By Grant Brisbee

– Editor

Follow , and

Like Baseball Nation on Facebook.

May 31, 2011 – For four years, the Kansas City Royals couldn’t count on much, but they could count on Joakim Soria in the ninth inning. Coming into 2011, Soria had pitched 255 innings in his career with a 2.01 ERA and 132 saves. While Baseball Reference doesn’t keep track of blown saves, I’ll guess that he had one. Maybe two. When the sun got in his eyes.

This season, though, Soria has been dreadful. His velocity is down and his curveball isn’t working. It’s still May, and he’s already allowed more earned runs in 2011 than he did in any of the previous three seasons. His walk rate has almost doubled, and his strikeout rate has dropped.

After his fourth blown save of the year on Monday, the Royals officially demoted Soria.

This is bad news for the Royals on a couple of fronts. One: Soria seems broken. Two: His replacement will be Aaron Crow, a live-armed starting pitcher who was put in the bullpen out of spring partly out of necessity, partly out of a desire to ease him into the majors Earl Weaver-style. Crow has done well as a middle reliever, but if he does well as a closer, he’ll probably stay a closer forever.

Jonathan Papelbon and Neftali Feliz — plus Soria himself — are two examples of starting prospects who went to the bullpen and didn’t come out. Both have done well, and it’s not as if their teams regret the moves. But it always seems like a bit of a waste to never find out if a guy can make it as a starter. Once a pitcher gets a few saves, it’s almost impossible for a team to switch them back. They’re the vampires of baseball — completely irreversible after the initial transformation. If Aaron Crow succeeds as a closer, the Royals might win fewer games in 2012 or 2013 than if he were starting.

Or heck, maybe he’ll be better than Soria ever was, and the Royals will have a better team, especially if Soria finds what he’s lost. For the foreseeable future, though, the ninth inning belongs to Aaron Crow. Three months ago, there was only one constant on the Royals’ roster — that’s how quickly a dominant reliever can lose his way. Scary stuff.

Read More: Aaron Crow (P – KAN), Kansas City Royals

(Sports Network) – The Kansas City Royals will have a new closer on the hill
this evening should they be in a position to win the second test of a three-
game series against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals carried a one-run lead into the ninth inning in Monday’s opener
only to see former All-Star closer Joakim Soria blow his second save in as
many days, as he surrendered a go-ahead two-run home run to Torii Hunter in
the Angels’ 10-8 triumph.

Hunter’s home run was his second of the game, and gave him 1,000 RBI for his
career.

Soria also gave up the game-winning run in Sunday’s loss to the Texas Rangers
and has three blown saves this week and a career-high five on the season.
After the game Kansas City manager Ned Yost announced that Aaron Crow would
replace Soria as the team’s closer for the time being.

“We’ve gotten to a point where we’ll back Jack off,” Yost said. “We’ll give
him a break, with a sense of getting him back to the closer’s role, but
getting him in situations where maybe he can throw multiple innings in less
pressure situations.”

Kevin Jepsen (1-2) tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings to pick up his first win of
the year for the Angels. LA starter Ervin Santana tossed six innings, giving
up six runs on seven hits while striking out five and walking four.

Eric Hosmer picked up two hits, including his fifth home run of the season and
a career high-tying four RBI for the Royals, who have lost three in a row,
eight of nine and 13 of 16.

Over its last nine games, Kansas City’s bullpen is 1-6 with a 4.31 ERA.

Heading to the hill for the Angels tonight will be righty Joel Pineiro, who is
2-1 with a 3.15 ERA. Pineiro was charged with the loss on Thursday against
Oakland, as the Athletics reached him for four runs and 11 hits in 6 1/3
frames. His next win will be the 100th of his career.

Pineiro is 5-4 lifetime against the Royals with a 3.82 ERA in 14 games, 10 of
which have been starts.

Kansas City, meanwhile, will turn to lefty Jeff Francis, who is just 1-5 with
a 4.52 ERA. Francis failed to follow up his first win of the season his last
time out, as he received a no-decision in Baltimore on Thursday, surrendering
five runs and nine hits in six innings of his team’s 6-5 loss.

Francis did not get a decision against the Angels at the start of the year and
has yet to record one against them in three starts, but has pitched to a 2.70
ERA in those outings. In his April 1 start he allowed a run and five hits in
seven innings.

Kansas City took three of four from the Angels to open the year.

The Sports Network

CBSSports.com wire reports
May 30, 2011

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In the 12th season of Torii Hunter’s productive career, significant milestones are beginning to appear.

The four-time All-Star hit two home runs Monday, including a two-run shot off struggling closer Joakim Soria in the ninth, and powered the Los Angeles Angels past Kansas City 10-8. With the go-ahead drive, the 35-year-old outfielder rang up career RBI No. 1,000.

“I had no idea,” he said with a big grin. “They said, ‘You got 1,000.’ I said, ‘Damn! I’m old!’ But it’s an honor. It shows I stayed healthy and I did what I had to do.”

