24
48May 29 White Sox 11–2 Richard (2–0) Bannister (4–2)26,49523–25
49May 30 White Sox 5–3 Linebrink (2–2) Cruz (3–1) Jenks (11)37,89423–26
50May 31 White Sox 7–4 Thornton (2–1) Bale (0–1) Jenks (12)19,85523–27
June (10–16)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
51June 2@ Rays 6–2 Sonnanstine (4–5) Davies (2–5)13,60423–28
52June 3@ Rays 9–0 Niemann (5–4) Bannister (4–3)15,25623–29
53June 4@ Rays 3–2 Shields (5–4) Wright (0–2) Howell (2)16,10323–30
54June 5@ Blue Jays 9–3 Romero (3–2) Greinke (8–2)15,43523–31
55June 6@ Blue Jays 6–2 Hochevar (1–2) Richmond (4–3)16,55224–31
56June 7@ Blue Jays 4–0 Halladay (10–1) Davies (2–6)21,07124–32
57June 9@ Indians 8–4 Pérez (1–1) Cruz (3–2)15,03824–33
58June 10@ Indians 9–0 Meche (3–5) Pavano (6–5)16,25725–33
59June 11@ Indians 4–3 (10) Herges (2–0) Farnsworth (1–4)14,34225–34
60June 12 Reds 4–1 Hochevar (2–2) Maloney (0–1)32,95926–34
61June 13 Reds 7–4 Davies (3–6) Arroyo (7–5)29,57427–34
62June 14 Reds 7–1 Bannister (5–3) Cueto (6–4)24,52528–34
63June 16 Diamondbacks 5–0 Meche (4–5) Davis (3–8)26,97429–34
64June 17 Diamondbacks 12–5 Scherzer (4–4) Greinke (8–3)29,77729–35
65June 18 Diamondbacks 12–5 Haren (6–4) Hochevar (2–3)14,12929–36
66June 19 Cardinals 10–5 Thompson (2–2) Davies (3–7)37,66029–37
67June 20 Cardinals 7–1 Carpenter (5–1) Bannister (5–4) Franklin (17)38,76929–38
68June 21 Cardinals 12–5 Wainwright (8–4) Meche (4–6)33,80529–39
69June 23@ Astros 2–1 Greinke (9–3) Ortiz (3–3) Soria (8)30,04930–39
70June 24@ Astros 4–3 Soria (2–0) Fulchino (2–3) Bale (1)28,60231–39
71June 25@ Astros 5–4 Wright (2–1) Bannister (5–5) Valverde (6)32,04831–40
72June 26@ Pirates 5–3 Vasquez (1–0) Meche (4–7) Capps (17)18,45831–41
73June 27@ Pirates 6–2 Maholm (5–4) Chen (0–1)36,03231–42
74June 28@ Pirates 3–2 Greinke (10–3) Morton (0–1) Soria (9)25,88832–42
75June 29 Twins 4–2 Hochevar (3–3) Blackburn (6–4) Soria (10)22,06633–42
76June 30 Twins 2–1 Baker (6–6) Bannister (5–6) Nathan (20)19,31033–43
July (7–19)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
77July 1 Twins 5–1 Perkins (4–4) Meche (4–8) Nathan (21)18,90633–44
78July 2 White Sox 4–1 Buehrle (8–2) Chen (0–2) Jenks (19)17,96433–45
79July 3 White Sox 5–0 Danks (7–6) Greinke (10–4) Linebrink (2)39,02633–46
80July 4 White Sox 6–4 Hochevar (4–3) Floyd (6–6) Soria (11)18,18234–46
81July 5 White Sox 6–3 Bannister (6–6) Richard (3–2) Soria (12)15,91535–46
82July 6@ Tigers 4–3 Colón (1–0) Rodney (0–2) Soria (13)32,13436–46
83July 7@ Tigers 8–5 Verlander (9–4) Chen (0–3) Rodney (18)29,75136–47
84July 8@ Tigers 3–1 French (1–0) Greinke (10–5) Rodney (19)29,10436–48
85July 9@ Red Sox 8–4 Hochevar (5–3) Masterson (3–3) Soria (14)38,18937–48
86July 10@ Red Sox 1–0 Lester (8–6) Bannister (6–7) Papelbon (23)38,11637–49
87July 11@ Red Sox 15–9 Smoltz (1–2) Meche (4–9)37,82537–50
88July 12@ Red Sox 6–0 Beckett (11–3) Chen (0–4)37,61237–51
89July 17 Rays 8–7 Nelson (3–0) Cruz (3–3) Howell (7)33,56837–52
90July 18 Rays 4–2 Bradford (1–0) Cruz (3–4)30,28837–53
91July 19 Rays 4–3 Balfour (4–1) Wright (0–3) Howell (9)18,93437–54
July 20 Angels Postponed (rain); Rescheduled for July 21
92July 21 Angels 8–5 Santana (3–5) Ponson (1–6) Fuentes (29)N/A37–55
93July 21 Angels 10–2 O'Sullivan (3–0) Chen (0–5)23,87437–56
94July 22 Angels 9–6 Speier (4–2) Colón (1–1) Fuentes (30)18,07837–57
95July 24 Rangers 2–0 Feldman (9–3) Greinke (10–6) Wilson (10)25,01237–58
96July 25 Rangers 6–3 Hochevar (6–3) Holland (3–6) Soria (15)27,60238–58
97July 26 Rangers 7–2 Nippert (3–0) Mahay (1–1)16,84738–59
98July 27@ Orioles 5–3 Tejeda (1–0) Albers (1–4) Soria (16)15,16939–59
99July 28@ Orioles 4–3 (11) Wright (1–3) Báez (4–4) Soria (17)21,54540–59
100July 29@ Orioles 7–3 Albers (2–4) Tejeda (1–1) Johnson (2)19,74140–60
101July 30@ Orioles 7–3 Bergesen (7–5) Hochevar (6–4)19,19440–61
103July 31@ Rays 8–2 Price (4–4) Ponson (1–7)26,59640–62
August (10–19)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
103August 1@ Rays 7–1 Niemann (10–5) Chen (0–6)36,97340–63
104August 2@ Rays 4–1 Bannister (7–7) Shields (6–8) Soria (18)27,93041–63
105August 3@ Rays 10–4 Kazmir (6–6) Greinke (10–7)24,21941–64
