2009 Kansas City Royals season

2009 Kansas City Royals
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s) David Glass
General manager(s) Dayton Moore
Manager(s) Trey Hillman
Local television Fox Sports Kansas City
(Ryan Lefebvre, Bob Davis, Paul Splittorff, Frank White)
Local radio KCSP 610 AM
(Denny Matthews, Ryan Lefebvre, Steve Stewart, Bob Davis)
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The Kansas City Royals' 2009 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]

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

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 W L Pct. GB Home Road
Minnesota Twins 87 76 0.534 — 49–33 38–43
Detroit Tigers 86 77 0.528 1 51–30 35–47
Chicago White Sox 79 83 0.488 7½ 43–38 36–45
Cleveland Indians 65 97 0.401 21½ 35–46 30–51
Kansas City Royals 65 97 0.401 21½ 33–48 32–49

Record vs. opponents

Team BAL BOS CWS CLE DET KC LAA MIN NYY OAK SEA TB TEX TOR NL
Baltimore – 2–16 5–4 2–5 3–5 4–4 2–8 3–2 5–13 1–5 4–5 8–10 5–5 9–9 11–7
Boston 16–2 – 4–4 7–2 6–1 5–3 4–5 4–2 9–9 5–5 2–4 9–9 2–7 11–7 11–7
Chicago 4–5 4−4 – 10–8 9–9 9–9 5–4 6−12 3–4 4–5 4–5 6–2 2–4 1–6 12–6
Cleveland 5–2 2–7 8–10 – 4–14 10–8 2–4 8–10 3–5 2–5 6–4 5–3 1–8 4–4 5–13
Detroit 5–3 1–6 9–9 14–4 – 9–9 5–4 7–12 1–5 5–4 5–4 5–2 7–2 3–5 10–8
Kansas City 4–4 3–5 9–9 8–10 9–9 – 1–9 6–12 2–4 2–6 5–4 1–9 3–3 4–3 8–10
Los Angeles 8–2 5–4 4–5 4–2 4–5 9–1 – 6–4 5–5 12–7 10–9 4–2 8–11 4–4 14–4
Minnesota 2–3 2–4 12–6 10–8 12–7 12–6 4–6 – 0–7 4–6 5–5 3–3 6–4 3–5 12–6
New York 13–5 9–9 4–3 5–3 5–1 4–2 5–5 7–0 – 7–2 6–4 11–7 5–4 12–6 10–8
Oakland 5–1 5–5 5–4 5–2 4–5 6–2 7–12 6–4 2–7 – 5–14 6–4 11–8 3–6 5–13
Seattle 5–4 4–2 5–4 4–6 4–5 4–5 9–10 5–5 4–6 14–5 – 5–3 8–11 3–4 11–7
Tampa Bay 10–8 9–9 2–6 3–5 2–5 9–1 2–4 3–3 7–11 4–6 3–5 – 3–6 14–4 13–5
Texas 5–5 7–2 4–2 8–1 2–7 3–3 11–8 4–6 4–5 8–11 11–8 6–3 – 5–5 9–9
Toronto 9–9 7–11 6–1 4–4 5–3 3–4 4–4 5–3 6–12 6–3 4–3 4–14 5–5 – 7–11

Through October 5, 2009

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.

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.

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 crossstate 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
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

 Manager

Coaches

Game log

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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

