Royals can't recover after Kennedy's foot injury

KANSAS CITY -- Royals right-hander Ian Kennedy was feeling good, making the pitches he wanted to make, and then a line drive off the bat of Ryan Braun in the third inning changed everything.
Braun's liner -- which had an exit velocity of 107 mph, according to Statcast™ -- caromed off Kennedy's right foot and back toward home plate for an RBI infield single. Moments later, Travis Shaw hammered a three-run home run to seal Kennedy's and the Royals' fate in a 5-2 loss to the Brewers on Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium.
Kennedy finished the third inning, but he couldn't put pressure on the foot while in the dugout and the Royals decided to end his night.
"It's right around my pinky toe," Kennedy said. " Right on the side of my foot. You could tell right as I took off my sock -- it was red."
X-rays were negative, but Kennedy said he had trouble pushing off the rubber with that foot, and thus was releasing his backside too quickly.

"I pulled that pitch right down the middle to Shaw," Kennedy said. "It felt like with a couple more pitches it'd be fine. But I yanked the changeup … I was making good pitches before that. It stinks because it felt good right up to that point. And then it cost us a chance to win. That's the most frustrating part."
Kennedy is scheduled to start on Sunday. He's not sure if he will make it.
"We're gonna wear a boot just to make sure and take pressure off for the next 12 hours or so," he said, "and try to figure out what's going on. Nothing's broken. That's the good thing."
The Royals had been in a festive mood earlier, celebrating the return of catcher Salvador Perez and outfielder Alex Gordon from the disabled list, not to mention the homecoming of former outfielder Lorenzo Cain (who homered).

Perez, in his first game this season, homered, and also threw out Braun attempting to steal. Gordon had two hits, including a double.

Kennedy did not not record a strikeout for the first time in his career, ending his streak at 273 games, the second-longest active stretch to open a career behind David Price's 274.
"Yeah, that kind of stinks," Kennedy said. "They were being pretty aggressive, but I thought for sure I'd get one."
MOMENT THAT MATTERED
The Royals had a chance to do some damage in the sixth inning, but they ran into some bad luck. Mike Moustakas led off with a walk and Perez hit a shot to third that went for a 5-4-3 double play. Perez's ball was hit 105 mph, according to Statcast™. Lucas Duda then drew a walk and Jorge Soler followed with another shot to third -- this one at 107.3 mph -- for a 5-3 putout.
SOUND SMART
Gordon became the fifth Royals player to record 300 doubles, joining George Brett, Hal McRae, Frank White and Amos Otis.

HE SAID IT
"I was a little nervous. But I really enjoyed this. [The fans] really showed me some love. I wasn't expecting anything but love." -- Cain, on his return to Kauffman Stadium

UP NEXT
Right-hander Jason Hammel (0-1, 3.20 ERA) takes the mound on Wednesday at 7:15 p.m. CT for the finale of a two-game Interleague set against the Brewers at Kauffman Stadium. Hammel matched a career high with nine innings on Friday against the Tigers, and he gave up five hits and two runs while striking out four.