Three homers, six runs off them. That’ll do.
Leave it to Arizona to light off fireworks inside a domed stadium before they opened the roof…except it was actually the Royals with the fireworks. They did not even wait until later in the game to light them off. Right there in the first inning, Jonathan India was grazed on the elbow and took first base to lead off the game. Bobby Witt Jr hit a line drive single to right field, and then Vinnie Pasquantino got a middle-middle 92mph fastball on a 2-0 count. He lit that pitch up for an immediate 3-0 lead before Kris Bubic even took the mound.
The Dbacks responded in the bottom of the first with a little small ball. A single, a walk, a dribbler that was about the size of a bunt, and a sac fly got the Dbacks their first run. A run’s a run, but it was harder to do that than hit a home run. Another single made the score 3-2 before Bubic got a strikeout to end the inning.
In the second inning, the Royals utilized a hit parade to score three more runs. Two singles and a sac bunt that the Dbacks defense flubbed meant the bases were loaded with no outs. Witt Jr once again singled to right field to score a run, and Vinnie followed with a line drive to center field that Tim Tawa dove for but just could not quite corral to score one more. Salvador Perez hit a grounder into the hole at short, and Geraldo Perdomo had a looong way to field it. He did get to it for the forceout at second, but Perez was just barely able to beat the throw to first and avoid the double play. All said and done, it was 6-2 Royals after just two innings!
In the fourth, Dbacks starter Eduardo Rodriguez once again threw a hittable fastball to Pasquantino, and once again Vinnie did not miss it. He blasted another dinger to score Witt Jr, who had reached on yet another single, making the score 8-2.
In the fifth, bench utility guy Mark Canha got involved in the fireworks with a homer of his own. On an 0-2 count, Rodriguez threw another extremely hittable 90mph fastball that Canha blasted beyond the left field wall to make it 9-2.
Rodriguez was removed shortly after Canha’s homer. He made it only four and 1⁄3 innings and gave up 12 hits, including three home runs. He had seven strikeouts and zero walks though!
Bubic did give up a home run to Eugenio Suárez in the sixth inning, but that was just one run to make it 9-3. He actually came back out for the seventh because his pitch count was still relatively low (~85 pitches through six) and the Royals were ahead by six runs. He gave up just one hit in the inning en route to seven complete innings with three runs allowed, three walks, and six strikeouts.
And that was when the fireworks ended. At least it was, before Arizona opened the roof to have an actual fireworks show so I could stop straining this metaphor that I wasn’t all that dedicated to anyway.
Other Notes
Jac Caglianone had a multi-hit game, by the way. He actually went opposite field against the shift. He just slapped a pitch on the outside corner to third base, and the guy was shifted so far over he could not get to hit. Love to see it. Vinnie totaled six RBIs between all his hits. India had two hit-by-pitches on his elbow. Good thing he wears that elbow guard. Sam Long showed up to pitch the ninth.
With this win, the Royals move to 42-47. The Diamondbacks drop to 43-45.
The Royals and Diamondbacks play again tomorrow at 3:10pm US Central. You can watch on FanDuel Sports Network Kansas City.