Kansas City Royals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The scouting report on the slumping Kansas City Royals is not complicated. An advance scout could get the message across to his team in just three words:"Get here quick."The Orioles arrived just in time to get a piece of the worst start in Royals history, scoring a 10-4 victory last night at Royals Stadium to win their fifth straight game and equal their longest winning streak of 1991.They traveled all night to get here. They braved the bitter cold that dumped snow all over the region only a day earlier.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The season-opening slump of 1993 has reached the point where the Orioles have to take each positive development and savor it, even when it does not come in an entirely positive context.Last night provided the perfect example. The Kansas City Royals scored a 7-6 victory in the opener of a three-game series at Royals Stadium. They knocked left-hander Arthur Rhodes out in the second inning. They pushed the Orioles a little deeper into the American League East cellar. So why was manager Johnny Oates wearing a big grin after the game?

Anaheim, Calif. -- Kansas City Royals manager Bob Boone could have tiptoed into his first major-league managerial position. He could have stuck to the textbook moves and kept his head down and got himself established before standing conventional baseball wisdom on its ear, but necessity became the mother of reinvention.Boone opened his managerial career with a major gamble. Faced with the loss of premier starting pitcher David Cone this spring, ,, he filled the void with air. He entered the 1995 season with a four-man starting rotation, and not just because there were some convenient early-season days off to keep his pitching staff fresh.

A 48-minute rain delay on Tuesday night might have cost the Orioles their late-inning lead, but it did nothing to their grit. Soon after the storms over Camden Yards faded, so did a two-run seventh-inning cushion. But that only set the stage for more late-inning heroics. Catcher Matt Wieters drove in three runs, including an eighth-inning RBI double that proved to be the difference in a 4-3 win over the upstart Kansas City Royals, rewarding those among the announced 12,921 who remained until the final out. “This team grinds it out,” said winning pitcher Tommy Hunter, who threw 1 1/3 perfect relief innings in a tied game.

He had replayed the moment in his mind many times before growing up, but Manny Machado didn't know exactly what playing in his first major league game would feel like. One thing was certain: Knowing it was a once-in-a-lifetime event, he wanted to make sure he was able to make Thursday night memorable. Less than 24 hours earlier, he came off the Double-A Bowie team bus after Wednesday night's game in Altoona and be told by manager Gary Kendall that he was about to become a big leaguer the next day. He was surprised, to say the least.

When he charges onto the infield grass, makes that barehanded pickup and throws a rocket to first, Manny Machado reminds Orioles fans of a superstar third baseman of yesteryear. When he breaks out of the batter's box on a liner into the gap and hits first base in full stride on his way to another double, Machado shows old-school hustle. And when he quietly strolls through clubhouse, proudly wearing his "Hakuna Machado" T-shirt while nodding to teammates, and, occasionally, breaking out an infectious smile, he flashes a necessary balance of confidence and respect.

BaseballKansas City Royals -- Signed P Andy McGaffigan (4-3, 3.09 ERA) to a one-year contract with Class AAA Omaha.

BASEBALL American League * Kansas City Royals -- Claimed Russel Meacham (pitcher) off waivers from the Detroit Tigers.National League * Los Angeles Dodgers -- Exercised its option on Bob Ojeda (pitcher) for the 1992 season.