# 2009 Kansas City Royals season

The 2009 Kansas City Royals season was the 41st season for the franchise, and their 37th at Kauffman Stadium. The season began on April 7 with a game against the Chicago White Sox at U. S. Cellular Field, which Chicago won. On April 10, the Royals hosted the New York Yankees in the first game at the newly renovated Kauffman Stadium for the Royals' home opener. Interleague opponents included the St. Louis Cardinals, Arizona Diamondbacks, Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros and Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Royals looked to improve on their 2008 record of 75–87 and sought their first playoff appearance since 1985, as manager Trey Hillman returned for his second season with Kansas City. The Royals' payroll for the 2009 season was $70.5 million, approximately 25 percent higher than their 2008 payroll (and 21st in the major leagues).
There was much optimism for the Royals heading into the season, with some experts saying they had the potential reach the postseason. After a strong start and 18–11 record, the Royals suffered several losing streaks and fell back to a losing record, finishing with a dismal 65-97 record.

## Off-season
### Coaching staff changes

Following the 2008 season, third base coach Luis Silverio and hitting coach Mike Barnett were not retained on Trey Hillman's coaching staff. In October 2008, the Royals hired Kevin Seitzer as the team's new hitting coach and John Gibbons as bench coach. Seitzer served as the hitting coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2008, and Gibbons was the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays for five seasons. Both were dismissed from their respective teams before the 2007 season was completed. Dave Owen, the team's bench coach from 2008, will be the third base coach. Bob McClure (pitching), Rusty Kuntz (first base), and John Mizerock (bullpen) were all retained to complete the six-man staff.

### Winter meetings

After the acquisitions of Mike Jacobs and Coco Crisp, the Royals entered the Winter Meetings not seeking to add another big free agent acquisition like in years past (Gil Meche in 2007 and José Guillén in 2008). Through trades, Kansas City sought to acquire relief pitching, a middle infielder, and a starting pitcher. The Royals pursued both RHP Kyle Farnsworth and RHP Brandon Lyon, and signed Farnsworth to a two-year contract. The Royals also signed LHP Horacio Ramírez, who was previously with the team in 2008, and RHP Doug Waechter.
The Royals were also one of the final four teams that were in talks with SS Rafael Furcal. The acquisition of Furcal would have resulted in the Royals moving SS Mike Avilés to second base. Furcal played with the Atlanta Braves, where Royals general manager Dayton Moore worked prior to joining the Royals' front office. Reports said that Kansas City was maneuvering to clear payroll so that they could sign Furcal, or sign Orlando Cabrera, who was in the Royals' backup plan. Kansas City bowed out of talks with Furcal after they could not work around their payroll.
The Boston Globe reported that the Royals had "serious discussions" concerning a trade of RHP Zack Greinke to the Atlanta Braves for OF Jeff Francoeur. Reports about Kansas City's purported interest in Francoeur also surfaced weeks before the Winter Meetings but there had been no concrete evidence that the Royals pursued such a deal. Dayton Moore quickly denied the report. Moore showed a reluctance to trade Greinke or outfielders Mark Teahen and David DeJesus, all of whom were attached to rumors throughout the off-season.

### Roster moves

Kansas City entered the 2008–2009 off-season with 15 players eligible for arbitration.
* LHP John Bale (re-signed)
* RHP Brian Bannister
* C John Buck
* RHP Kyle Davies
* RHP Brandon Duckworth
* OF Joey Gathright (released)
* IF/OF Esteban Germán
* LHP Jimmy Gobble
* RHP Zack Greinke
* 2B Mark Grudzielanek (declined)
* 1B Mike Jacobs
* C Miguel Olivo
* RHP Joel Peralta
* IF Jason Smith
* IF/OF Mark Teahen
In October, the Royals acquired 1B Mike Jacobs from the Florida Marlins in exchange for SP Leo Núñez.
In November, the Royals acquired CF Coco Crisp from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for RP Ramón Ramírez.
In December, the Royals did not tender contracts to OF Joey Gathright, LHP John Bale, RHP Jairo Cuevas, and 2B Jason Smith. Bale was later re-signed on a one-year deal,
In January, the Royals agreed to a four-year, $38 million contract with RHP Zack Greinke.

