WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after squandering a lead entering the seventh inning, the Royals did it again.

This time, though, Kansas City managed to rally back.

Adalberto Mondesi hit a go-ahead single in the 11th inning to help lift the Royals to a 7-4 victory over the Washington Nationals that snapped a four-game skid.

“It was big for us, especially after yesterday kind of giving up the lead (in an 8-4 loss to Cleveland) and giving it up again today,” left fielder Alex Gordon said. “I thought we could have put our heads down and took a loss, but give us credit for putting together a good inning and making something happen.”

The Nationals, who had won four straight and eight of their last nine, left 19 men on base — including the bases loaded in the sixth, seventh and 10th innings.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before,” Gordon said. “Gave them chances and they didn’t get runs in. Good for us for stepping up and making the pitches count when they needed. Give our pitchers the credit for that.”

Jonny Venters (0-1), the Nationals’ fifth reliever, loaded the bases with no outs before striking out Whit Merrifield. However, Mondesi poked a single to left past a drawn-in infield to score a run. Gordon then hit a grounder to first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, whose wild throw home allowed two runs to score.

Brian Flynn (2-0) escaped a bases-loaded jam of his own creation in the 10th, and Wily Peralta worked the 11th for his second save.

Zimmerman got his 1,000th career RBI with a double in the seventh to pull Washington within 4-2. He added another off Kansas City closer Ian Kennedy in the ninth, then scored on Brian Dozier’s single. The Nationals had two on with one out, but couldn’t push across the winning run.

“Couldn’t get hits in a big moment,” Washington manager Dave Martinez said.

Trea Turner hit his fifth career leadoff home run off Kansas City starter Brad Keller, extending Washington’s franchise-record of games with a homer to 19. It was the only run the Nationals managed off Keller, who allowed six hits and five walks in 5 2/3 innings.

Kansas City scored two runs in both the third and the fifth off Washington starter Austin Voth, who lasted 4 1/3 innings in his third start of the season.

The Junction City Brigade rolled past the Topeka Golden Giants at Rathert Field Friday night by the score of 14-1. The two teams rematch Saturday evening at 6 p.m. in Topeka.

The Brigade are 18-4 while the Golden Giants are 16-10 on the season.

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Francisco Lindor drove in three runs, Jose Ramirez homered twice and the Cleveland Indians rallied to beat the bumbling Kansas City Royals 8-4 on Thursday to complete a three-game sweep.

Tyler Naquin and Jason Kipnis also drove in runs for the suddenly streaking Indians, who beat the Royals — losers of four straight and seven of eight — for the fifth time in six meetings.

Adam Cimber (4-2) tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief as the Indians’ bullpen bailed out Zach Plesac. Their ineffective starter allowed three runs and three hits in just 2 2/3 innings.

Kansas City only managed three more hits in a game delayed 2 1/2 hours at the start by rain.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Mike Clevinger was searching for the success he experienced late last season, long before a balky back forced the Indians right-hander into an extended stay on the injured list.

He found it by changing — well, he didn’t change much of anything.

“I looked at tape, a lot of different things, but it was not changing what it was that got me here,” Clevinger said, shortly after tossing six dominant innings of four-hit ball in Cleveland’s 4-0 win over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night.

“That could happen to anybody, especially what I was doing,” Clevinger added. “How can I get back to myself? That was really the key.”

Clevinger (2-2) struck out nine without a walk in his second start since his return from his injury. He struggled in his first game back but dominated the Royals on a picture-perfect night at Kauffman Stadium, improving to 7-0 with a 2.03 ERA in his career against them.

“It was by far the best he’s been,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “He reached back for a fastball, at times he probably tried to reach back too much. Batted down a ball that he shouldn’t have, but he got out of it — got a pop up and a ground ball, so that was good. He could have kept going but I thought that was a good spot for him. We didn’t push it too much and he can go from here.”

Danny Duffy (3-5) kept his command issues at bay long enough to last 6 2-3 innings for Kansas City. The left-hander allowed two runs on five hits, five walks and a hit batter.

Both starters had stumbled into the game, and the teams had combined for 25 hits in the series opener. So of course that rarest of treats these days would unfold: an old-school pitchers’ duel.

Duffy retired the first six batters he faced, then kept grinding outs when he couldn’t seem to find the plate. And he did it despite two defensive miscues that cost him a run in the third.

