Final Score: HOU 3 | KC 4
Overall Record: 7-4
Winning/Losing Pitcher:
- W: James McArthur (1-0, 5.40 ERA)
- L: Wander Suero (0-1, 0,00 ERA)
Royals Player(s) of the Game:
Salvador Perez
2 for 5, Walk off RBI
The Royals went into extra innings for the first time this season and sent the fans home happy. Both teams struggled after scoring three runs, but once the bottom of the tenth started the Captain ended it with an RBI hit. Early on this season, we’ve seen a revitalized Salvy and with his eighth career walk-off, he sinches a key early season win for the Royals.
James McArthur
2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 K, 0 BB
Royals fans just saw General McArthur win the closing role tonight. He came into the game in the ninth and got the Astros 3-4-5 hitters out, then didn’t give up a run in the tenth to set up Salvy’s walk-off. It got interesting in the tenth with the ghost runner on second moving up to third, but he made a couple of batters look silly.
Key Highlights:
The offense is still struggling with RISP as they went 3 for 11 tonight. The offense isn’t quite clicking on all cylinders yet with a mix of hot and cold bats. Maikel Garcia continues to be clutch, however, driving in a run in the Royals three-run fifth. Outside of the RISP issues, they didn’t strikeout a ton and they walked five times against a good pitching team.
Let’s show some love to the bullpen and Cole Ragans. While Ragans line doesn’t look pretty, he grinded through five innings and limited the Astros to only three runs. Once the bullpen got into the game they only let up four hits, didn’t allow a run or walk, and struck out five Astros batters. Ever since the Baltimore series the “arm barn” hasn’t allowed a run in five games, albeit most of it was against the White Sox.
Summary of the Next Game:
After snatching game one of the series, the Royals look for a series win against the Houston Astros. The Royals will be sending out Seth Lugo (1-0, 0.71 ERA) who looks to continue his hot start. The Astros will be sending out Hunter Brown (0-1, 6.43 ERA) who is coming off a rough outing against the Texas Rangers.
Photo credit: David J. Phillip, AP Photo
