--3B Alex Gordon walked five times, twice intentionally, to set a club record for walks in a game. The record was four, done 14 times, the last time by OF David DeJesus on Aug. 12, 2006.
--RHP Brian Bannister threw 111 pitches in five innings against the A's before being pulled. He tied his career high with seven strikeouts and gave up two runs on eight hits and four walks. --Royals officials have denied a trade is imminent that would send LHP Ron Mahay to the Phillies for INF Jason Donald, who is on the United States Olympic baseball team. Donald has a .308 average with 14 home runs in 86 games with Class AA Reading. Several clubs seeking bullpen help have called about Mahay, who is 5-0.
--RHP Gil Meche is 3-0 since the All-Star break and 6-1 with a 2.66 ERA in his past 10 starts.
--1B Kila Kaaihue, who was leading the Texas League with a .624 slugging percentage, a .463 on-base percentage and 26 home runs, was promoted from Class AA Northwest Arkansas to Class AAA Omaha. Kaaihue hit .314 with 79 RBIs in 91 games with Northwest Arkansas. He hit .400 in May and .400 in July.
BY THE NUMBERS: 0.00 -- ERA of SS Tony Pena Jr., who threw a perfect inning in relief in a 19-4 loss to the Tigers on July 21.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "He said he wanted to shave his head. I said I'll do it, let's have some fun with it. We cut him into a Hulk Hogan look and he left it like that through the pitcher's meeting. I tried not to laugh during the pitcher's meeting. He looked that silly. We shaved it (completely) right before game time and he went out and he got a good knock (home run). We're going to keep shaving it every fifth day." -- RHP and barber Gil Meche on shaving John Buck's head before July 24 victory over the Rays.