Erasing a five-run deficit for the second time since Friday, the Angels got solo home runs by Mark Trumbo and Peter Bourjos in the eighth off Louis Coleman to get within one run. Then Bobby Abreu, who was 4 for 5 with two runs scored and two RBI, singled ahead of Hunter’s game-winning, milestone drive.

“That’s all we need. We smell blood from there,” Hunter said.

For Soria (3-3), a two-time All-Star, it was his fifth blown save in 12 opportunities and second in two days and knocked him, at least temporarily, out of a job. Manager Ned Yost, who’s been insisting there was nothing wrong with Soria, said after the game that rookie Aaron Crow would probably take over as closer.

Soria, who also blew a save in Sunday’s loss at Texas, saw his ERA balloon to 6.55.

“I think we’ve gotten to a point where we’ll back Jack off,” said Yost. “We’ll give him a break. He’s pitched back-to-back days. Jack is definitely off, but he’s not off by a whole lot. I think he’s close to getting it back, but just not quite.”

Last year Soria had three blown saves in 46 opportunities.

“I think it’s the right way to do it,” he said. “I try to build up, try to work hard and I try to work back on my confidence and try to be the one that I was before.”

The Angels added a run in the ninth on an RBI fielder’s choice by Trumbo.

Royals rookie Eric Hosmer homered, doubled and drove in four runs to help the Royals seize a 6-1 lead over Ervin Santana after two innings.

Speaking of milestones, Abreu had two doubles, lifting his career total to 537. The day before, he had passed Lou Gehrig for 32nd on the all-time doubles list.

The Royals took a 3-0 lead on Santana’s first six pitches. Alex Gordon homered on his first pitch, then Melky Cabrera took a four-pitch walk before Hosmer slammed Santana’s first delivery to him over the wall in right field.

In the second, Santana walked Chris Getz and Gordon and hit Alcides Escobar, loading the bases. Hosmer then lined a two-run double off the wall in right, tying the career high with four RBI which he’d set three days earlier in Texas. Gordon went to third on the play and made it 6-1 on Jeff Francoeur’s sacrifice fly.

Kevin Jepsen (1-2) went 1 1/3 innings for the win. Fernando Rodney pitched the ninth for his second save in five opportunities.

The Royals scored two in the seventh and went ahead 8-5 on Wilson Betemit’s RBI triple and Getz’ RBI single.

Royals starter Luke Hochevar, winless since May 1, left after five innings with a 6-4 lead, allowing four runs on seven hits. Santana settled down after the second, going six innings and allowing six runs on seven hits.

Hochevar hit Izturis with his first pitch and fell behind 1-0 on Abreu’s RBI single before the Royals jumped on Santana for three in the first and three in the second.

Besides his milestone RBI, Hunter probably made three new friends. The three youngsters who caught his milestone homer were brought to meet the Angels star and exchange their souvenir.

“They were triplets, about 7, 8 or 9, something like that,” said Hunter, who had a solo home run in the seventh. “I took pictures with them, gave them hugs, and said, ‘Thank you. It’s a special thing for me.’ I don’t know if my autograph will mean anything, but that ball meant a lot to me and I appreciate them coming down and giving it to me.”

Notes

• It was the Royals’ fifth leadoff home run against the Angels.
• When he walked Gordon in the second inning and loaded the bases, Santana had thrown 42 pitches and recorded three outs.
• Last Memorial Day, the same teams and pitchers faced off, with Santana beating Hochevar 7-1.
• This was the first of a season-long 11-game home stand for KC.
• Just ahead of Abreu on the all-time doubles list is Todd Helton with 538.

Your quote of the day on Monday comes from Seattle Mariners shortstop Brendan Ryan, who asks what many of us have been wondering for years.

Brendan Ryan in the clubhouse: “Is Kansas City trying lose this game on purpose?”

Via Ryan Divish. No, Brendan, that’s just Royals baseball.

Read More: Joakim Soria (P – KAN), Torii Hunter (RF – ANA), Mark Trumbo (1B – ANA), Peter Bourjos (CF – ANA), Everett Teaford (P – KAN), Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels

Torii Hunter’s second home run of the game, a two-run shot in the ninth inning off closer Joakim Soria, helped the Los Angeles Angels to a 10-8 comeback victory over the Kansas City Royals in the first game of a three-game set at Kauffman Stadium. The Angels scored one run in the seventh inning, two runs in the eighth, then three in the ninth to win their second straight contest. The Angels turned on the power for this win.

Hunter also homered in the seventh inning off Everett Teaford to cut the Royals’ lead to 6-5, but Kansas City scored two in the bottom of the inning to widen their lead to 8-5. Mark Trumbo and Peter Bourjos hit solo home runs in the eighth to cut the deficit to 8-7, which led to Hunter’s heroics in the ninth inning.

Keven Jepsen got the final out of the seventh inning and pitched a scoreless eighth to pick up his first win of the year. Fernando Rodney retired the Royals in order in the ninth, with two strikeouts, to notch his third save of the season. Bobby Abreu had four hits for the Angels, including two doubles. It was the first time the Angels have scored double-digit runs since May 5, when they beat the Red Sox 11-0 at Fenway Park.

For more news and information about the Angels, or on today’s game, be sure to read the SB Nation blog Halos Heaven.