## Regular season
### Season standings

vteAL Central :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Minnesota Twins | 87 | 76 | .534 | — | 49‍–‍33 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Detroit Tigers | 86 | 77 | .528 | 1 | 51‍–‍30 | 35‍–‍47 |
| Chicago White Sox | 79 | 83 | .488 | 7½ | 43‍–‍38 | 36‍–‍45 |
| Cleveland Indians | 65 | 97 | .401 | 21½ | 35‍–‍46 | 30‍–‍51 |
| Kansas City Royals | 65 | 97 | .401 | 21½ | 33‍–‍48 | 32‍–‍49 |

### Record vs. opponents

| Team | BAL | BOS | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | LAA | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TB | TEX | TOR | NL |
| Baltimore | – | 2–16 | 5–4 | 2–5 | 3–5 | 4–4 | 2–8 | 3–2 | 5–13 | 1–5 | 4–5 | 8–10 | 5–5 | 9–9 | 11–7 |
| Boston | 16–2 | – | 4–4 | 7–2 | 6–1 | 5–3 | 4–5 | 4–2 | 9–9 | 5–5 | 2–4 | 9–9 | 2–7 | 11–7 | 11–7 |
| Chicago | 4–5 | 4−4 | – | 10–8 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 5–4 | 6−12 | 3–4 | 4–5 | 4–5 | 6–2 | 2–4 | 1–6 | 12–6 |
| Cleveland | 5–2 | 2–7 | 8–10 | – | 4–14 | 10–8 | 2–4 | 8–10 | 3–5 | 2–5 | 6–4 | 5–3 | 1–8 | 4–4 | 5–13 |
| Detroit | 5–3 | 1–6 | 9–9 | 14–4 | – | 9–9 | 5–4 | 7–12 | 1–5 | 5–4 | 5–4 | 5–2 | 7–2 | 3–5 | 10–8 |
| Kansas City | 4–4 | 3–5 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 9–9 | – | 1–9 | 6–12 | 2–4 | 2–6 | 5–4 | 1–9 | 3–3 | 4–3 | 8–10 |
| Los Angeles | 8–2 | 5–4 | 4–5 | 4–2 | 4–5 | 9–1 | – | 6–4 | 5–5 | 12–7 | 10–9 | 4–2 | 8–11 | 4–4 | 14–4 |
| Minnesota | 2–3 | 2–4 | 12–6 | 10–8 | 12–7 | 12–6 | 4–6 | – | 0–7 | 4–6 | 5–5 | 3–3 | 6–4 | 3–5 | 12–6 |
| New York | 13–5 | 9–9 | 4–3 | 5–3 | 5–1 | 4–2 | 5–5 | 7–0 | – | 7–2 | 6–4 | 11–7 | 5–4 | 12–6 | 10–8 |
| Oakland | 5–1 | 5–5 | 5–4 | 5–2 | 4–5 | 6–2 | 7–12 | 6–4 | 2–7 | – | 5–14 | 6–4 | 11–8 | 3–6 | 5–13 |
| Seattle | 5–4 | 4–2 | 5–4 | 4–6 | 4–5 | 4–5 | 9–10 | 5–5 | 4–6 | 14–5 | – | 5–3 | 8–11 | 3–4 | 11–7 |
| Tampa Bay | 10–8 | 9–9 | 2–6 | 3–5 | 2–5 | 9–1 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 7–11 | 4–6 | 3–5 | – | 3–6 | 14–4 | 13–5 |
| Texas | 5–5 | 7–2 | 4–2 | 8–1 | 2–7 | 3–3 | 11–8 | 4–6 | 4–5 | 8–11 | 11–8 | 6–3 | – | 5–5 | 9–9 |
| Toronto | 9–9 | 7–11 | 6–1 | 4–4 | 5–3 | 3–4 | 4–4 | 5–3 | 6–12 | 6–3 | 4–3 | 4–14 | 5–5 | – | 7–11 |
* view
* talk
* Source: MLB Standings Grid – 2009

