Kansas City Royals Need To Start Testing The Trade Market

With Kansas City out of the division title race, and the draft behind them, it's time for the Royals to turn their attention to the summer trade market.

Josh Outman Outduels Luke Hochevar as Royals Fall 2-1 In Oakland

The former University of Central Missouri pitcher Josh Outman picks up his first win in 16 outings for the A's as he went seven innings allowing just four hits and no runs. It was the longest start of his career that resulted in a shut-out.

His counterpart on the mound, Luke Hochevar had a no-hitter going for the Royals until the 6th inning when a Landon Powell single broke up the no-hit bid and started the inning for the A's. Just a few batters later Cliff Pennington hit a RBI-single that gave the A's the 1-0 lead.

The Royals had a chance in the top of the 7th inning with runners at first and third base but Outman got Mike Moustakas to pop out to the third baseman to end the inning for the Royals. Wednesday night also broke Moustakas' streak of hitting safely in his first four major league games.

Daric Barton added another RBI single for the A's in the bottom of the 7th inning to extend the A's lead to 2-0 at that point. It wasn't until the top of the 8th inning that the Royals got on the board as Alcides Escobar continued his hot-hitting from the first game of their series as he laced a double with one out to get something started for the Royals. He then proceeded to steal third base so Alex Gordon's infield hit resulted in a run for the Royals and split the difference as they trailed 2-1.

Escobar finished the day going 3-3 with a run scored. In his last two games Escobar is 6-8 with two runs scored and two RBI's. This is a welcomed site from the slick-fielding shortstop that has been criticized for his lack of production at the plate since coming over in the Zack Greinke trade from Milwaukee.

The Royals spolied a solid effort on the mound from Luke Hochevar as he went seven innings giving up two runs on five hits. Hochevar has gone at least six innings in nine of his last ten starts.

Oakland Athletics teammates Landon Powell (South Carolina) and Cliff Pennington (Texas A&M) will have a special eye on their Alma Mater's this weekend as the Gamecocks and Aggies face each other in the first round of games at the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska on Sunday night at 7pm ET on ESPN2.

The Royals and A's will play the rubber match of this series on Thursday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 3:35 ET. The Royals send Jeff Francis (3-6) to hill against Gio Gonzalez (5-5) for the A's.

Danny Duffy Gets First Major League Win As Kansas City Royals Defeat Oakland 7-4

The Royals got a quality start from Danny Duffy Tuesday night as the rookie left-hander picked up his first major league win in his home state of California. Duffy threw six innings, giving up just four hits and two runs with four walks and two strikeouts. Joakim Soria picks up his 10th save of the season for the Royals as he strikes out two to close out the 9th inning.

The Royals took a 1-0 lead in the top of the 2nd inning with Matt Treanors' RBI groundout that scored Jeff Francoeur, who had walked to start the inning. The Royals added another single run in the 4th inning with Alcides Escobars' RBI groundout that scored Mike Moustakas, who had singled to start the inning.

Duffy found his way out of trouble in the bottom of the 4th inning after giving up a solo home run to Hideki Matsui to bring the score to 2-1, he walked back-to-back batters with two outs bringing up Kurt Suzuki with runners and 1st and 2nd base. Duffy got him to ground into a fielder's choice at 3rd base ending the inning for the Athletics.

The Royals responded with the momentum in the top of the 5th inning by scoring two runs on Billy Butler's two-RBI double that extended the Royals lead to 4-1. The A's got a single run in the bottom of the 5th on a RBI-single from former Royal Coco Crisp to bring the A's within two at 4-2.

The Royals added two more runs in the 6th inning off of Athletics reliever Joey Devine, who grew up two hours west of Kansas City in Junction City, Kansas. Eric Hosmer's two-out RBI single off Devine gave the Royals a 5-2 lead right before Francouer added a sacrifice fly that extended that lead to 6-2.

The Royals were led on this night by their rookies. Danny Duffy threw well to pick up the win for the Royals and Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer led the team offensively. Moustakas finished the game 2-3 with two runs scored to bring his average to .385 through his first four professional games. He has hit safely in all four games and scored at least one run in each of those games as well. Hosmer finished the game 2-4 with a RBI and a run scored. Escobar also showed some life at the plate tonight going 3-5 with a run scored and two RBI's.

The Royals take on the Athletics again Wednesday night at 10:05 ET as the Royals try and put together a winning streak after winning their last two games. The Royals send Luke Hochevar (4-6) to the mound to face Josh Outman(1-1) for the Athletics. Outman played his college ball right outside of Kansas City in Warrensburg, MO at the University of Central Missouri. The 26-year old left-hander is making just his fifth start of the season.