Suspensions Outfielder
José Guillén was to be suspended for 15 days (12 games) for violation of Major League Baseball's Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Kansas City signed Guillén knowing that he might have been suspended. Guillén was
cited in the
Mitchell Report when it was released on December 13, 2007. The suspension was eventually upheld and Guillén never received any punishment.
Miguel Olivo faced a five-game suspension for fighting at
New York in the
2007 season while a member of the
Florida Marlins, but the suspension was reduced to four games after an appeal. He was eligible to begin playing on April 5 against the
Minnesota Twins. The roster listed 11 pitchers, 7 infielders, 4 outfielders, and 2 catchers. lasting six innings. The Royals hosted the Twins from April 11–13, where game-time temperatures reached as low as for the series. After losing the first two games and not scoring any runs, the Royals won the last game by a score of 5–1. Kansas City debuted their new alternate powder blue home jerseys to a sold-out crowd on April 12, with a replica jersey giveaway promotion.
Brian Bannister threw a complete game and allowed only three hits on April 13 in a 5–1 win. It was not until their 19th game of the season that the Royals fell under a .500 winning percentage in the middle of a seven-game losing streak after going 9–6 to start the season. When the streak was snapped they were 10–13. In 2007, the Royals lost their second game of the year and remained under .500 for the remainder of the season, finishing with a record of 69–93.
May was hitting .352 with 3 home runs, a triple, 9 doubles, 16 runs scored, and 14 runs batted in. At the Royals' May 9 game against the
Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City-native
David Cook threw out the
ceremonial first pitch and sang "
Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in the seventh inning stretch. At the time, Cook was a finalist on
American Idol, and he eventually won the competition.
Brian Bannister threw a two-hitter on May 11 in a 4–0 win over
Baltimore for the Royals' first victory over the Orioles after losing 12 consecutive games to the franchise. Through 40 games,
Joakim Soria had a 0.00 ERA and ten saves, and the Royals signed him to a three-year contract extension through the 2011 season. In early May, Kansas City completed their second series sweep against Detroit, advancing to 6–0 over the Tigers on the season.
Jon Lester of the
Boston Red Sox threw a
no-hitter against Kansas City on May 19. It was just the Royals' second game to register no hits against an opponent, and the first since May 15, 1973. The losing streak prompted
José Guillén to criticize his team's performance with the media after a 9–8 loss to
Minnesota: The Royals' losing streak was the longest in the majors since Kansas City and
Pittsburgh both had 13-game losing streaks in
2006. While going almost two weeks without a win, Kansas City had allowed three grand slams, lost a five-run lead in the ninth inning of one game and scored three or fewer runs in nine others. The losing caused Kansas City to make roster changes by sending the struggling
Billy Butler to
Triple-A affiliate
Omaha.
Mike Avilés was called up in exchange.
June at bat against
Rockies pitcher
Jorge de la Rosa. Looking to rebound from their 12-game losing streak in May, the Royals started the month of June with 4 consecutive series wins over
National League opponents. Kansas City completed its first ever series sweep of the
Cardinals in
St. Louis. In 12 years of
Interleague play, the Cardinals still hold the I-70 Series lead, 26–22, but the Royals have done better in St. Louis, winning 11 of 21 games. Following a sweep of the defending
National League champion Colorado Rockies, the Royals boasted an MLB-best 12–3 record in Interleague play and won for the tenth time in 11 games. Following their 12-game skid ended in May, the Royals went 15–9, closed to within seven games of .500 and skipped out of last place of the
American League Central. Fans booed Guillén in the eighth inning of the Royals' 4–2 win. He grounded to
Colorado Rockies third baseman
Garrett Atkins and began a slow run toward first base. Atkins' throw was off target, forcing
Todd Helton to leave the bag. If Guillén had been at full speed, he might have been safe. Guillén had been battling several injuries which had caused him to play easier in order to avoid the
disabled list.
Billy Butler rejoined the team after
Alberto Callaspo was involved in a
drunk driving incident. At the Royals' home game against the
Cardinals, the team inducted
Art Stewart into the Royals Hall of Fame. Stewart became the first
scout to be inducted into any of
Major League Baseball's franchise hall of fames, and the Royals' 23rd overall inductee. In the final game of the month, the Royals defeated the
Baltimore Orioles after
Miguel Olivo, on a 0-2 pitch, hit a game-tying home run into the left-field seats in the bottom of the 9th inning.
José Guillén batted in the Royals' game-winning run and
Joakim Soria closed out the game for his 22nd save. The Royals finished out the month of June with a 16–11 record.
July . He finished the season with 42 saves.
Joakim Soria was selected to be the Royals' lone representative in the
2008 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, and
José Guillén was named to the
All-Star Final Vote ballot. Guillén was involved in a heated argument with pitching coach
Bob McClure before the team's July 5 game against the
Tampa Bay Rays, but was not penalized for his actions. At the All-Star break, the Royals boasted a record of 43–53, an improvement compared to their 38–50 record from 2007 and 31–56 record in 2006. On July 21, the Royals suffered their worst defeat of the season, and the
Tigers registered their first victory over Kansas City in 2008 with a score of 19–4. By the seventh inning, it was 9–0 in favor of Detroit. When Guillén signed with Kansas City he knew the team wouldn't be a contender in 2008, but he was promised that moves would be made to build a winning team in 2009. The trade deadline passed on July 31 and the Royals made no trades.
August The Royals recorded a season-high 19 runs against the
Chicago White Sox on August 2 in a 9–7 win. The following day, Kansas City closed out the series against Chicago by winning 14–3. In two days, the Royals recorded 38 total hits for the first time in franchise history.
Joel Peralta gave up the first three and
Robinson Tejeda allowed the last home run after a pitching change. Royals third base coach
Luis Silverio and others restrained Guillén, while security escorted to a new seat in
Kauffman Stadium. but the team's best September since the 1977 season helped erase the losing record in the previous month. The Royals took control of fourth place in the division with another three-game sweep of Detroit. The Royals tied their win total from the 2007 season (69) with a victory over the
Seattle Mariners on September 18. The victory was the team's seventh consecutive victory. The Twins hold a ½ game lead in the
American League Central over the White Sox, and the Royals won two of three games, leading to a one-game playoff between the Twins and White Sox. The Royals finished the season with a 75–87 record, their best since 2003 thanks to an 18–8 mark in September.
Season standings Record vs. opponents Roster Game log ==Player stats==