## Monthly summaries
### April

The Royals' season opener against the Chicago White Sox was originally scheduled for April 6 but was postponed due to snow forecasts in the Chicago area. The game was rescheduled for April 7, which was originally an off-day for both teams. The Royals lost the first game of the season after Kyle Farnsworth gave up a game-losing, three-run homer to Chicago's Jim Thome. After losing the first game to Chicago, the Royals won two of three games against Chicago to open the series. The Royals played the New York Yankees on April 10 at the newly renovated Kauffman Stadium for their home opener. It was the first game of a three-game series. Kansas City lost the first two games and trailed late in the 8th inning of the third game before Brayan Peña scored a game-tying RBI double and then scored the go-ahead run on Alberto Callaspo's RBI single. Peña is the team's third-string catcher and was listed as designated hitter for the day. The Royals would hold on to the 6–4 lead for their third win on the season.
On April 17 the Royals began a three-game series with the Texas Rangers and eventually won two of them. On that day, 3B Alex Gordon was placed on the disabled list and was ruled out for at least two months after having surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right hip. Despite the bad news, the Royals beat the Rangers 12–3 in the opening game of the series. In the second game against the Rangers (on April 18), RHP Zack Greinke recorded his first career shut-out and extended his scoreless inning streak to 34. The streak dated back to the 2008 Kansas City Royals season. This brought Greinke's statistics to three wins in three starts and an 0.00 ERA, the best in the American League at the time. Texas' Kevin Millwood, who started for the Rangers, had the American League's second lowest ERA entering the game with a 0.64 ERA. The Royals entered the third game of the series against Texas looking for their first series sweep of the season. After trailing 5–3 in the bottom of the eighth, the Rangers tied the game at 5 by the ninth inning after Royals set up pitchers Ron Mahay and Jamie Wright allowed two runs. Texas' Michael Young hit a game-winning leadoff home run off of reliever Kyle Farnsworth's second pitch of the inning. The loss brought Kansas City down to a three-way tie for first place in the American League Central with Detroit and Chicago. Royals manager Trey Hillman kept closer Joakim Soria in the bullpen for the entire series instead reasoning that he didn't want Soria to be used for more than one inning in the third game. RHP Brian Bannister was recalled from Triple-A Omaha to pitch for Kansas City on April 22 and replaced both the injured Doug Waechter, who was placed on the DL, and the struggling Horacio Ramírez in the pitching rotation. Bannister and Jamie Wright pitched eight shut-out innings before closer Joakim Soria returned from an eight-day hiatus to close out the 2–0 victory. Soria battled injuries for most of the month.
Zack Greinke's scoreless innings streak ended at 38 when an unearned run was scored after an errant throw by Mike Avilés in a 6–1 Royals victory over the Detroit Tigers. The run was unearned so Greinke's ERA stayed at 0.00 and his record improved to 4-0 on the season. The game was also Greinke's second complete game of the season. Greinke was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated's May 4, 2009, issue (Volume 110, Issue 18) for a cover story by Joe Posnanski called "The Best Pitcher in Baseball." Greinke is the first Royals player to appear on the magazine cover since pitcher David Cone on April 5, 1993, for the magazine's baseball preview. The last Kansas City player to appear in an in-season cover was back on June 12, 1989, when SI featured outfielder Bo Jackson.
The team won three of four games against the Toronto Blue Jays, who entered the series with baseball's best record. On April 29 Zack Greinke was the first pitcher of the season to record his fifth win and allowed only two runs to the Blue Jays in an 11–3 victory. This brought his ERA for the season from 0.00 to 0.50. By finishing with a 12-10 record for the month, the Royals registered their first winning April since 2003 when they began the season with a 16-7 record.

### May

The Royals entered the month of May in sole-possession of first place in the American League Central. They traveled to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome to play the Minnesota Twins in a three-game series to start off the month. The series was hotly contested with the Royals scoring 22 runs and the Twins scoring 19 and several lead changes. The second game of the series was decided in 11 innings. In the third game, the Royals were no-hit by Scott Baker through six innings before an offensive but then suddenly unleashed an offensive flurry in the seventh, scoring five runs to roar ahead and hold on for a stunning 7–5 victory. Zack Greinke threw his third complete game in a 3–0 shutout of the White Sox on May 4 and improved his record to 6-0 on the year with a 0.40 ERA. Greinke lost his first game of the season to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on May 9 in a 1–0 loss. Greinke pitched a complete game and his ERA rose to 0.51.
Joakim Soria continued to battle injuries to his shoulder and his appearances were limited in the early part of May. He was placed on the disabled list and Sidney Ponson was sent to the bullpen in exchange for Luke Hochevar being called up from Triple-A Omaha. In his first appearance of the season, Hochevar lasted only two innings and allowed eight runs in a 12–3 loss to the Oakland Athletics. Entering the game, Kansas City's team ERA led the American League, but took a hit with Hochevar's performance. By the beginning of the fifth inning, Oakland led the game 12–0 and the Royals never recovered and dropped their fourth consecutive game. The Royals lost all five games of their road trip against the Angels and Athletics after sweeping their four-game homestand against the White Sox and Mariners.
Zack Greinke's eighth start of the season was delayed by two and half hours of rainfall, but the Royals still won the game 8–1 against the Baltimore Orioles. The game was held at Kauffman Stadium and had a sell-out crowd of 38,353 along with many other games in the season selling out for Greinke's starts. The Royals split their four-game home series against the Orioles.
On May 19, Kansas City trailed Cleveland 5–2 entering the ninth inning but accomplished their biggest comeback victory of the season. After two consecutive home runs by Mike Jacobs and Mark Teahen, the Royals rallied to a 6–5 victory after a sacrifice fly by Willie Bloomquist brought David DeJesus home for the winning run.
Kansas City began Interleague play against their cross-state rival St. Louis Cardinals. After losing the first two games of the series by scores of 5–0, the Royals fell to a 21-22 record and under the .500 mark for the first time since April 11 when they were 2-3. After optioning three players (Mike Avilés, Luke Hochevar, and Robinson Tejeda) to the inactive roster, Kansas City won the final game 3–2 and regained a .500 record on the season.
By the end of the month, the Royals began to slip from the top of their division standings in the American League Central, especially following a three-game sweep by the Chicago White Sox left the team with a 23–27 record. An 11–17 record in May dropped the Royals down to fourth place in the division.

