Yost holds rare closed-door meeting before opener

KANSAS CITY -- Stung by a stretch of eight losses in 10 games, manager Ned Yost met with his players before the Royals' clubhouse opened to reporters on Friday afternoon, a rarity for Yost.

"That's the last one, too. That's it," Yost said.

Yost's Royals were rolling after the All-Star break with a 19-5 surge before the recent falloff. Yost said he hasn't seen a dip in energy.

"They're trying. It's just time to quit talking about all that," Yost said. "We need to do better. We're, what, 11-for-85 with runners in scoring position? It's just time to produce. Forget all the reasons, forget all the excuses, it's time to produce. You're either going to or you're not going to."

That .129 average with runners in scoring position is his main concern.

"That won't cut it," Yost said. "Defensively, I'm very pleased. With the starting pitching and bullpen, I've been very pleased. It's just with our approaches at times in crucial situations in the point of the game that can make the difference between a win or a loss. Those are some of the things we're trying to stay focused on and trying to get ironed out.

"We're not getting the job done. We've been making excuses all year long of why we're doing this or why we're doing that, we've got 36 games left and it boils down to we're doing it or we're not. It's as simple as that."