By Fred Liggett
FredL@lstribune.net
The Kansas City Royals finished the second month of the 2018 season with a six-game home stand against central division rival Minnesota Twins and Oakland A’s. First up was a three-game series against the Twins that started on Memorial Day.
Monday’s game ended with an 8-5 loss despite the Royals having 19 runners in scoring position.
Tuesday night’s game started late thanks to a 24 minute rain delay. Once the game began it wouldn’t stop as the two teams played 14 innings before the Royals claimed a 2-1 win. The winning run was thanks to a walk-off home run by shortstop Alcides Escobar, his first career walk-off homer.
Wednesday night saw the Royals start Brad Kellar on the mound in place of Erik Skoglund who went on the disabled list with a sprained UCL in his left arm. Kellar was provided plenty of run support as the Royals zoomed out to a 9-0 lead after just two innings. From there the Royals survived a wild Twins rally to win 11 to 8.
The Royals, having won the series against the Twins 2-1, welcome the Oakland A’s to town for a three-game weekend series.
The Royals have plenty of promotions for team fans to enjoy an extra reason to head to the ballpark. Friday night the team hosted the annual Big Slick Celebrity softball game which brings numerous movie and television stars to Kansas City.
Friday’s game also gave Royals fans their first chance to vote for this year’s starters in the MLB All Star game.
Saturday it’s another Bobblehead game with second baseman Whit Merrifield being featured this time. Saturday’s game is an afternoon start at 1:15 p.m.
Sunday’s game is KidsFest with many fun activities set aside for those under 12 years old.
After playing the west coast-based Athletics, the Royals will head west to begin a seven-game road trip that will see them visit both the Angels and A’s. The Royals began the weekend series with Oakland in fourth place two and a half games ahead of last place Chicago White Sox in the American League Central Division.
