April In April,
Jeremy Guthrie had the longest undefeated streak by a Royals pitcher over 13 starts since
Kevin Appier in 1994–95. On April 5,
Alex Gordon and
Chris Getz each hit a bases-loaded
triple, allowing the Royals to rally and beat the
Philadelphia Phillies 13–4, spoiling the Phillies'
home opener with a sellout crowd of 45,307 at
Citizens Bank Park. The
interleague matchup was a rare one between teams who first met in the
1980 World Series. The only other visit to Philadelphia by the Royals came in 2004. After getting a total of 17 hits in their first three games against the
Chicago White Sox, the Royals had 19 against the Phillies.
Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt and
George Brett, rivals when the Phillies beat the Royals to win their first
championship 33 years earlier, threw out the
first pitches (along with
SNL's
Joe Piscopo).
Wade Davis, acquired from
Tampa Bay Rays along with
James Shields, made his first start since 2011. He made 54
relief appearances for the Rays in 2012 after 58 starts from 2010 to 2011. The Royals didn't commit an error in their first seven games (64 2/3 innings) for the first time in team history. By April 10, the Royals had won four straight games and six of seven games to move three games above .500 for the first time since May 12, 2011, when they were 20–17. The Royals went on to
sweep the
Minnesota Twins at
home at
Kauffman Stadium.However, on April 12 (after a day off), the Royals lost against the
Toronto Blue Jays after committing three errors within the game, matching their season total at that time. Royals 1B
Eric Hosmer had tightness in his right
quadriceps and did not start for the second straight night on April 13. Nonetheless, as a result of Alex Gordon driving in a run, the Royals avoided a three-game sweep by the Blue Jays, who had won six straight and eight of 10 against the Royals at
Kauffman Stadium, including a four-game sweep in their only series in Kansas City from the previous season. Therefore, the Royals maintained first place in the
Central division, but were tied with the
Detroit Tigers after they defeated the
Oakland Athletics. ====Impact of the
Boston Marathon bombing==== Although performing well, the Royals helped the
Atlanta Braves win their
10th straight game with a 6–3 victory over KC on April 16. After both teams had a day off, players, managers and coaches for both teams
wore No. 42 on their jerseys to honor
Jackie Robinson. Like many teams, the Braves also held a
moment of silence before the game for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing (April 15). Chris Getz, KC's number 8 hitter, homered for the first time in nearly four years.
Jeff Francoeur, a former Braves RF, played his first game at
Turner Field with Kansas City. With
Wade Davis pitching 7 scoreless innings, the Royals beat the Braves 1–0 on April 17 to end
Atlanta's 10-game winning streak.[https://www.espn.com/mlb/recap?gameId=330417115&teams=kansas-city-royals-vs-atlanta-braves The Royals had a scheduled weekend series against the
Boston Red Sox on April 19–21. It was to be
Boston's first home game since the bombings, the explosions occurring 45 minutes after they finished playing the Rays on April 15 while en route to play the
Cleveland Indians. However, the
Greater Boston area went on a citywide
lockdown in search of a suspect on the morning of April 19. Therefore, their first "homecoming game" of the weekend was postponed. The Red Sox reported the decision was made "to support efforts of law enforcement officers." The Royals stayed at the Westin Copley Place Hotel near
Copley Square, about a
block from the marathon finish line. "We've been told not to go outside. We've been told the hotel has been locked down, although I've seen a handful of people moving around," Royals vice president Mike Swanson said. "The streets are just, wow. It's numbingly quiet for a noon hour in
Boston." No make-up game was immediately scheduled. However, with the second suspect captured that same evening and
Fenway Park under tight security, play resumed Saturday, April 20, with a win of 4–3 by Boston over the Royals. Following an emotional pregame ceremony, both teams honored the victims of the bombing tragedy by wearing special uniforms/logos. (The Red Sox wore white home jerseys with "Boston" on the front instead of the customary "Red Sox" while Kansas City players and staff wore a "B Strong" patch on the front of their jerseys, with the shirts being auctioned off for funds to support victims of the bombing.) The Red Sox later announced Friday's (April, 19) game would be made up as part of a day-night
doubleheader on Sunday (April, 21). The regularly scheduled game took place at 1:35 p.m. and a nightcap at 7 p.m. Even with the loss, the Royals moved to first place since the
Detroit Tigers also lost in the
American League Central. On April 21, Kansas City ended Boston's seven-game
winning streak with a 4–2 win over the Red Sox in the opener of a day-night doubleheader. With tributes to the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings still visibly clear, the Royals ended a season-opening streak of 16 games by Red Sox starters allowing three runs or less, tying an AL record achieved by the Oakland Athletics in 1978 and 1981. With the Detroit Tigers losing, the win kept the Royals secure in first place. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas City narrowly beat Boston 5–4 in 10 innings to win the weekend series (and sweep the doubleheader), as a result of
Lorenzo Cain walking with two outs and the bases loaded in the 10th inning. With both wins against the Red Sox on April 21, Kansas City remained in first place in the AL Central as did Boston in the AL East. A disappointing ending to an emotional weekend for the Red Sox,
Ervin Santana (2–1) pitched seven strong innings,
Kelvin Herrera (2–2) got the win, and
Greg Holland pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save in five opportunities.
Billy Butler homered in the eighth inning of the night game (clearing the
Green Monster). The Royals also recalled LHP
Will Smith from
Triple-A Omaha.
Remaining in first place On April 25,
Alex Gordon's
grand slam (clearing the 420-foot marker on the wall in center field) highlighted a five-run 10th inning for Kansas City, who rallied against the Detroit Tigers bullpen for an 8–3 win, keeping the Royals in first place (ALC).
Billy Butler had three hits on the day and improved to 23 for 55 (.418) off
Justin Verlander, the best mark of anyone with at least 30 at-bats against the Detroit pitcher.
Tim Collins (1–0) pitched a scoreless ninth for the Royals and got the win. This followed a game the previous day, which the Royals narrowly lost against Detroit (having only played two out of six days due to postponed games and having no batting practice prior to the game on April 24 as a result of bad weather). Overall, the Royals went 4–3 at Atlanta, Boston and Detroit. Kansas City did not play a home game since April 14. They played seven road games in 11 days. "This was a phenomenal road trip for us", said right-hander
James Shields, who pitched eight solid innings on April 25. "We're going to look back at this road trip, and I think it's going to be a pretty crucial road trip." On April 28, in the opener of a
doubleheader caused by a
rainout two days earlier,
Jeremy Guthrie (3–0) allowed six hits over 6 2/3 innings for his 16th consecutive start without a loss. That matched the Kansas City record set by
Paul Splittorff from August 13, 1977 – April 22, 1978. The Royals went on to beat the
Indians 9–0, with a memorable 500th career hit from
Alcides Escobar being a home run (370 feet) and a right center home run by Alex Gordon (438 feet),
May After spending most of April in first place (
AL Central), the Royals ended the month with a 14–10 record (7–4 at home), a half game behind the
Detroit Tigers as of April 30 (an improvement from their 6–15 mark going into May a year ago). However, on May 1, the Royals moved back into first place (15–10), due to the Tigers losing to the
Minnesota Twins and then the Royals later beating the
Tampa Bay Rays (giving them a .600
percentage). Unfortunately, it was not to last, as the Royals would go 8-20 for the month, their worst May record since 2006 (8-21). ==Season standings==