### June

Looking to rebound from a sub-par month of May, the Royals began June with a three-game series at Tampa Bay on June 2, but continued to flounder, dropping all three games. They lost their eighth game in a row on June 5 at Toronto, but broke the losing streak the next day thanks to a strong performance from Luke Hochevar. In the 2009 Major League Baseball draft held on June 9 the Royals selected RHP Aaron Crow with the 12th overall selection. Crow attended the University of Missouri, was born in nearby Topeka, Kansas, and was a longtime Royals fan prior to being selected with the team. That same day, the Royals' defense and bullpen allowed eight unanswered runs to the Indians in an 8–4 loss. The loss dropped the Royals to fifth place in the American League Central.

### Game log

2009 game log :
April (12–10)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
April 6@ White SoxPostponed
1April 7@ White Sox4–2Dotel (1–0)Farnsworth (0–1)Jenks (1)37,4490–1
2April 8@ White Sox2–0Greinke (1–0)Floyd (0–1)Soria (1)22,8171–1
3April 9@ White Sox2–1Mahay (1–0)Jenks (0–1)Soria (2)18,0912–1
4April 10Yankees4–1Pettitte (1–0)Ponson (0–1)Rivera (1)38,0982–2
5April 11Yankees6–1Sabathia (1–1)Ramírez (0–1)31,2712–3
6April 12Yankees6–4Cruz (1–0)Coke (0–1)Soria (3)17,6293–3
7April 13Indians4–2Greinke (2–0)Carmona (0–2)Soria (4)10,0614–3
8April 14Indians9–3Davies (1–0)Pavano (0–2)11,7565–3
9April 15Indians5–4Lewis (1–0)Farnsworth (0–2)Wood (1)13,5895–4
10April 17@ Rangers12–3Meche (1–0)Harrison (0–2)24,0626–4
11April 18@ Rangers2–0Greinke (3–0)Millwood (1–1)37,6357–4
12April 19@ Rangers6–5Francisco (1–0)Farnsworth (0–3)27,6357–5
13April 21@ Indians8–7Laffey (1–0)Ponson (0–2)Wood (2)11,4087–6
14April 22@ Indians2–0Bannister (1–0)Lee (1–3)Soria (5)13,5098–6
15April 23@ Indians5–2Lewis (2–2)Meche (1–1)Wood (3)12,8528–7
16April 24Tigers6–1Greinke (4–0)Porcello (1–2)36,3639–7
17April 25Tigers9–1Miner (2–1)Davies (1–1)37,6479–8
18April 26Tigers3–2Galarraga (3–0)Ponson (0–3)Rodney (4)13,5209–9
19April 27Blue Jays7–1Bannister (2–0)Purcey (0–2)9,68510–9
20April 28Blue Jays8–1Richmond (3–0)Meche (1–2)15,19110–10
21April 29Blue Jays11–3Greinke (5–0)Tallet (1–1)10,61911–10
22April 30Blue Jays8–6Davies (2–1)Burres (0–2)Cruz (1)11,89612–10 :
May (11–17)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
23May 1@ Twins7–5Slowey (4–0)Ponson (0–4)Nathan (4)24,72712–11
24May 2@ Twins10–7 (11)Soria (1–0)Breslow (0–1)29,06113–11
25May 3@ Twins7–5Meche (2–2)Baker (0–4)Soria (6)31,84514–11
26May 4White Sox3–0Greinke (6–0)Colón (2–2)21,84315–11
27May 5White Sox8–7 (11)Cruz (2–0)Broadway (0–1)13,41916–11
28May 6Mariners9–1Ponson (1–4)Silva (1–3)15,32417–11
29May 7Mariners3–1Bannister (3–0)Washburn (3–2)Soria (7)32,71418–11
30May 8@ Angels4–1Palmer (3–0)Meche (2–3)Fuentes (8)41,01918–12
31May 9@ Angels1–0Saunders (5–1)Greinke (6–1)39,77618–13
32May 10@ Angels4–3Shields (1–2)Wright (0–1)Fuentes (9)43,64618–14
33May 12@ Athletics12–3Cahill (2–2)Hochevar (0–1)10,15618–15
34May 13@ Athletics7–2Outman (1–0)Bannister (3–1)16,05718–16
35May 14Orioles9–5Guthrie (3–3)Meche (2–4)24,43118–17
36May 15Orioles8–1Greinke (7–1)Eaton (2–4)38,35319–17
37May 16Orioles3–2Hill (1–0)Davies (2–2)Sherrill (7)26,72019–18
38May 17Orioles7–4Cruz (3–0)Johnson (2–2)22,79120–18
39May 19Indians6–5Farnsworth (1–3)Wood (1–2)25,02421–18
40May 20Indians6–5Laffey (3–0)Ponson (1–5)Wood (6)19,65221–19
41May 21Indians8–3Pavano (4–4)Ramírez (0–2)Betancourt (1)23,09521–20
42May 22@ Cardinals5–0Wellemeyer (4–4)Davies (2–3)43,42921–21
43May 23@ Cardinals5–0Lohse (4–3)Hochevar (0–2)43,82921–22
44May 24@ Cardinals3–2Bannister (4–1)Piñeiro (5–4)Cruz (2)44,21322–22
45May 25Tigers13–1Verlander (5–2)Meche (2–5)34,52422–23
46May 26Tigers6–1Greinke (8–1)Jackson (4–3)16,36623–23
47May 27Tigers8–3Porcello (6–3)Davies (2–4)16,56823–24
48May 29White Sox11–2Richard (2–0)Bannister (4–2)26,49523–25
49May 30White Sox5–3Linebrink (2–2)Cruz (3–1)Jenks (11)37,89423–26