The first came when Perez appeared to be caught stretching a double into a triple, but Hunter Dozier’s high tag allowed him to sip underneath safely. The second flub came when Perez should have been caught trying to score on a wild pitch but again the tag was missed.

“Two bang-bang missed tags,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He couldn’t have got away with that.”

There was no one to blame but Duffy for Santana’s homer in the fourth.

The veteran first baseman cranked a 1-2 pitch into the bullpen in left field to extend his Major League-leading on-base streak to 26 games. It was also the 193rd home run for Santana with the Indians, breaking a tie with Al Rosen for the ninth-most in club history.

“I’ve come to learn that if I hang my slider, it’s just a donation,” Duffy said. “It’s my best pitch when I locate it and it’s my worst pitch when I don’t. I didn’t locate it.”

Duffy was finally lifted after loading the bases with two outs in the seventh inning, but Kevin McCarthy got Santana to ground into an easy putout to keep the Royals in the game.

He left trailing 2-0, thought that’s hardly new. Only once in the eight starts since Duffy’s last win May 19 have the Royals scored more than two runs while he was in the game.

Meanwhile, two runs were plenty for Cleveland with Clevinger and Co. on the mound.

The right-hander with the funky delivery worked around singles in the first and second, then watched his defense cut down Alex Gordon stretching a single in the fourth. The other hit Clevinger allowed came in the sixth, and he responded with a pair of punch-outs to end the frame.

“Ninety-seven miles per hour, that’s not easy to hit,” Yost said. “He has a really good slider that he commands well. I went over his last start pitch-by-pitch when he didn’t last long in Baltimore. He was erratic, all over the place. I was hoping that would be the same today but it wasn’t.”

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Indians’ Jake Bauers made a subtle tweak in his swing a couple of days ago against Baltimore that resulted in a pair of hits, so he was eager after a day off to get back on the field.

That little change is suddenly producing big results.

Bauers matched a career high with four hits while driving in three runs Tuesday night, and the Cleveland bullpen bailed Trevor Bauer out of a late jam, allowing the Indians to hold on for a 9-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals to open their three-game series.

“It’s nice to make a stupid little adjustment and feel good and lock it back in,” said Bauers, who was in a 1-for-22 slump before the change, and is 6 of 7 at the plate since. “Most of the time in this game it’s the simple little thing.”

Pitching a day after the sudden death of his former teammate and friend, Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, Bauer (7-6) left nursing a 7-4 lead with the bases loaded and nobody out in the seventh.

Oliver Perez managed an out before surrendering a sacrifice fly, and Adam Cimber used his sinker-style motion to induce the final two outs and preserve the Indians’ lead.

“I threw a lot more pitches than I’d hoped for. A lot of foul balls. A lot of long at-bats,” Bauer said. “It’s just going to happen sometimes, I guess, just try to battle through it.”

The Indians scored twice more before All-Star closer Brad Hand wrapped up the ninth inning.

“We added some runs and that was good to see,” Indians manager Terry Francona said.

Five others also drove in a run for the Indians, who have picked up in July right where they left off in June. They went 17-9 last month to match the Yankees for the best mark in the American League.

Most of their damage came against Jakob Junis (4-8), who matched a season high by allowing six earned runs over 4 2/3 innings. The right-hander is 0-3 with a 5.91 ERA over his last six starts.

He didn’t get a whole lot of help from his defense, either.

The Royals’ circus was summed up when Carlos Santana led off the fifth with a hard-hit ball to first base. It popped out of the glove of Cheslor Cuthbert and was fielded by second baseman Nicky Lopez, who then had his throw bounce out of the glove of Junis covering first.

Kansas City also committed an error during the Indians’ five-run third inning.

It began when Tyler Naquin and Francisco Lindor led off with singles, and continued when Santana walked to extend his league-leading on-base streak to 25 games. Jason Kipnis walked in a run, Jose Ramirez plated another with a fielder’s choice grounder, and Bauers added two more runs with a double.

Roberto Perez kept the inning going when he reached on an error by third baseman Hunter Dozier.

The only bright spots for the Royals were Jorge Soler and Adalberto Mondesi. Soler’s towering solo home run in the second traveled an estimated 451 feet, while Mondesi trumpeted his return from the injured list with a two-run homer in the fifth.

“He hit some balls tonight,” Francona said of Soler. “My goodness.”

Dozier tried to add an inside-the-park homer in the sixth, running through the stop sign at third when the throw from the outfield went awry. Dozier was easily thrown out at the plate.

