DETROIT (AP) – The Kansas City Royals won their 10th straight game, extending the team’s best streak in 20 years when Jeremy Guthrie pitched impressively into the seventh inning to beat the Detroit Tigers 2-1 Wednesday.

The AL Central-leading Royals have not won this many games in a row since a run of 14 in a row in 1994. They extended their division lead over the Tigers to 1 1/2 games.

Guthrie (4-6) allowed four hits and a walk while striking out nine. Drew Smyly (3-6) nearly matched him, but the Detroit left-hander was victimized by Alex Gordon’s RBI single in the first and a solo homer by Omar Infante in the fifth.

J.D. Martinez homered for the Tigers in the seventh, but the Kansas City bullpen got the last seven outs, with Greg Holland pitching the ninth for his 21st save in 22 chances.

K-State Athletics has announced that a new high-definition Panasonic center-hung video board, six additional LED displays, and  state-of-the-art, innovative lighting and sound systems will be installed in Bramlage Coliseum this fall.

K-State Athletics is partnering with Wrightson, Johnson, Haddon and Williams, Inc. of Dallas, Texas on the project, which will begin later this summer and be completed in October.

“We are excited to announce these improvements to Bramlage Coliseum as we continue to provide The Best Fan Experience in the Big 12,” said Director of Athletics John Currie. “These additions will greatly enhance our gameday atmospher at Bramlage, which is already one of the best in the Big 12, and in all of college basketball.”

The focus of the nearly $2.4 million in enhancements will be the Panasonic center-hung 25′ x 18′ SMD LED videoboard, which will have a display more than four times larger than the existing videoboard in Bramlage Coliseum. The four-sided videoboard features a 6mm high-definition display on each face with a 5-foot upper ring and 2-foot, 4-inch lower ring for statistics, crowd engagement and sponsor integration.

Six additional 6mm LED displays will be installed above the seating on the north and south ends of the arena with three located above Sections 12-15 on the north end, and three above Section 24 to Section 1 on the south end. These displays will provide additional opportunities for crowd engagement, out of town scores, and sponsor integration. The total cost of the main video board and six LED displays will be $1.4 million.

In addition the system will be powered by Panasonic’s next generation of LED controller. Based on the same software that all major sports networks around the world use, this generates real-time graphics, and animation in true three-dimensional space. That creates dynamic presentations of statistics, graphics, and interactive features seen at any college venue.

The sound system in Bramlage Coliseum will be replaced with modern audio equipment, including nearly 100 total loudspeakers, and use the latest amplifier and digital signal sound processing with more than 200,000 watts of amplification. The increased speaker locations will provide for more distribution of sound, while also improving audio clarity throughout the arena.  The project will be managed by Pro Media/UltraSound and cost $660,000.

The new LED lighting system will provide a more efficient and higher quality of output in the arena and allow for special effects during pregame introductions, special halftime shows, and recognitions. The project will be directed by Musco Lighting and cost approximately $300,000.

Funding for the upgrades will be made through general athletic department revenue without the aid of tax, tuition, or general university dollars.

 

 

The Junction City Brigade baseball team split two games with the Topeka Golden Giants in the Capitol city Tuesday night.

The Golden Giants won the first game 3-1, while the Brigade took the nightcap 9-7.

The Brigade are now 6-4 on the season while the Golden Giants are 11-5.

DETROIT (AP) – Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas homered as part of a seven-run second inning, and the Kansas City Royals took over first place in the AL Central on Tuesday night with their ninth straight victory, 11-4 over the Detroit Tigers.

Gordon and Moustakas hit two-run shots off Max Scherzer, and Kansas City has won the first two games of this four-game series emphatically. The Royals, who trailed the Tigers by seven games after a May 20 loss, now lead Detroit by a half-game atop the division.

Scherzer (8-3) yielded a career high-tying 10 runs in four-plus innings. The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner allowed the first eight batters of the second inning to reach base, with Kansas City scoring six runs before making an out.