50May 31White Sox7–4Thornton (2–1)Bale (0–1)Jenks (12)19,85523–27 :
June (10–16)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
51June 2@ Rays6–2Sonnanstine (4–5)Davies (2–5)13,60423–28
52June 3@ Rays9–0Niemann (5–4)Bannister (4–3)15,25623–29
53June 4@ Rays3–2Shields (5–4)Wright (0–2)Howell (2)16,10323–30
54June 5@ Blue Jays9–3Romero (3–2)Greinke (8–2)15,43523–31
55June 6@ Blue Jays6–2Hochevar (1–2)Richmond (4–3)16,55224–31
56June 7@ Blue Jays4–0Halladay (10–1)Davies (2–6)21,07124–32
57June 9@ Indians8–4Pérez (1–1)Cruz (3–2)15,03824–33
58June 10@ Indians9–0Meche (3–5)Pavano (6–5)16,25725–33
59June 11@ Indians4–3 (10)Herges (2–0)Farnsworth (1–4)14,34225–34
60June 12Reds4–1Hochevar (2–2)Maloney (0–1)32,95926–34
61June 13Reds7–4Davies (3–6)Arroyo (7–5)29,57427–34
62June 14Reds7–1Bannister (5–3)Cueto (6–4)24,52528–34
63June 16Diamondbacks5–0Meche (4–5)Davis (3–8)26,97429–34
64June 17Diamondbacks12–5Scherzer (4–4)Greinke (8–3)29,77729–35
65June 18Diamondbacks12–5Haren (6–4)Hochevar (2–3)14,12929–36
66June 19Cardinals10–5Thompson (2–2)Davies (3–7)37,66029–37
67June 20Cardinals7–1Carpenter (5–1)Bannister (5–4)Franklin (17)38,76929–38
68June 21Cardinals12–5Wainwright (8–4)Meche (4–6)33,80529–39
69June 23@ Astros2–1Greinke (9–3)Ortiz (3–3)Soria (8)30,04930–39
70June 24@ Astros4–3Soria (2–0)Fulchino (2–3)Bale (1)28,60231–39
71June 25@ Astros5–4Wright (2–1)Bannister (5–5)Valverde (6)32,04831–40
72June 26@ Pirates5–3Vasquez (1–0)Meche (4–7)Capps (17)18,45831–41
73June 27@ Pirates6–2Maholm (5–4)Chen (0–1)36,03231–42
74June 28@ Pirates3–2Greinke (10–3)Morton (0–1)Soria (9)25,88832–42
75June 29Twins4–2Hochevar (3–3)Blackburn (6–4)Soria (10)22,06633–42
76June 30Twins2–1Baker (6–6)Bannister (5–6)Nathan (20)19,31033–43 :
July (7–19)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
77July 1Twins5–1Perkins (4–4)Meche (4–8)Nathan (21)18,90633–44
78July 2White Sox4–1Buehrle (8–2)Chen (0–2)Jenks (19)17,96433–45
79July 3White Sox5–0Danks (7–6)Greinke (10–4)Linebrink (2)39,02633–46
80July 4White Sox6–4Hochevar (4–3)Floyd (6–6)Soria (11)18,18234–46
81July 5White Sox6–3Bannister (6–6)Richard (3–2)Soria (12)15,91535–46
82July 6@ Tigers4–3Colón (1–0)Rodney (0–2)Soria (13)32,13436–46
83July 7@ Tigers8–5Verlander (9–4)Chen (0–3)Rodney (18)29,75136–47
84July 8@ Tigers3–1French (1–0)Greinke (10–5)Rodney (19)29,10436–48
85July 9@ Red Sox8–4Hochevar (5–3)Masterson (3–3)Soria (14)38,18937–48
86July 10@ Red Sox1–0Lester (8–6)Bannister (6–7)Papelbon (23)38,11637–49
87July 11@ Red Sox15–9Smoltz (1–2)Meche (4–9)37,82537–50
88July 12@ Red Sox6–0Beckett (11–3)Chen (0–4)37,61237–51
89July 17Rays8–7Nelson (3–0)Cruz (3–3)Howell (7)33,56837–52
90July 18Rays4–2Bradford (1–0)Cruz (3–4)30,28837–53
91July 19Rays4–3Balfour (4–1)Wright (0–3)Howell (9)18,93437–54
July 20AngelsPostponed (rain); Rescheduled for July 21
92July 21Angels8–5Santana (3–5)Ponson (1–6)Fuentes (29)N/A37–55
93July 21Angels10–2O'Sullivan (3–0)Chen (0–5)23,87437–56
94July 22Angels9–6Speier (4–2)Colón (1–1)Fuentes (30)18,07837–57
95July 24Rangers2–0Feldman (9–3)Greinke (10–6)Wilson (10)25,01237–58
96July 25Rangers6–3Hochevar (6–3)Holland (3–6)Soria (15)27,60238–58
97July 26Rangers7–2Nippert (3–0)Mahay (1–1)16,84738–59
98July 27@ Orioles5–3Tejeda (1–0)Albers (1–4)Soria (16)15,16939–59
99July 28@ Orioles4–3 (11)Wright (1–3)Báez (4–4)Soria (17)21,54540–59
100July 29@ Orioles7–3Albers (2–4)Tejeda (1–1)Johnson (2)19,74140–60
101July 30@ Orioles7–3Bergesen (7–5)Hochevar (6–4)19,19440–61
103July 31@ Rays8–2Price (4–4)Ponson (1–7)26,59640–62 :
August (10–19)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
103August 1@ Rays7–1Niemann (10–5)Chen (0–6)36,97340–63
104August 2@ Rays4–1Bannister (7–7)Shields (6–8)Soria (18)27,93041–63
105August 3@ Rays10–4Kazmir (6–6)Greinke (10–7)24,21941–64
106August 4Mariners7–6Kelley (3–1)Wright (1–4)Aardsma (26)15,05741–65
107August 5Mariners11–6French (2–2)Davies (3–8)27,80541–66
