Royals toast Yost during 'emotional' ceremony

KANSAS CITY -- Surrounded by his family, veteran players Alex Gordon and Danny Duffy, and close friend Dayton Moore, manager Ned Yost admits he got a little emotional during a pregame ceremony honoring his years with the Royals.

Yost, who announced his retirement earlier this week, is down to two more games. On Friday night, his Royals lost 6-2 to the Twins at Kauffman Stadium in a game that was called because of rain after 6 1/2 innings.

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Before that, though, Yost was treated to a video collage of his Royals’ tenure that included two American League pennants and a World Series championship in 2015. There also were congratulatory videos from his close friend and comedian Jeff Foxworthy, and from Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, as well as a crystal trophy and framed collections of the baseball cards of all the Royals coaches and players during his time in Kansas City.

"It was emotional,” Yost said. “It was tough. I'm trying to understand the emotions behind it because I'm really excited about retirement. I really am. But then, with the emotions, it's hard to go through these last couple of days.

“But it was really a neat ceremony. If I'd known that I was going to get this much really cool stuff, I mean, I thought about just for a little while, telling Dayton, ‘Hey I'm just kidding’ and we'll do it all again next year.

"It was tremendous. It was heartfelt. It was wonderful, and I'm extremely appreciative."

And the ceremony was punctuated with a parting gift from the organization -- a 2019 Polaris Ranger that was driven in from the bullpen by catcher Salvador Perez.

"You can never have enough of those things,” Yost said of the vehicle. “Those things are awesome."

Before the rain came, Royals left-hander Eric Skoglund was hoping his final start of the 2019 season would be a statement that belongs in consideration for next year’s rotation.

Skoglund didn’t provide the type of statement he desired. He was tagged for nine hits and six runs in three innings of work. Skoglund, who finished the season with a 9.00 ERA, gave up two home runs.

Miguel Sanó took him deep for a two-run blast in the second inning on a 1-0 sinker that stayed belt-high. In the third inning, Ryan LaMarre jolted a 1-0 fastball into the left-field seats, another two-run shot.

“Not good,” Skoglund said. “I didn’t have very good command. Not much life [on my pitches]. Got behind in the count. And when you do that to a team like that, you’ll get punished.

“Everyone wants to finish on a high note, so that’s disappointing. But I”m going to be in Arizona, training at the facility. Ultimately, this is a big offseason for me. I’m going to sacrifice a lot to be out there and do everything I can to get stronger both mentally and physically. And the ultimate goal is be back here for Opening Day.”