Yordano Ventura (5-5) allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings.

DETROIT (AP) – Kansas City Royals outfielder Nori Aoki has left Tuesday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers with left groin discomfort.

Aoki singled and scored during Kansas City’s seven-run second inning, but he was replaced in right field by Lorenzo Cain before the bottom half.

The 32-year-old Aoki is hitting .261 in his first season with the Royals. They acquired him in an offseason trade with Milwaukee.

Kansas City scored seven runs off Detroit starter Max Scherzer in the second. Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas hit two-run homers.

 

In a list published today on ESPN.com, K-State Men’s Basketball coach Bruce Weber was named the No. 40 top coach in college basketball. The story is part of a 5-week series that is covering the top 50 coaches.

The decision was decided by the ESPN Forecast panel. Numbers 50-15 were named in today’s article, and includes No. 16 Roy Williams of North Carolina, No. 30 Bob Huggins of West Virginia, No. 31 Lon Kruger of Oklahoma, No. 33 Fran McCaffery of Iowa, No. 39 Tubby Smith of Texas Tech and No. 44 Rick Barnes of Texas.

The highest pick revealed today was No. 15 Fred Hoiberg of Iowa State. ESPN will reveal No. 14 on Tuesday, June 17.

By Michael Pagels on Littleapplepost.com

DETROIT (AP) – Omar Infante hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning and had an RBI single in a four-run fifth against former teammate Justin Verlander, helping the Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers 11-8 Monday night.

Kansas City has won a season-high eight straight to pull within a half-game of the AL Central-leading Tigers.

Detroit scored six runs in the ninth inning and pulled within three on J.D. Martinez’s two-out grand slam off Donnie Joseph.

Michael Mariot struck out Austin Jackson looking for the final out.

Jason Vargas (7-2) gave up two runs on seven hits and two walks to win his third straight.

Verlander (6-7) allowed seven earned runs in consecutive starts for the first time in his career, giving up a season-high 12 hits and striking out two over six innings.

 

DETROIT (AP) – Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez has left a game against the Detroit Tigers with cramps in both calves.

Perez reached first base on a fielding error in the seventh inning Monday night and a pinch-runner replaced him. Perez had two hits in the series-opening game and he is hitting .281 with seven homers and 23 RBIs this season.

A muddy  infield playing surface at Rathert Field has resulted in the cancellation of the baseball game that was scheduled Sunday night between the Junction City Brigade and the Topeka Senators.

A makeup date has not yet been determined.

Heavy rain moved through the Junction City area early Sunday morning.

The teams were scheduled to conclude their three-game weekend series Sunday evening. Junction City had won the first two games of the series by the scores of 3-1 and 10-0.

The Brigade will be in action Monday evening in Topeka against the Topeka Giants. The next home game is scheduled Thursday June 26 against the Rossville Rattlers.

The Junction City Brigade blanked the Topeka Senators 10-0 in a game called after seven innings Saturday night at Rathert Field.

The game was called two innings early per agreement of the coaches.

Junction City scored one run in the first inning, but then added four in the fourth, three in the fifth, and one each in the sixth and seventh innings. The Brigade ( 5-2 ) got shutout pitching from Dalton Shalberg and Jon Roblez combined enroute to the victory.

The Brigade host the Senators ( 4-3 ) Sunday night at Rathert Field at 7 p.m.

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On a side note the scoreboard at Rathert Field did was not operable Saturday night. Officials worked on the scorebox that is used in the press box to control the scoreboard, but were unsuccessful in their efforts to return it to service.

Officials at this point do not know the cause of the problem, but earlier in the day on Saturday there were major power outages in Junction City for a short time. Westar Energy confirmed that trees got into a main power line on 12th Street, causing the outages. It is unknown if that might have impacted the scoreboard at nearby Rathert Field or if there another problem.