108August 6Mariners8–2Chen (1–6)Vargas (3–6)15,10342–66
109August 7Athletics9–4Mazzaro (3–8)Bannister(7–8)21,91842–67
110August 8Athletics12–6Greinke (11–7)Mortensen(0–1)29,81843–67
111August 9Athletics6–3Anderson (7–8)Hochevar (6–5)Bailey (16)19,43943–68
112August 11@ Twins14–6Davies (4–8)Blackburn (8–7)32,12144–68
113August 12@ Twins7–1Liriano (5–11)Bannister (7–9)30,10544–69
114August 13@ Twins5–4Meche (5–9)Pavano (10–9)Soria (19)32,37345–69
115August 14@ Tigers1–0Lyon (5–4)Colón (1–2)34,79945–70
116August 15@ Tigers0–3Jackson (6–6)Hochevar (9–5)37,27645–71
117August 16@ Tigers3–2 (10)Soria (3–0)Rodney (2–3)32,88846–71
118August 17@ White Sox8–7Linebrink (3–5)Colón (1–3)Jenks (25)36,70346–72
119August 18@ White Sox4–5Meche (6–9)García (0–1)Soria (20)28,81247–72
120August 19@ White Sox4–2Contreras (5–11)Greinke (11–8)Jenks (26)25,78647–73
121August 21Twins5–4Nathan (2–1)Soria (3–1)22,28347–74
122August 22Twins8–7Duensing (1–1)Davies (4–9)Guerrier (1)33,81147–75
123August 23Twins10–3Pavano (11–9)Bannister (7–10)18,68047–76
124August 24Indians10–6Sowers (5–9)Soria (3–2)11,10147–77
125August 25Indians6–2Greinke (12–8)Masterson (4–5)17,35347–78
126August 26Indians4–2Huff (8–7)Hochevar (6–7)Wood (16)10,75148–78
127August 27@ Mariners8–4Davies (5–9)Fister (1–1)19,34549–78
128August 28@ Mariners6–3Hernández (13–5)Bannister (7–11)Aardsma (31)26,71449–79
129August 29@ Mariners8–4Snell (5–9)Meche (6–10)26,45749–80
130August 30@ Mariners3–0Greinke (13–8)Rowland-Smith (2–2)30,28650–80
131August 31@ Athletics8–5Breslow (6–7)Hochevar (6–8)Bailey (21)10,37650–81 :
September (14–11)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
132September 1@ Athletics4–3Davies (6–9)Marshall (0–2)Soria (21)10,03951–81
133September 2@ Athletics10–4Cahill (8–12)Bannister (7–12)13,92051–82
134September 4Angels2–1Weaver (14–5)Wright (1–5)Fuentes (38)17,44751–83
135September 5Angels2–1 (11)Jepsen (5–3)Yabuta (0–1)Fuentes (39)22,62851–84
136September 6Angels7–2Saunders (12–7)Hochevar (6–9)16,74551–85
137September 7Angels6–3Davies (7–9)Santana (7–8)Soria (22)18,45352–85
137September 8Tigers7–5Yabuta (1–1)Seay (5–3)Soria (23)12,03253–85
138September 9Tigers5–1Tejeda (2–1)Verlander (16–8)Soria (24)10,58454–85
139September 10Tigers7–4Colón (2–3)Miner (6–5)Rosa (1)12,02955–85
141September 11@ Indians2–1Wright (2–5)Veras (4–3)Soria (25)26,00656–85
142September 12@ Indians13–6Huff (10–7)Hochevar (6–10)24,84256–86
143September 13@ Indians7–0Davies (8–9)Carrasco (0–2)21,15357–86
144September 15@ Tigers11–1Tejeda (3–1)Washburn (9–9)20,42258–86
145September 16@ Tigers4–3Miner (7–5)DiNardo (0–1)Rodney (33)25,40058–87
146September 17@ Tigers9–2Greinke (14–8)Jackson (12–7)26,45759–87
147September 18@ White Sox11–0Hochevar (7–10)Buehrle (12–9)29,17962–87
148September 19@ White Sox13–3Peavy (1–0)Hughes (0–1)28,32960–88
149September 20@ White Sox2–1Tejeda (4–1)García (2–3)Soria (26)22,79861–88
150September 21Red Sox12–9Yabuta (2–1)Bard (2–2)Soria (27)16,77062–88
151September 22Red Sox5–1Greinke (15–8)Byrd (1–2)Soria (28)21,22863–88
152September 23Red Sox9–2Beckett (16–6)Hochevar (7–11)18,98963–89
153September 24Red Sox10–3Buchholz (7–3)Lerew (0–1)20,80763–90
154September 25Twins9–4Pavano (13–11)Tejeda (4–2)23,30763–91
155September 26Twins11–6Baker (14–9)DiNardo (0–2)30,69063–92
156September 27Twins4–1Greinke (16–8)Liriano (5–13)Soria (29)28,72164–92
157September 28@ Yankees8–2Gaudin (2–0)Hochevar (7–12)45,34864–93
158September 29@ Yankees4–3Bruney (5–0)Farnsworth (1–5)44,79464–94
159September 30@ Yankees4–3Wright (3–5)Marte (1–3)Soria (30)46,95665–94 :
October (0–3)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecord
160October 2@ Twins10–7Manship (1–1)DiNardo (0–3)Nathan (46)40,22365–95
161October 3@ Twins5–4Rauch (5–1)Hughes (0–2)Nathan (47)48,64465–96
162October 4@ Twins13–4Pavano (14–12)Hochevar (7–13)51,15565–97 :
Please do not edit this line: OgreBot End-->