106August 4 Mariners 7–6 Kelley (3–1) Wright (1–4) Aardsma (26)15,05741–65
107August 5 Mariners 11–6 French (2–2) Davies (3–8)27,80541–66
108August 6 Mariners 8–2 Chen (1–6) Vargas (3–6)15,10342–66
109August 7 Athletics 9–4 Mazzaro (3–8) Bannister (7–8)21,91842–67
110August 8 Athletics 12–6 Greinke (11–7) Mortensen(0–1)29,81843–67
111August 9 Athletics 6–3 Anderson (7–8) Hochevar (6–5) Bailey (16)19,43943–68
112August 11@ Twins 14–6 Davies (4–8) Blackburn (8–7)32,12144–68
113August 12@ Twins 7–1 Liriano (5–11) Bannister (7–9)30,10544–69
114August 13@ Twins 5–4 Meche (5–9) Pavano (10–9) Soria (19)32,37345–69
115August 14@ Tigers 1–0 Lyon (5–4) Colón (1–2)34,79945–70
116August 15@ Tigers 0–3 Jackson (6–6) Hochevar (9–5)37,27645–71
117August 16@ Tigers 3–2 (10) Soria (3–0) Rodney (2–3)32,88846–71
118August 17@ White Sox 8–7 Linebrink (3–5) Colón (1–3) Jenks (25)36,70346–72
119August 18@ White Sox 4–5 Meche (6–9) García (0–1) Soria (20)28,81247–72
120August 19@ White Sox 4–2 Contreras (5–11) Greinke (11–8) Jenks (26)25,78647–73
121August 21 Twins 5–4 Nathan (2–1) Soria (3–1)22,28347–74
122August 22 Twins 8–7 Duensing (1–1) Davies (4–9) Guerrier (1)33,81147–75
123August 23 Twins 10–3 Pavano (11–9) Bannister (7–10)18,68047–76
124August 24 Indians 10–6 Sowers (5–9) Soria (3–2)11,10147–77
125August 25 Indians 6–2 Greinke (12–8) Masterson (4–5)17,35347–78
126August 26 Indians 4–2 Huff (8–7) Hochevar (6–7) Wood (16)10,75148–78
127August 27@ Mariners 8–4 Davies (5–9) Fister (1–1)19,34549–78
128August 28@ Mariners 6–3 Hernández (13–5) Bannister (7–11) Aardsma (31)26,71449–79
129August 29@ Mariners 8–4 Snell (5–9) Meche (6–10)26,45749–80
130August 30@ Mariners 3–0 Greinke (13–8) Rowland-Smith (2–2)30,28650–80
131August 31@ Athletics 8–5 Breslow (6–7) Hochevar (6–8) Bailey (21)10,37650–81
September (14–11)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
132September 1@ Athletics 4–3 Davies (6–9) Marshall (0–2) Soria (21)10,03951–81
133September 2@ Athletics 10–4 Cahill (8–12) Bannister (7–12)13,92051–82
134September 4 Angels 2–1 Weaver (14–5) Wright (1–5) Fuentes (38)17,44751–83
135September 5 Angels 2–1 (11) Jepsen (5–3) Yabuta (0–1) Fuentes (39)22,62851–84
136September 6 Angels 7–2 Saunders (12–7) Hochevar (6–9)16,74551–85
137September 7 Angels 6–3 Davies (7–9) Santana (7–8) Soria (22)18,45352–85
137September 8 Tigers 7–5 Yabuta (1–1) Seay (5–3) Soria (23)12,03253–85
138September 9 Tigers 5–1 Tejeda (2–1) Verlander (16–8) Soria (24)10,58454–85
139September 10 Tigers 7–4 Colón (2–3) Miner (6–5) Rosa (1)12,02955–85
141September 11@ Indians 2–1 Wright (2–5) Veras (4–3) Soria (25)26,00656–85
142September 12@ Indians 13–6 Huff (10–7) Hochevar (6–10)24,84256–86
143September 13@ Indians 7–0 Davies (8–9) Carrasco (0–2)21,15357–86
144September 15@ Tigers 11–1 Tejeda (3–1) Washburn (9–9)20,42258–86
145September 16@ Tigers 4–3 Miner (7–5) DiNardo (0–1) Rodney (33)25,40058–87
146September 17@ Tigers 9–2 Greinke (14–8) Jackson (12–7)26,45759–87
147September 18@ White Sox 11–0 Hochevar (7–10) Buehrle (12–9)29,17962–87
148September 19@ White Sox 13–3 Peavy (1–0) Hughes (0–1)28,32960–88
149September 20@ White Sox 2–1 Tejeda (4–1) García (2–3) Soria (26)22,79861–88
150September 21 Red Sox 12–9 Yabuta (2–1) Bard (2–2) Soria (27)16,77062–88
151September 22 Red Sox 5–1 Greinke (15–8) Byrd (1–2) Soria (28)21,22863–88
152September 23 Red Sox 9–2 Beckett (16–6) Hochevar (7–11)18,98963–89
153September 24 Red Sox 10–3 Buchholz (7–3) Lerew (0–1)20,80763–90
154September 25 Twins 9–4 Pavano (13–11) Tejeda (4–2)23,30763–91
155September 26 Twins 11–6 Baker (14–9) DiNardo (0–2)30,69063–92
156September 27 Twins 4–1 Greinke (16–8) Liriano (5–13) Soria (29)28,72164–92
157September 28@ Yankees 8–2 Gaudin (2–0) Hochevar (7–12)45,34864–93
158September 29@ Yankees 4–3 Bruney (5–0) Farnsworth (1–5)44,79464–94
159September 30@ Yankees 4–3 Wright (3–5) Marte (1–3) Soria (30)46,95665–94
October (0–3)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
160October 2@ Twins 10–7 Manship (1–1) DiNardo (0–3) Nathan (46)40,22365–95
161October 3@ Twins 5–4 Rauch (5–1) Hughes (0–2) Nathan (47)48,64465–96
162October 4@ Twins 13–4 Pavano (14–12) Hochevar (7–13)51,15565–97

