Yuniesky Betancourt

KANSAS CITY (Reuters) - The Kansas City Royals roared back from a six-run deficit to pound the Boston Red Sox 12-9 in an American League game between teams with contrasting records on Monday. The Royals, who had trailed 6-0 in the third innings, scored six runs in the sixth inning to seize command at 11-9 and beat the AL wildcard leading Red Sox (89-60). Kansas City (62-88), who are near the bottom of the AL Central Division, struck for five hits off two relievers in the sixth after Red Sox starter Tim Wakefield did not take the mound. They included two-run hits by infielders ... Read Full Story

Billy Butler drove in two runs, Kansas City's bullpen pitched 4 1-3 scoreless innings and the Royals ended the Detroit Tigers' six-game winning streak with a 7-5 victory Tuesday night. The Royals had 11 hits and a rare strong performance from their bullpen to win consecutive games for the first time since July 27-28 against Baltimore. Yasuhiko Yabuta (1-1) allowed two hits in 2 1-3 innings for his second career victory, Roman Colon pitched a perfect eighth and Joakim Soria survived two hits in the ninth for his 23rd save. The AL Central-leading Tigers scored five runs off Royals starter Bruce Chen, but went ... Read Full Story

The Seattle Mariners have traded versatile infielder Yuniesky Betancourt to the Kansas City Royals for two minor league pitchers. The Mariners said Friday that right-hander Danny Cortes will report to Double-A West Tenn and left-hander Derrick Saito will head to Class A Clinton. The Royals also received cash considerations. The 27-year-old Betancourt was hitting .250 with two homers and 22 RBIs in 63 games this season for the Mariners. He's been on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Tacoma after straining his left hamstring, and will continue rehabbing at Double-A Northwest Arkansas. Betancourt signed with Seattle as a free agent in January 2005, hitting .279 ... Read Full Story

The Seattle Mariners have placed shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt on the 15-day disabled list after he pulled his right hamstring running out a ground ball. Betancourt was placed on the DL Thursday and the Mariners activated second baseman Jose Lopez from the bereavement list. Lopez traveled to Venezuela for the funeral of his sister and returned Wednesday night. Betancourt injured the lower part of his right hamstring, near the back of the knee. He was hurt running out a grounder in the eighth inning Wednesday night and had to be helped from the field. Manager Don Wakamatsu says Ronny Cedeno would get most of the ... Read Full Story

It’s about time. Yuniesky Betancourt has been benched by Mariners Manager Don Wakamatsu. A couple Sundays back, when Yuni had two errors on two consecutive grounders hit to short, it became clear that the time had come to give up on any dreams of hidden greatness and move on. Comparing Beltre and Betancourt While Betancourt did demonstrate some improved plate discipline early this season, it hasn’t delivered great results. His .259 batting average hides how really bad he’s been. There’s no power and little tactical value in his 12 RBIs, four two-baggers and one home run. The really frightening thing is that Adrian Beltre ... Read Full Story