## Player stats
### Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; AVG = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases
| Player | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | AVG | SB |
| (C) Miguel Olivo | 114 | 390 | 51 | 97 | 15 | 5 | 23 | 65 | .249 | 5 |
| (1B) Billy Butler | 159 | 608 | 78 | 183 | 51 | 1 | 21 | 93 | .301 | 1 |
| (2B) Alberto Callaspo | 155 | 576 | 79 | 173 | 41 | 8 | 11 | 73 | .300 | 2 |
| (SS) Yuniesky Betancourt | 71 | 246 | 25 | 59 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 27 | .240 | 0 |
| (3B) Mark Teahen | 144 | 524 | 69 | 142 | 34 | 1 | 12 | 50 | .271 | 8 |
| (LF) David DeJesus | 144 | 558 | 74 | 157 | 28 | 9 | 13 | 71 | .281 | 4 |
| (CF) Mitch Maier | 127 | 341 | 42 | 83 | 15 | 3 | 3 | 31 | .243 | 9 |
| (RF) José Guillén | 81 | 281 | 30 | 68 | 8 | 0 | 9 | 40 | .242 | 1 |
| (DH) Mike Jacobs | 128 | 434 | 46 | 99 | 16 | 1 | 19 | 61 | .228 | 0 |
| (UT) Willie Bloomquist | 125 | 434 | 52 | 115 | 11 | 8 | 4 | 29 | .265 | 25 |
| (CF) Coco Crisp | 49 | 180 | 30 | 41 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 14 | .228 | 13 |
| (C) John Buck | 59 | 186 | 16 | 46 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 36 | .247 | 1 |
| (3B) Alex Gordon | 49 | 164 | 28 | 38 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 22 | .232 | 5 |
| (C) Brayan Peña | 64 | 165 | 17 | 45 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 18 | .273 | 0 |
| (SS) Mike Avilés | 36 | 120 | 10 | 22 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | .183 | 1 |
| (CF) Josh Anderson | 44 | 118 | 20 | 28 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | .237 | 12 |
| (SS) Luis Hernández | 37 | 73 | 4 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .205 | 1 |
| (SS) Tony Peña Jr. | 40 | 51 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .098 | 0 |
| (OF) Ryan Freel | 18 | 45 | 8 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .244 | 0 |
| (UT) Tug Hulett | 15 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .111 | 0 |
| Pitcher Totals | 162 | 20 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .150 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 162 | 5532 | 686 | 1432 | 276 | 51 | 144 | 657 | .259 | 88 |