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Player stats

Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

PlayerGABRH2B3BHRRBIAVGSB
(C) Miguel Olivo 11439051971552365.2495
(1B) Billy Butler 159608781835112193.3011
(2B) Alberto Callaspo 155576791734181173.3002
(SS) Yuniesky Betancourt 712462559105427.2400
(3B) Mark Teahen 144524691423411250.2718
(LF) David DeJesus 144558741572891371.2814
(CF) Mitch Maier 1273414283153331.2439
(RF) José Guillén 81281306880940.2421
(DH) Mike Jacobs 12843446991611961.2280
(UT) Willie Bloomquist 12543452115118429.26525
(CF) Coco Crisp 49180304185314.22813
(C) John Buck 591861646124836.2471
(3B) Alex Gordon 49164283860622.2325
(C) Brayan Peña 641651745100618.2730
(SS) Mike Avilés 3612010223118.1831
(CF) Josh Anderson 4411820283018.23712
(SS) Luis Hernández 37734151004.2051
(SS) Tony Peña Jr. 4051351002.0980
(OF) Ryan Freel 18458112003.2440
(UT) Tug Hulett 1518420001.1110
Pitcher Totals16220031001.1500
Team Totals1625532686143227651144657.25988

Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs; BB = Walks; SO = Strikeouts

