Kansas City Royals lose to Baltimore Orioles 3-4 – MLB Update
Kansas City Royals lost to Baltimore Orioles 3-4 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri on Wednesday, May 16 in the opening game of their two match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
Kansas City looked in firm control when they had 3-1 lead in the eighth inning but relief pitcher Jonathan Broxton was unable to make the save as he allowed Wilson Betemit and J.J. Hardy to change the picture of the game. Adam Jones then homered in the fifteen to seal an epic win for the Orioles.
"I know Jonesy was a little frustrated there with some previous at-bats, but he got back under control and hit a mistake," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "Jonesy is having a great year. Jonesy doesn't ever give in. You always feel like if he struggles at some point someone is going to pay down the line. He doesn't forget. It's nothing personal. It's competition. It's just the way he's wound. He's a very competitive young man."
"It's pretty crazy what this team does," said Orioles starting pitcher Tommy Hunter. "It's 13 innings, 15 innings, 17 innings."
The Royals faced yet another humiliating defeat at Kauffman Stadium which damaged their home win-loss record to 4-14. It is extremely hard to understand why the Royals have not been able to use their home conditions to their advantage this season. Contrastingly, they have a much better away record with nine wins in eighteen games. Ned Yost and company certainly have the required talent and quality to floor even the best in the business. It seems they have a fear of winning. Every time they find themselves in a winning position, they retreat.
The mental skills coach will have to work extremely hard with the players to make them mentally stronger. Royals’ inability to seize the opportunities is mainly due to the fact they find them in unfamiliar territory in pressure situations.
Lack of belief is definitely taking away the positives from Yost and his team. It will be interesting to see if the Royals can put up a solid show in the second game of the series to restore some of the lost pride.
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