“You love the intensity, young guys really trying to do things. But yeah, you’re down four. You have got to try to play it safe,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “The reward is not worth the risk right there. You’ve got to hold tight with no outs.”

“TS45”

Bauer had Skaggs’ initials and No. 45 written on his cap, and he scratched “TS45” in the dirt on the back of the mound before throwing his first pitch. He played with Skaggs for the Diamondbacks. The 27-year-old Angels pitcher was found dead in his hotel room Monday.

The Junction City Brigade defeated the Kansas City Monarchs 7-6 Tuesday night in Liberty, Missouri. The win was the 17th this season against only four defeats for the Brigade. The Monarchs fell to 8-4.

Junction City will host the Topeka Golden Giants Friday evening at 7 p.m. at Rathert Field.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Former Kansas State guard Barry Brown, Jr., has joined the Minnesota Timberwolves Summer League Team, which plays in the MGM Resorts NBA Summer League from July 5-15 at the Cox Pavilion and Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

 

Brown will meet a familiar face in the first of Minnesota’s four preliminary round games on Friday, July 5, as the Timberwolves will play the Cleveland Cavaliers, along with former teammate Dean Wade, at 4 p.m., CT at Cox Pavilion on NBA TV. Wade enjoyed an impressive debut in his pro debut with the Cavaliers at the Salt Lake City Summer League on Monday night, posting 14 points on 6-of-13 field goals to go with 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists and 1 block in 28 minutes against the San Antonio Spurs.

 

The Timberwolves will follow with contests against the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday, July 7 at 4:30 p.m., CT at the Thomas and Mack Center on ESPN2, the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, July 8 at 8 p.m., CT at Cox Pavilion on ESPNU and the Miami Heat on Wednesday, July 10 at 6 p.m., CT at Cox Pavilion on NBA TV.

 

After the preliminary round, all 30 NBA teams, along with the Chinese and Croatian National Teams for the first time, will be seeded in a tournament that leads to the Championship Game on July 15. Each team will play at least five games in Las Vegas.

 

Brown, who will wear No. 15, will be joined on the 15-man summer league roster by 2018 NBA Draft picks Josh Okogie (Georgia Tech) and Keita Bates-Diop (Ohio State) as well as 2019 second-round pick Jaylen Nowell (Washington). Other notable rookies on the squad include Canyon Barry (Florida), Tyus Battle (Syracuse), Jordan McLaughlin (USC), Jordan Murphy (Minnesota), Brandon Randolph (Arizona) and Naz Reid(LSU).

 

Head coach Ryan Saunders will guide the team during its play in the MGM Resorts NBA Summer League.

 

The Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and a unanimous All-Big 12 First Team selection, Brown led the Wildcats in nearly every statistical category in 2018-19, including scoring (14.6 ppg.), double-digit scoring games (28), 20-point games (seven), field goals made (184) and attempted (425), free throws made (88) and attempted (124) and steals (65). He connected on 43.3 percent (184-of-425) from the field, including 29.8 percent (42-of-141) from 3-point range, and shot 71 percent (88-of-124) from the free throw line.

 

Brown left K-State in the Top 10 in 13 career categories, including first in games played (139), consecutive games played (139) and steals (254), second in minutes played (4,472), third in field goals attempted (1,519), fourth in double-digit scoring games (91) and field goals made (633) and fifth in scoring (1,781).

 

In his 139-game career, Brown averaged 12.8 points on 41.7 percent shooting (633-of-1519), including 31.9 percent (173-of-542) from 3-point range, with 3.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.8 steals in 32.2 minutes per game.

 

Brown was part of a senior class that posted an 88-51 (.633) overall record, advanced to three NCAA Tournaments and won a share of the 2018-19 Big 12 regular season title.

 

–www.k-statesports.com–

 

TOM GILBERT
Director for Men’s Basketball Communications | K-State Athletics

 

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Former Kansas State guard Barry Brown, Jr., has joined the Minnesota Timberwolves Summer League Team, which plays in the MGM Resorts NBA Summer League from July 5-15 at the Cox Pavilion and Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

 

Brown will meet a familiar face in the first of Minnesota’s four preliminary round games on Friday, July 5, as the Timberwolves will play the Cleveland Cavaliers, along with former teammate Dean Wade, at 4 p.m., CT at Cox Pavilion on NBA TV. Wade enjoyed an impressive debut in his pro debut with the Cavaliers at the Salt Lake City Summer League on Monday night, posting 14 points on 6-of-13 field goals to go with 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists and 1 block in 28 minutes against the San Antonio Spurs.