### Pitching

Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; H = Hits allowed; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs; BB = Walks; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | W | L | ERA | G | GS | SV | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| (SP) Zack Greinke | 16 | 8 | 2.16 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 229.1 | 195 | 64 | 65 | 51 | 242 |
| (SP) Brian Bannister | 7 | 12 | 4.73 | 26 | 26 | 0 | 154.0 | 161 | 94 | 81 | 50 | 98 |
| (SP) Luke Hochevar | 7 | 13 | 6.55 | 25 | 25 | 0 | 143.0 | 167 | 109 | 104 | 46 | 106 |
| (SP) Gil Meche | 6 | 10 | 5.09 | 23 | 23 | 0 | 129.0 | 144 | 81 | 73 | 58 | 95 |
| (SP) Kyle Davies | 8 | 9 | 5.27 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 123.0 | 122 | 76 | 72 | 66 | 86 |
| (CL) Joakim Soria | 3 | 2 | 2.21 | 47 | 0 | 30 | 53.0 | 44 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 69 |
| (RP) Jamey Wright | 3 | 5 | 4.33 | 65 | 0 | 0 | 79.0 | 73 | 51 | 38 | 44 | 60 |
| (RP) Juan Cruz | 3 | 4 | 5.72 | 46 | 0 | 2 | 50.1 | 46 | 34 | 32 | 29 | 38 |
| (RP) Román Colón | 2 | 3 | 4.83 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 50.1 | 50 | 27 | 27 | 22 | 29 |
| (RP) John Bale | 0 | 1 | 5.72 | 43 | 0 | 1 | 28.1 | 34 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 24 |
| Robinson Tejeda | 4 | 2 | 3.54 | 35 | 6 | 0 | 73.2 | 43 | 30 | 29 | 50 | 87 |
| Bruce Chen | 1 | 6 | 5.78 | 17 | 9 | 0 | 62.1 | 74 | 42 | 40 | 25 | 32 |
| Sidney Ponson | 1 | 7 | 7.36 | 14 | 9 | 0 | 58.2 | 79 | 50 | 48 | 25 | 32 |
| Ron Mahay | 1 | 1 | 4.79 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 41.1 | 55 | 26 | 22 | 19 | 34 |
| Kyle Farnsworth | 1 | 5 | 4.58 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 37.1 | 43 | 22 | 19 | 14 | 42 |
| Horacio Ramírez | 0 | 2 | 5.96 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 22.2 | 27 | 16 | 15 | 11 | 13 |
| Lenny DiNardo | 0 | 3 | 10.13 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 21.1 | 41 | 28 | 24 | 15 | 8 |
| Dusty Hughes | 0 | 2 | 5.14 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 14.0 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 15 |
| Yasuhiko Yabuta | 2 | 1 | 13.50 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 14.0 | 29 | 21 | 21 | 7 | 9 |
| Anthony Lerew | 0 | 1 | 4.05 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 13.1 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7 |
| Víctor Marte | 0 | 0 | 8.25 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 12.0 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 7 |
| Carlos Rosa | 0 | 0 | 3.38 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 10.2 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| Doug Waechter | 0 | 0 | 8.44 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5.1 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| Team Totals | 65 | 97 | 4.83 | 162 | 162 | 34 | 1426.0 | 1486 | 842 | 765 | 600 | 1153 |

## Awards and honors
### Player of the week

April 13–19: Zack Greinke, shared with Ian Kinsler (Texas Rangers).

### Pitcher of the month

April: Zack Greinke.

### Pepsi clutch performer of the month

April: Zack Greinke.

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Omaha Royals | Pacific Coast League | Mike Jirschele |
| AA | Northwest Arkansas Naturals | Texas League | Brian Poldberg |
| A | Wilmington Blue Rocks | Carolina League | Brian Rupp |
| A | Burlington Bees | Midwest League | Jim Gabella |
| Rookie | Burlington Royals | Appalachian League | Nelson Liriano |
| Rookie | AZL Royals | Arizona League | Julio Bruno |
| Rookie | Idaho Falls Chukars | Pioneer League | Darryl Kennedy |