Royals Explode for Five in the Eighth as they Expose the O’s

(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Record: 3-4

Winning/Losing Pitcher:

W: Seth Lugo (1-0 | 3.27 ERA)

L: Dean Kremer (1-1 | 6.52 ERA)

Key Highlights

It was a cool and chilly day at the ballpark. And as Jake Eisenberg described on radio, a “pelting mist” was in the air tonight. Seth Lugo made it through the first pretty quickly, but in the bottom half it got a little wild. Bobby Witt Jr. reached on an infield single. Then with two outs Salvador Perez hit one to left fielder Heston Kjerstad, who lost it in the mixture of the lights and the precipitation. A break for the Royals, who were able to get on the board first and have Seth Lugo on the mound. 

Who struggled in the second inning, walking former Royal, Ryan O’Hearn and giving up a double to Tyler O’Neill. Then up came the previously mentioned Heston Kjerstad, who singles in one run, and O’Neill is coming into score, and gets gunned down by Jonathan India of all people! With a great tag by Salvador Perez at the plate. O’Neill probably could’ve made it with a slide in, but decided to stay up which cost him. A rare error by Maikel Garcia leads to another run, as the Orioles end up taking the lead. after that, Seth Lugo went into work. Going four more innings and not allowing any more runs in the process. Only going one more over the minimum in that stretch as well. If this team is going to be as good as it was last year, Seth Lugo is going to have to be a humongous part of it. So I’m glad that he was able to step up big for a team that really needed it after struggling to begin the season. And! A hell of a play to end it out!

Then the bottom of the fourth came around and everything started to come along. Salvador Perez once again reached on an odd play, where  Gunnar Henderson booted off his glove, and that started a bit of a rally for the boys. After Salvy reached, Cavan Biggio had a bloop single that had runners on first and second. Then Dean Kremer had a wild pitch, eliminating the easy double play possibility. Which makes way for Maikel Garcia who laces a two-RBI single up the middle to give the Royals the lead 3 to 2. 

This one stayed pretty tight after that with the score not changing at all until the eighth inning. Backed by some great bullpen help by both teams. A quick note, Tyler Tolbert looked awesome on the base-paths. I think you throw him a shot at this outfield if people continue to not hit. Screw it, he can’t be worse than other options. Like we said, the eighth inning came back alive for the Royals. After Mark Canha had a beautiful piece of hitting, with a double up the right field line. Maikel Garcia comes through again! With a double of his own. With Maikel having three RBI on the night along with a stolen base. MJ Melendez gets hit by a pitch, then Kyle Isbel safety squeezes just for the Orioles not to record an out at all. And Maikel makes a great slide to avoid Rutschman at the plate. 

With two runners on and Bobby Witt Jr. up, the O’s intentionally walk him to get to Vinnie Pasquantino. Who immediately makes them regret that mistake. He hits a blooper over the first and second basemen’s heads and with two outs, Bobby Witt Jr was able to score from first. Which is absolutely crazy by the way, I know the throw went to the second base. But Bobby was scoring when Vinnie turned his head around. So, he is just a freak, man. I’m glad we have him on our team. Chris Stratton had a Stratton appearance and gets the bases a bit entertaining before retiring the side scoreless. Why would you ever worry? But this was a nice hard fought win by the boys. And essential to how they need to win games in the league. Stay in it and blow it open at the end. Let’s see how the rest of the series shakes out.

Royals Player of the Game

Maikel Garcia

2-4, 2B, 3 RBI, R, SB

I’ve been saying this on Farm to Fountains, on our show, Drop the Ball (check it out), but Maikel Garcia is such an important part of this lineup. when he is going, it seems like he is the magic recipe that just gets everybody working together. Not for any way specifically, just because when a player of Maikel’s athleticism shows off his potential, it’s exciting to watch. And this season, so far, we have seen that he is potentially ready to make that next step. One thing that I observed in this one tonight, is Maikel’s follow through. On his RBI single in the fourth, he has a familial follow-through that he brings up. It looks just like his cousins with the name Acuña. He keeps his hands nice and fluid, and keeps both hands on. It’s a small little detail. But if he keeps hitting like this, he’ll continue to get those comparisons. 

His double in the ninth was cutthroat, and even better? His slide to evade Adley Rutschman was just a sight to behold. Proving that his all around baseball ability will shine through with just enough maturation.

Summary of the Next Game: 

Saturday’s matchup is one for the books. As Tomoyuki Sugano is making his first start against KC and 2nd career big league start. He was decent in his first taste of the bigs. Giving up two runs in only four innings of work. The Royals will send out Michael Wacha to hopefully have a better showing out this time. Not that he was bad, but he walked a couple too many and similarly only went four innings. He’ll look to be better in those beautiful powder blues. It’s a 3:10 start at Kauffman Stadium, as the Royals try to go even. With the O’s trying to get back on top.