TheKansas City Royals'season of 2011 was the 43rd for the Royals franchise. It was the fifth full season withDayton Moore as general manager. The team was managed byNed Yost in his first full season with the Royals. It was the 26th straight year of the Royals missing the playoffs.
On November 10, 2010, the Royals traded outfielderDavid DeJesus for the right-handed, starting pitcherVin Mazzaro from theOakland Athletics and minor league pitcher Justin Marks. Mazzaro was 10–17 with a 4.72 ERA in 41 career Major League appearances, including 35 starts, for the Athletics in 2009 and 2010.[1]
Bruce Chen began the year with a 4–1 record and 3.59 ERA in seven starts for the Royals. Chen was placed on the 15-day Disabled List on May 11 (retroactive to May 6), with a strain, and right-handed pitcherVin Mazzaro was recalled from theOmaha Storm Chasers.[1] Mazzaro's first start was on May 11 versus the New York Yankees.[1] Mazzaro's stay with the Royals was a short-lived one. Following his second appearance on May 16, in which he allowed 14 earned runs in2+1⁄3 innings of relief, a team record for runs given up by one pitcher in a game, and the worst performance of a pitcher in the Major Leagues since the first half of the 20th century,– Mazzaro was optioned to Omaha, and left-hand relief pitcherEverett Teaford was called up to replace him.[2] Mazzaro pitched6+1⁄3 innings with a 22.74 ERA in his two appearances.
The Royals opened the season at home on Thursday, March 31, in a four-game weekend series versus theLos Angeles Angels of Anaheim. It was their firstOpening Day meeting since1975 when the Angels hosted the Royals.Luke Hochevar, who was the first-round draft pick of the Royals in 2006, was chosen to pitch in his first Opening Day start. He gave up four runs, including two sole home runs, in5+2⁄3 innings for the loss. The opposing starterJered Weaver pitched6+1⁄3 scoreless innings to earn his first win of the season withFernando Rodney closing the game in the ninth inning for his first save as the Angels defeated the Royals, 4–2. The attendance for the game was 40,055, (currently) the highest of any home game during the season. This game also saw the major league debut of three Royals rookie pitchers:Aaron Crow,Tim Collins, andNathan Adcock.
After two games versus theChicago White Sox, the Royals finished their home opening series with a 4–2 record and ½ game lead in their division. It was the best home opening series since2004 when they also began the season at home by winning 4 out of 6 games. This season's series was notable because three of their wins came on their final at-bat, and the last three games each extended into extra innings.
Although the team was successful during the first half of April–occupying first place on eight of those days while winning 10 of 14 games–the latter half of the month saw the team lose nine games as they fell4+1⁄2 games behind the division-leadingCleveland Indians. During a six-game losing streak while on the road, Royals pitchers gave up 17home runs and had anERA of 7.88. It included three games at Cleveland where the Indians were in the midst of a 14-home-game winning streak. With a 14–13 record, it was only the third time in 22 years that the Royals ended the month with more wins than losses; the last time was in2009.
The team's worst loss came at home on May 16 in a 19–1 rout by the Cleveland Indians. After giving up three walks to load the bases in the first inning, starting pitcherKyle Davies left the game with an injury. Nathan Adcock replaced him and allowed two of the base runners to score–giving Davies his sixth loss of the season.Vin Mazzaro, who had been scheduled to start the next day, entered the game in the third inning and gave up 14 earned runs on 11 hits in just2+1⁄3 innings. Three of the ten runs scored in the fourth inning came on a 3-run home run byMichael Brantley. The 18-run deficit matched the worst margin of defeat in the team's history which has occurred twice before, the most recent being the previous season on July 26 when theMinnesota Twins also won 19–1.[2]
Because of the Twins' plague of injuries, the Royals came out fourth place. During a stretch of games from September 11 to 17, the Royals won seven straight, giving them their longest winning record since the 2006 season. However, the Royals were no-hit to the fifth/sixth inning twice in a row (the first, a perfect game). During the last week of the season, Billy Butler, Alex Gordon and Louis Coleman were all struck by the flu, giving Jarrod Dyson and Lorenzo Cain a chance in the big leagues.
Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; SO = Strikeouts
