Billy Butler

Nate Adcock had a whacky, crazy, whirlwind homestand for the Royals, although the 24-year-old right-hander was not in Kansas City that much. He still managed to absorb two losses in five days. Adcock was an emergency starter Sunday and took the loss, giving up a run in five innings as Arizona Diamondbacks rookie left-hander Wade Miley and two relievers combined to shut out the Royals 2-0. The homestand began Wednesday with Adcock taking the loss in 15 innings to the Baltimore Orioles.

Billy Butler and Mike Moustakas homered, Bruce Chen won his third straight start and the Kansas City Royals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-3 Saturday night. Butler homered to left-center in the third with Alcides Escobar aboard. Butler also drove in Jarrod Dyson with a sacrifice fly in Kansas City's two-run fifth. Butler's eight home runs and 31 RBIs lead the Royals. Moustakas sent his sixth homer of the season into the right-field bullpen in the fourth. Chen, who has won three straight after starting the season 0-4, weaved his way into and out of trouble the first four...

Miguel Montero piled up three RBIs, driving in the go-ahead runs with a double in the eighth inning, and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Kansas City Royals 6-4 on Friday night. The Royals had pulled into a tie in the seventh before Kelvin Herrera (0-1) gave up back-to-back singles to Willie Bloomquist and Justin Upton to start the eighth. Montero's second double of the game off reliever Tim Collins gave the Diamondbacks the lead. Relievers Brad Ziegler (3-1) and Craig Breslow got the game to J.J. Putz, who worked around a two-out walk to Billy Butler in the ninth for his eighth...

Wade Miley pitched seven sharp innings, John McDonald drove in the first run with a bunt single and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Kansas City Royals 2-0 Sunday. Miley (5-1) limited the Royals to five hits while throwing 99 pitches. The rookie walked two and struck out three, sending Kansas City to its 17th loss in 22 home games this season. David Hernandez and J.J. Putz each pitched an inning to finish off the shutout. Putz earned his ninth save in 11 opportunities. Jeff Francoeur had four of Kansas City's seven hits to match his career high.

Bruce Chen pitched out of trouble the way Arizona's Ian Kennedy could not. While Chen won his third straight start for Kansas City, Kennedy dropped to 0-4 in May. Billy Butler and Mike Moustakas homered to back Chen and the Royals beat the Diamondbacks 7-3 Saturday night. "Kennedy got himself in bad counts and couldn't make a pitch to get out of it," Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said. "Chen got into bad situations but he did a good job of getting out of it. He got behind and would throw a cutter or change and get out of it. " Chen (3-4)

Game over: Royals 4, Red Sox 3 Down to their last three outs, the Red Sox put the tying run on third and the go-ahead run on second, but failed to capitalize on the precious scoring opportunity in Wednesday night's 4-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals before a Kauffman Stadium crowd of 18,339. Darnell McDonald entered the game to pinch run for Cody Ross after he reached on a leadoff single to right off closer Jonathan Broxton. Jarrod Saltalamacchia then drew a walk. Marlon Bryd appeared to get hit by a pitch when he squared up for a bunt.

Wade Miley pitched seven sharp innings, John McDonald drove in the first run with a bunt single and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Kansas City Royals 2-0 Sunday. Miley (5-1) limited the Royals to five hits while throwing 99 pitches. The rookie walked two and struck out three, sending Kansas City to its 17th loss in 22 home games this season. David Hernandez and J.J. Putz each pitched an inning to finish off the shutout. Putz earned his ninth save in 11 opportunities. Jeff Francoeur had four of Kansas City's seven hits to match his career high.

Teams are supposed to play better at home than on the road, regardless of the sport. There's a certain familiarity to sleeping in your own bed, driving yourself to the ballpark and playing in front of a stadium full of loyal fans. Well, the Royals have done their best to disprove that notion. They squandered a lead at Kauffman Stadium for the third straight time Friday night, this one when Miguel Montero's two-run double in the eighth inning gave the Arizona Diamondbacks a 6-4 win. Kansas City dropped to 4-16 at home, by far the worst mark in the majors.

Ricky Romero wasn't at his best, and the Kansas City Royals still couldn't figure out a way to beat him. Brett Lawrie hit a tiebreaking home run in the seventh inning, Jose Bautista added his major league-leading 37th homer and the Toronto Blue Jays beat Kansas City 4-3 on Wednesday night. Jesse Litsch (5-3) pitched a scoreless inning of relief for the win. Frank Francisco worked ninth for his 11th save. Romero came in with a 5-0 record and 0.89 ERA since July 27, tied for the most wins in the majors while compiling the best ERA in that span.

Shelley Duncan is picking up where he left off last year for the Cleveland Indians. Duncan hit his second three-run homer in three games to lead the Indians to a 3-2 win over a Kansas City Royals split squad on Tuesday. "He's a bat that at any moment can pop one out," Indians manager Manny Acta said of Duncan, who had seven homers and 23 RBIs in 26 games in September. Duncan homered in the third inning off reliever Zach Miner, who is working his way back from Tommy John surgery in 2010.