Player G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG SB

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

Level Team League Manager
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

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kaegel, Dick (April 5, 2009). "KC looks to carry hot hitting into opener". MLB.com. Archived from the original on April 10, 2009. Retrieved April 6, 2009.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Kaegel, Dick (September 17, 2008). "KC to open '09 season in Chicago". MLB.com. Retrieved September 28, 2008.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Leach, Matthew (December 16, 2008). "Royals bow out of Furcal bidding". MLB.com. Archived from the original on December 17, 2008. Retrieved December 19, 2008.
  4. ↑ Dutton, Bob (April 4, 2010). "Royals to Open 2010 Season With $70.1 million Payroll". Kansas City Star. Archived from the original on April 9, 2010. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
  5. ↑ "USA Today Salaries Database". USA Today. October 24, 2007. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
  6. ↑ DeMarco, Tony (April 2, 2009). "Royals as contenders... and other predictions". NBC Sports at MSNBC.com. Archived from the original on April 5, 2009. Retrieved April 6, 2009.
  7. ↑ Celizic, Mike (April 6, 2009). "Opening Day brings a world of possibilities". NBC Sports at MSNBC.com. Archived from the original on April 6, 2009. Retrieved April 6, 2009.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Kaegel, Dick (October 13, 2008). "Seitzer, Gibbons complete Royals staff". MLB.com. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
  9. ↑ Kaegel, Dick (November 10, 2008). "Free-agent splash unlikely for Royals". MLB.com. Retrieved December 10, 2008.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 10.8 10.9 10.10 10.11 10.12 10.13 10.14 Kaegel, Dick (December 4, 2008). "Royals looking ahead to meetings". MLB.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2008. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
  11. ↑ Kaegel, Dick (December 2, 2008). "Relief will be KC's likely meetings focus". MLB.com. Archived from the original on December 8, 2008. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
  12. ↑ Kaegel, Dick (December 8, 2008). "KC agenda includes beefing up 'pen". MLB.com. Archived from the original on December 12, 2008. Retrieved December 10, 2008.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Kaegel, Dick (December 11, 2008). "Royals solidify bullpen at Meetings". MLB.com. Archived from the original on December 14, 2008. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Kaegel, Dick (December 9, 2008). "Furcal's final four includes Royals". MLB.com. Retrieved December 10, 2008.
  15. ↑ Passan, Jeff (December 10, 2008). "Royals are fourth team to bid on Furcal". Yahoo! Sports. Archived from the original on December 13, 2008. Retrieved December 10, 2008.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Kaegel, Dick (December 9, 2008). "Moore dismisses Francoeur rumor". MLB.com. Retrieved December 10, 2008.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Kaegel, Dick (December 16, 2008). "Bale signs one-year deal". MLB.com. Archived from the original on December 18, 2008. Retrieved December 19, 2008.
  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.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Kaegel, Dick (January 20, 2009). "Buck, Peralta agree to one-year deals". MLB.com. Archived from the original on February 10, 2009. Retrieved February 6, 2009.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Kaegel, Dick (December 13, 2008). "Four players non-tendered by Royals". MLB.com. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved December 19, 2008.
  21. ↑ Kaegel, Dick (January 19, 2009). "Royals, Gobble avoid arbitration". MLB.com. Archived from the original on January 25, 2009. Retrieved February 6, 2009.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 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.
  23. ↑ Kaegel, Dick (December 8, 2008). "Grudzielanek declines arbitration offer". MLB.com. Retrieved December 10, 2008.
  24. ↑ Kaegel, Dick (October 30, 2008). "KC acquires power-hitting Jacobs". MLB.com. Archived from the original on November 2, 2008. Retrieved October 30, 2008.
  25. ↑ Kansas City Royals press release (November 19, 2008). "Royals acquire Coco Crisp from Red Sox for Ramon Ramirez". MLB.com. Retrieved November 19, 2008.
  26. ↑ Associated Press (April 6, 2009). "Postponed by weather: Red Sox-Rays, White Sox-Royals". SI.com. Retrieved April 6, 2009.
  27. ↑ Kaegel, Dick (April 8, 2009). "Farnsworth's setup role not in danger". MLB.com. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