PlayerWLERAGGSSVIPHRERBBSO
(SP) Zack Greinke 1682.1633330229.1195646551242
(SP) Brian Bannister 7124.7326260154.016194815098
(SP) Luke Hochevar 7136.5525250143.016710910446106
(SP) Gil Meche 6105.0923230129.014481735895
(SP) Kyle Davies 895.2722220123.012276726686
(CL) Joakim Soria 322.214703053.04414131669
(RP) Jamey Wright 354.33650079.07351384460
(RP) Juan Cruz 345.72460250.14634322938
(RP) Román Colón 234.83430050.15027272229
(RP) John Bale 015.72430128.13419181824
Robinson Tejeda 423.54356073.24330295087
Bruce Chen 165.78179062.17442402532
Sidney Ponson 177.36149058.27950482532
Ron Mahay 114.79410041.15526221934
Kyle Farnsworth 154.58410037.14322191442
Horacio Ramírez 025.96191022.22716151113
Lenny DiNardo 0310.1355021.1412824158
Dusty Hughes 025.1481014.01398815
Yasuhiko Yabuta 2113.50120014.029212179
Anthony Lerew 014.0532013.1148687
Víctor Marte 008.2580012.0131211127
Carlos Rosa 003.3870110.2104434
Doug Waechter 008.445005.195533
Team Totals65974.83162162341426.014868427656001153

Awards and honors

Player of the week

April 13–19: Zack Greinke, shared with Ian Kinsler (Texas Rangers). [33]

Pitcher of the month

April: Zack Greinke. [58]

Pepsi clutch performer of the month

April: Zack Greinke. [59]

Farm system

LevelTeamLeagueManager
AAA Omaha Royals Pacific Coast League Mike Jirschele
AA Northwest Arkansas Naturals Texas League Brian Poldberg
A Wilmington Blue Rocks Carolina League Brian Rupp
A Burlington Bees Midwest League Jim Gabella
Rookie Burlington Royals Appalachian League Nelson Liriano
Rookie AZL Royals Arizona League Julio Bruno
Rookie Idaho Falls Chukars Pioneer League Darryl Kennedy

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References

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  18. ↑ Kaegel, Dick (February 4, 2009). "KC, Bannister agree on one-year deal". MLB.com. Archived from the original on February 9, 2009. Retrieved February 6, 2009.
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  22. 1 2 Beck, Jason (January 26, 2009). "Greinke inks four-year deal with Royals". MLB.com. Archived from the original on January 29, 2009. Retrieved February 6, 2009.
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  25. ↑ Kansas City Royals press release (November 19, 2008). "Royals acquire Coco Crisp from Red Sox for Ramon Ramirez". MLB.com. Archived from the original on June 7, 2009. Retrieved November 19, 2008.
  26. ↑ "Postponed by weather: Red Sox-Rays, White Sox-Royals". SI.com. Associated Press. April 6, 2009. Archived from the original on January 19, 2013. Retrieved April 6, 2009.
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  29. 1 2 3 Kaegel, Dick (April 12, 2009). "Late KC rally KOs Yanks' sweep plans". MLB.com. Archived from the original on April 15, 2009. Retrieved April 12, 2009.
  30. ↑ "Gordon out at least 10-12 weeks". Sports Illustrated. Associated Press. April 17, 2009. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved April 21, 2009.
  31. ↑ Wills, Todd (April 18, 2009). "Royals back up Meche in rout of Rangers". MLB.com. Archived from the original on April 23, 2009. Retrieved April 21, 2009.
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  33. 1 2 Sanchez, Jamie (April 20, 2009). "Greinke, Kinsler AL Co-Players of the Week". MLB.com. Archived from the original on June 7, 2009. Retrieved April 20, 2009.
  34. 1 2 3 "Young's homer the final blow as Texas rallies from two-run deficit for victory". ESPN.com. Associated Press. April 19, 2009. Archived from the original on April 22, 2009. Retrieved April 20, 2009.
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  36. 1 2 Kaegel, Dick (April 22, 2009). "Bannister dominates Tribe in return". MLB.com. Archived from the original on April 28, 2009. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
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  41. 1 2 Kaegel, Dick (April 29, 2009). "Greinke first in Majors to win five games". Archived from the original on June 7, 2009. Retrieved May 1, 2009.
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  44. ↑ Kaegel, Dick (May 5, 2009). "Greinke shuts out Sox for win No. 6". MLB.com. Archived from the original on May 13, 2009. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
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  54. 1 2 Kaegel, Dick (May 23, 2009). "Royals' bats remain silent in St. Louis". MLB.com. Archived from the original on May 26, 2009. Retrieved May 23, 2009.
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  59. ↑ Kaegel, Dick (May 7, 2009). "Greinke voted April's Pepsi Cluth winner". MLB.com. Archived from the original on May 11, 2009. Retrieved May 10, 2009.
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