Nate Adcock had a whacky, crazy, whirlwind homestand for the Royals, although the 24-year-old right-hander was not in Kansas City that much. He still managed to absorb two losses in five days. Adcock was an emergency starter Sunday and took the loss, giving up a run in five innings as Arizona Diamondbacks rookie left-hander Wade Miley and two relievers combined to shut out the Royals 2-0. The homestand began Wednesday with Adcock taking the loss in 15 innings to the Baltimore Orioles.

Bruce Chen pitched out of trouble the way Arizona's Ian Kennedy could not. While Chen won his third straight start for Kansas City, Kennedy dropped to 0-4 in May. Billy Butler and Mike Moustakas homered to back Chen and the Royals beat the Diamondbacks 7-3 Saturday night. "Kennedy got himself in bad counts and couldn't make a pitch to get out of it," Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said. "Chen got into bad situations but he did a good job of getting out of it. He got behind and would throw a cutter or change and get out of it. " Chen (3-4)

Teams are supposed to play better at home than on the road, regardless of the sport. There's a certain familiarity to sleeping in your own bed, driving yourself to the ballpark and playing in front of a stadium full of loyal fans. Well, the Royals have done their best to disprove that notion. They squandered a lead at Kauffman Stadium for the third straight time Friday night, this one when Miguel Montero's two-run double in the eighth inning gave the Arizona Diamondbacks a 6-4 win. Kansas City dropped to 4-16 at home, by far the worst mark in the majors.

Miguel Montero piled up three RBIs, driving in the go-ahead runs with a double in the eighth inning, and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Kansas City Royals 6-4 on Friday night. The Royals had pulled into a tie in the seventh before Kelvin Herrera (0-1) gave up back-to-back singles to Willie Bloomquist and Justin Upton to start the eighth. Montero's second double of the game off reliever Tim Collins gave the Diamondbacks the lead. Relievers Brad Ziegler (3-1) and Craig Breslow got the game to J.J. Putz, who worked around a two-out walk to Billy...

The Royals bullpen had been nearly unhittable this week during a stretch in which Kansas City won six of seven. That all changed Wednesday night. Closer Jonathan Broxton and three Kansas City relievers gave up all of Baltimore's runs in a 4-3 loss to the Orioles, with Nate Adcock allowing Adam Jones' home run in the 15th inning. Starter Felipe Paulino pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out nine, before departing. Broxton and Kelvin Herrera gave up three runs on six hits in the eighth and ninth innings.

Colby Lewis was already having a disappointing May before facing Kansas City. A pair of throwing errors that led to five unearned runs for the Royals made this month a bit worse for the right-hander. Mike Moustakas homered, Billy Butler and Brayan Pena each drove in a pair of runs and the Royals kept Texas' potent offense in check for a second straight game in a 7-4 win over the Rangers on Tuesday night. Kansas City scored four unearned runs in the first inning after Lewis' errant throw on a comebacker to the mound sailed over the head of first baseman Mitch Moreland, putting...

Eric Hosmer delivered the game-winning hit after the Chicago White Sox opted to walk Billy Butler to face him. Hosmer had three hits and doubled in the winning run in the ninth inning to lift Kansas City to a 7-6 victory over the White Sox on Friday night that extended the Royals' winning streak to six games. His liner over the head of left fielder Juan Pierre scored Alex Gordon, who led off the inning with a single. After Miguel Cabrera's sacrifice bunt moved Gordon to second, Billy Butler was walked intentionally "Billy is one of the better hitters in this league," Hosmer...

Colby Lewis was already having a disappointing May before facing Kansas City. A pair of throwing errors that led to five unearned runs for the Royals made this month a bit worse for the right-hander. Mike Moustakas homered, Billy Butler and Brayan Pena each drove in a pair of runs and the Royals kept Texas' potent offense in check for a second straight game in a 7-4 win over the Rangers on Tuesday night. Kansas City scored four unearned runs in the first inning after Lewis' errant throw on a comebacker to the mound sailed over the head of first baseman Mitch Moreland, putting...

Chris Sale had no excuses or alibis. His return to the Chicago White Sox's rotation got off to a wild start in the first inning and after running up a high pitch count, the 23-year-old lefty managed to go five innings in a 5-0 loss to the Kansas City Royals. Sale (3-2) walked the first two batters he faced and the Royals sent nine batters to the plate in a three-run first inning, all the support that K.C. starter Luke Hochevar needed. "The first inning was terrible as far as command," Sale said.

The Kansas City Royals had bases-loaded opportunities against Gavin Floyd early and late. Both times they failed to produce a clutch hit and the result was a 5-0 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Friday night. It marked the third time this season the Royals have been shut out. Floyd escaped a bases-loaded situation in the second when he got Alcides Escobar and Humberto Quintero to hit back-to-back comebackers. Kansas City loaded the bases again in the eighth on three straight singles before Floyd struck out Billy Butler swinging for the second out on a...