  28. ↑ Kaegel, Dick (April 9, 2009). "Davies dominant, Crisp seals it". MLB.com. Archived from the original on April 12, 2009. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 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. ↑ Associated Press (April 17, 2009). "Gordon out at least 10-12 weeks". Sports Illustrated. 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.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 Associated Press (April 18, 2009). "Greinke records first career shutout, extends scoreless innings streak to 34". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on April 22, 2009. Retrieved April 20, 2009.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Sanchez, Jamie (April 20, 2009). "Greinke, Kinsler AL Co-Players of the Week". MLB.com. Retrieved April 20, 2009.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 Associated Press (April 19, 2009). "Young's homer the final blow as Texas rallies from two-run deficit for victory". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on April 22, 2009. Retrieved April 20, 2009.
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 35.2 Wills, Todd (April 19, 2009). "'Pen, defense keep KC from sweep". MLB.com. Archived from the original on May 2, 2009. Retrieved April 20, 2009.
  36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 Kaegel, Dick (April 22, 2009). "Bannister dominates Tribe in return". MLB.com. Archived from the original on April 28, 2009. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Kaegel, Dick (April 30, 2009). "Royals ready to welcome back Soria". MLB.com. Archived from the original on May 4, 2009. Retrieved May 1, 2009.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 38.2 Kaegel, Dick (April 24, 2009). "Completely dominant: Greinke dazzles". MLB.com. Archived from the original on April 28, 2009. Retrieved April 24, 2009.
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 Gonzalez, Alden (April 28, 2009). "Greinke to don SI cover". MLB.com. Retrieved April 28, 2009.
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 40.2 Kaegel, Dick (April 30, 2009). "Buck's big day puts Royals alone in first". MLB.com. Archived from the original on May 4, 2009. Retrieved May 1, 2009.
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 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.
  42. ↑ Nystrom, Thor (May 3, 2009). "Soria's return a success as Royals win". MLB.com. Archived from the original on May 6, 2009. Retrieved May 4, 2009.
  43. ↑ Nystrom, Thor (May 3, 2009). "Patience pays off in Royals' win". MLB.com. Archived from the original on June 7, 2009. Retrieved May 4, 2009.
  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.
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 Kaegel, Dick (May 10, 2009). "Despite dominance, Greinke given loss". MLB.com. Archived from the original on May 13, 2009. Retrieved May 10, 2009.
  46. ↑ Kaegel, Dick (May 9, 2009). "Soria's shoulder status uncertain". MLB.com. Archived from the original on May 13, 2009. Retrieved May 10, 2009.
  47. ↑ Kaegel, Dick (May 10, 2009). "Closer Soria place on disabled list". MLB.com. Archived from the original on May 14, 2009. Retrieved May 10, 2009.
  48. ↑ 48.0 48.1 48.2 Eymer, Rick (May 13, 2009). "Hochevar blasted in loss to A's". MLB.com. Archived from the original on May 16, 2009. Retrieved May 13, 2009.
  49. ↑ 49.0 49.1 Kaegel, Dick (May 16, 2009). "Greinke storms to seventh victory". MLB.com. Archived from the original on May 19, 2009. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
  50. ↑ Kaegel, Dick (May 18, 2009). "'Greinke effect' boosting KC's fortunes". MLB.com. Archived from the original on May 23, 2009. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
  51. ↑ Kaegel, Dick (May 17, 2009). "Buck breaks tie, brings home win for KC". MLB.com. Archived from the original on May 23, 2009. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
  52. ↑ 52.0 52.1 Kaegel, Dick (May 19, 2009). "Royals stun Tribe with four-run ninth". MLB.com. Archived from the original on May 23, 2009. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
  53. ↑ Kaegel, Dick (May 23, 2009). "Royals can't find big hit in I-70 opener". MLB.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2009. Retrieved May 23, 2009.
  54. ↑ 54.0 54.1 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.
  55. ↑ Kaegel, Dick (May 24, 2009). "Royals execute myriad player moves". MLB.com. Archived from the original on May 28, 2009. Retrieved May 24, 2009.
  56. ↑ Kaegel, Dick (June 9, 2009). "KC brings Crow home in Round 1". MLB.com. Archived from the original on June 13, 2009. Retrieved June 9, 2009.
  57. ↑ Ellsesser, Stephen (June 9, 2009). "Royals cough up late lead to Indians". MLB.com. Retrieved June 9, 2009.
  58. ↑ Kaegel, Dick (May 5, 2009). "Greinke tops among AL hurlers in April". MLB.com. Archived from the original on June 5, 2009. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
  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.

External links

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