Royals reach halfway mark of grueling stretch

KANSAS CITY -- The Royals are more than halfway through a stretch in which they were scheduled to play 44 games in 44 days. They don't have another off-day until Sept. 12, but manager Ned Yost said it's all just part of the grind.

"Both clubs are in the exact same position," Yost said. "The trainers and the conditioning staff do a great job of making sure everyone is hydrated. You just go play the game. It's not easy, it's hard. It's smokin' hot out there, we haven't had a break in a long, long time, but then again these guys are kind of geared to that. They're geared to playing like that."

With temperatures in the 90s throughout the seven-game homestand, Yost said they are trying to make some concessions to limit players' unnecessary time in the elements.

"It's a little bit easier when you can find times to give them a break and get them off the field for batting practice standing around outside for an extra hour using up that energy that they're going to need in the seventh, eighth or ninth inning of this game, because once your tank starts to run low, it runs low," Yost said. "You try to conserve as much as you can for the game and go get it."