The Royals held the Rays to one run Thursday, making it a franchise-record 12 straight games in which Kansas City has held its opponent to three runs or fewer. The club's previous record for a such a streak was 11 games, done in August 1991.

Good morning fans !!! On My way to Arkansas nortwest !!! Ready to star My first official rehab game !!

***Ex-Royals and current Tampa Bay Rays prospect Mike Montgomery threw seven no-hit innings for Triple-A Durham yesterday, although he also walked four guys. On the season he has a 4.05 ERA with a 19/11 K/BB in 26.2 innings. The report I have indicates that he's restored most of the velocity he lost in 2012, but his command remains spotty. Still, his chances in Tampa seem better than they were in Kansas City.

Royals: They don’t exactly look like buyers, do they? No, but it’s difficult to imagine the Royals selling. They might be near the bottom of the AL Central, but they want to salvage a season that began with great promise. That’s why they hired George Brett as hitting coach, and why they ultimately might fire Ned Yost as manager. Right-hander Ervin Santana, in the final year of his contract, is pitching quite well. At this point, the Royals probably would prefer to make him a qualifying offer than trade him.

International League Wil Myers, Durham (.423/.464/1.038, 6 G, 11-for-26, 2 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 15 RBI, 7 R, 2 BB, 7 K) Following a lull at the beginning of last month, Myers really turned it on in the final week of May. He homered and tallied five RBIs on Monday and followed that up with a two-homer performance a day later. He drove in multiple runs in four of his six games last week and is now second in the IL with 46 RBIs -- nearly a third of which came in those half-dozen contests last week.

Through Friday, the Royals’ left-handed hitting first baseman, Eric Hosmer, had hit only 10 balls in the air to right field the entire season while grounding that way 49 times, according to Inside Edge. The typical left-handed hitter hits 19 percent of balls in the air to right field, but Hosmer’s rate of seven percent ranked as the lowest in the majors (minimum, 70 balls in play). This sure isn’t the guy we all fell in love with in 2011. Hosmer hit 10 homers to right that season. This season, his only homer has gone to left, and he’s last among AL first basemen with a .333 slugging mark.

George Kottaras didn’t want to be embarrassed when asked to participate in a cow-milking contest as part of the Rangers’ Farm and Ranch Day promotion prior to Saturday’s game. So, he … well, let him tell it. "We were home (earlier in the week) when I was asked about it," he said, "and I went on YouTube to do a little research because I’d never really been around a cow before. I got some tips from the YouTube video...About an hour before the game," Kottaras said, "I went out to the outfield and met the owners of the cow. "They gave me some little tips and pointers. I got acquainted with the cow a little bit. Rubbed the utters. It worked out great for me." Nothing beats hands-on experience.

Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

"@jjcoop36: John Lamb story is now up ($) http://t.co/xSlmGm4MHB Lots of info in the story, but short version, velo was 88-91, touched 92 Tues."