 

The Timberwolves will follow with contests against the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday, July 7 at 4:30 p.m., CT at the Thomas and Mack Center on ESPN2, the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, July 8 at 8 p.m., CT at Cox Pavilion on ESPNU and the Miami Heat on Wednesday, July 10 at 6 p.m., CT at Cox Pavilion on NBA TV.

 

After the preliminary round, all 30 NBA teams, along with the Chinese and Croatian National Teams for the first time, will be seeded in a tournament that leads to the Championship Game on July 15. Each team will play at least five games in Las Vegas.

 

Brown, who will wear No. 15, will be joined on the 15-man summer league roster by 2018 NBA Draft picks Josh Okogie (Georgia Tech) and Keita Bates-Diop (Ohio State) as well as 2019 second-round pick Jaylen Nowell (Washington). Other notable rookies on the squad include Canyon Barry (Florida), Tyus Battle (Syracuse), Jordan McLaughlin (USC), Jordan Murphy (Minnesota), Brandon Randolph (Arizona) and Naz Reid(LSU).

 

Head coach Ryan Saunders will guide the team during its play in the MGM Resorts NBA Summer League.

 

The Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and a unanimous All-Big 12 First Team selection, Brown led the Wildcats in nearly every statistical category in 2018-19, including scoring (14.6 ppg.), double-digit scoring games (28), 20-point games (seven), field goals made (184) and attempted (425), free throws made (88) and attempted (124) and steals (65). He connected on 43.3 percent (184-of-425) from the field, including 29.8 percent (42-of-141) from 3-point range, and shot 71 percent (88-of-124) from the free throw line.

 

Brown left K-State in the Top 10 in 13 career categories, including first in games played (139), consecutive games played (139) and steals (254), second in minutes played (4,472), third in field goals attempted (1,519), fourth in double-digit scoring games (91) and field goals made (633) and fifth in scoring (1,781).

 

In his 139-game career, Brown averaged 12.8 points on 41.7 percent shooting (633-of-1519), including 31.9 percent (173-of-542) from 3-point range, with 3.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.8 steals in 32.2 minutes per game.

 

Brown was part of a senior class that posted an 88-51 (.633) overall record, advanced to three NCAA Tournaments and won a share of the 2018-19 Big 12 regular season title.

 

–www.k-statesports.com–

 

TOM GILBERT
Director for Men’s Basketball Communications | K-State Athletics

 

 

 

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Nine home games at Bramlage Coliseum, including a marquee matchup with Marquette, neutral site games in Florida and New Jersey and a meeting with Saint Louis at the Sprint Center highlight the 2019-20 Kansas State men’s basketball non-conference schedule released by officials on Monday (July 1).

The 117th season of K-State men’s basketball officially gets underway on Tuesday, November 5 – in the earliest start in school history – when the Wildcats host reigning Summit League Tournament champion North Dakota State at Bramlage Coliseum. The team will also play a pair of exhibition games – Emporia State and Washburn – in late October prior to the season opener.

“We feel this is a challenging non-conference schedule especially for such a new, young team,” said head coach Bruce Weber. “We have veterans who have been in big games, but now have to change roles, to go with some new guys who have to step up to a new level. At the end of the day, the schedule has a good balance of home games to go with some road and neutral site opportunities to help in their development.”

K-State previously announced several components of its non-conference schedule, including a road date at UNLV on Saturday, November 9 in the start of a home-and-home series, the Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans Fort Myers Tipoff on Monday and Wednesday, November 25 and 27, a matchup with Mississippi State in the fourth annual Never Forget Tribute Classic presented by United Rentals on Saturday, December 14 and the Wildcat Classic contest with Saint Louis at the Sprint Center in Kansas City on Saturday, December 21.

–www.k-statesports.com–

 

TOM GILBERT
Director for Men’s Basketball Communications | K-State Athletics

Ryan Goodwin pitched a compete nine-inning game to help lift the Kansas City Monarchs to an 8-1 win over the Junction City Brigade Monday evening at Rathert Field. The Monarchs pitcher gave up eight hits, six walks including five to Zane Schmidt, and hit one batter enroute to the win.

The only run for the Brigade came in the eighth inning when Cooper Schloctermeir and Dylan Thurber hit back to back doubles.

The two teams rematch Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in Liberty, Missouri. The Brigade are 16-4 on the season and the Monarchs are 8-3.