Gut punch…
Today, the Royals took a heartbreaking loss in a battle with the New York Yankees that came down to the wire but ended up resulting in a brutal 1-0 loss. The Royals had opportunities to score and cost runners on base, and allowed a run on a brutal series of events in the eighth inning. Kansas City heads into a home series with the Athletics with hopes to win the series and get back to .500 before leaving Kansas City.
In a game that could not possibly be more different than the first two games this season, as no runs were scored in the first seven innings. The Royals threatened to score in the second inning with two leadoff hits by Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez, giving them runners on first and second with no outs. Jac Caglianone came to the plate and grounded into a double play, a brutal blow to the rally. A great AB by Nick Loftin resulted in a walk, but Freddy Fermin struck out looking, and the Royals left runners on first and third.
The Yankees threatened to score in the third inning immediately after with a single by J.C. Escarra, and a sacrifice bunt gave them a runner on second with no outs. Lugo got an out, then gave up a walk to Trent Grisham but forced Ben Rice to ground out and ended the inning.
In the fifth, the Royals were able to get a big triple by Nick Loftin with one out, putting the team in a great position to drive in a run. But back-to-back groundouts by Freddy Fermin and Kyle Isbel but an end to their chances, and the game remained 0-0.
The sixth inning is where things got interesting, as Lugo gave up a one-out single to Trent Grisham and a two-out walk to Paul Goldschmidt. Then came the rain… The game went into a rain delay for about 20 minutes, and Angel Zerpa came into the game to face Cody Bellinger. Zerpa went seven pitches in the battle with Bellinger, where a hard hit line drive to left center was grabbed by Kyle Isbel on an incredible dive that saved two runs and kept the game tied at 0.
Both starting pitchers had impressive outings, with both Warren and Lugo going 5.2 innings, allowing five base runners but not allowing a run to score. Lugo had a bit of a dip in velocity, but appeared to be commanding his pitches the way he wanted and was incredibly effective for the Royals. A great sign as Cole Ragans heads to the IL, and the Royals will need consistent outings from Lugo going forward.
The Royals threatened to score again in the seventh, when a two-out single by Freddy Fermin advanced Nick Loftin to third base. But a fly out by Kyle Isbel once again stranded two runners for the Royals and left the game 0-0 going into the eighth.
The Eighth inning is where the game got into some trouble, as Lucas Erceg came in hoping to carry the 0-0 tie into the bottom of the eighth. A leadoff single gave the Yankees hope, but Lucas Erceg was able to work around it and got two quick outs. But a walk to Ben Rice and a brutal infield hit to Paul Goldschmidt resulted in baserunners advancing, and a poor throw from Lucas Erceg to Freddy Fermin scored a run to put the Royals down 1-0
The Royals did not get a hit the rest of the way and left no base runners in the last two innings, coming away with a series and season sweep against the Yankees. Kansas City moves on to a home series against the Athletics that starts tomorrow.