The Royals lose all semblance of clutch, fall 8-1 to Orioles – Farm to Fountains

Record: 3-5

Winning/Losing Pitcher:

W: Tomoyuki Sugano (1-1 | 2.89 ERA)
L: Michael Wacha (0-2 | 4.66 ERA)

It was looking like another slow start for the Royals as they got off to an 0-2 start by the second inning. Sugano needed just 21 pitches for two perfect frames while Wacha bled a couple runs from a walk and a pair of singles in the second. The third inning was a ripe opportunity for the Royals to get runs on, as Isbel started a two-out rally with a single followed by a 5-pitch walk to Jonathan India. Unfortunately, Bobby Witt Jr. would quickly ground out to draw a blank, although he would at least make up for it with a diving stop and double play in the top of the next inning.

The bottom of the fifth and top of the sixth inning is where the game was fully defined. To the surprise of many, Hunter Renfroe and MJ Melendez would both collect a hit to start the frame. It was an ideal situation with the hot bat of Maikel Garcia up next, but he would fly out on his second pitch. Kyle Isbel swung at three pitches well outside the zone and popped out to the catcher. Jonathan India ran up the count as he usually does, but lined out to left field to end the threat.

Wacha had pitched pretty well up to this point, with the small collection of baserunners in the 2nd and an un-scored Jackson Holliday triple in the 5th being the only notable skids. He continued battling the tough Baltimore lineup, getting a flyout from Jordan Westburg followed by two singles and then a second out from Tyler O’Neill. With one out left of the inning and 93 pitches on the day, Wacha was on the verge of recording his first quality start of the year, but Matt Quatraro instead deployed Sam Long for the lefty-lefty matchup.

For the fifth time this year, Sam Long was depended on to keep the game in tact, and for the second time this year he was expected to win the advantageous lefty-lefty matchup. Instead, along with every other of his appearances so far, it was a massive failure. Heston Kjerstad immediately singled on the first pitch to drive in a run. He threw a wild pitch and then suffered another single to Ramon Urias. Gary Sanchez walked and then Jackson Holliday drove in two more runs on another single. By the time Long finally got Gunnar Henderson to strike out, the Orioles were up 6-0.

There may have been a small opportunity for the offense to flip the table or at least salvage the game, and Bobby would at least try by hitting his first home run of the year. Vinnie Pasquantino would get a hit and Michael Massey would get hit, but Hunter Renfroe would erase everything by grounding into a double play to end the inning. Evidently, the Bobby homer would be the only thing worth celebrating for the Royals today.

MJ Melendez

1-2, BB

This sort of speaks to how little there was to celebrate today, but given everything, MJ himself had a good day. Any hitter getting on base twice in a game is a productive day and hopefully this is a much-needed confidence boost for the struggling Melendez. On top of that, he had a quirky defensive play in the outfield that managed to fool the Orioles into a double play.

Tomorrow’s game starts at 1:10 PM and will be the first KCTV5 simulcast game this season. Kris Bubic will take the mound, hoping to build off the stellar debut he had earlier in the week. For the Orioles, the young Cade Povich is expected to start, hoping that the strikeout numbers he put up in his first start will yield better results than a 6.23 ERA. It will be the first time the Royals have faced him.

Image credit: Ulysses Muñoz – The Baltimore Banner

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