The Kansas City Royals rallied from a deep hole in a shootout against the Washington Nationals but ultimately fell short in an 8-7 loss this afternoon at Kauffman Stadium.
The Royals faced a significant deficit before even coming to the plate. James Wood poked a single the other way to get things started before Seth Lugo got squeezed on a four-pitch walk to CJ Abrams. The Royals would get one out on a fielder’s choice before Josh Bell walked to load the bases. That brought up Nathaniel Lowe, who quickly went down in the count 1-2. But Lugo threw a hanging curveball and Lowe didn’t miss it, crushing it over the right field bullpen for a grand slam. The Nationals would tack on another when Daylen Lile singled and Drew Millas lined one to the warning track in right-center to score Lile.
Staring down a 5-0 deficit, Kansas City had a big chance to come back early. Mike Yastrzemski walked on four pitches to lead off the inning before Bobby Witt Jr. scooped one out of the dirt for a single. Jake Irvin spiked his first pitch to Vinnie Pasquantino, allowing both runners to move up. Pasquantino would ground out 4-3, bringing home a run and moving Witt to third. Irvin then issued his second four-pitch walk of the inning to Maikel Garcia. Salvador Perez struck out, but Adam Frazier came through by poking a single the other way to make the score 5-2. Jonathan India stepped to the plate as the tying run but popped up to end the inning.
After Lugo grinded out a scoreless second, Irvin went back to attempting to let Kansas City back in the game. John Rave ripped a single to lead off the frame and Kyle Isbel then walked on four pitches. After Yastrzemski advanced the runners with a grounder, Witt whacked a single to right to score Rave. That made the score 5-3. With a chance at a big inning having put runners on the corners with one out, Pasquantino bounced into a 3-6-1 double play to end the frame.
Lowe reached to lead off the third when Witt booted a groundball up the middle. He’d be replaced by Lile on a fielder’s choice, who would move up to second when Lugo walked Millas. Brady House then bounced a seeing-eye single up the middle, giving Washington a 6-3 lead. They had a chance for a big inning of their own, but Yastrzemski made a couple nice catches in right to retire the next two batters.
Kansas City got their leadoff man on for the third straight inning when Garcia led off the third with a single, soon advancing to second on a Perez groundout. Frazier singled to give the Royals runners on the corners with one out for a second straight inning. And once again, Irvin escaped via a double play, this one a 5-4-3 job to end the inning.
Abrams led off the fourth with a flyball down the right field line that barely cleared the fence and stayed inside the foul pull for a homer that gave Washington a 7-3 lead. Lugo would retire the next three batters, after which his afternoon was finished.
The bottom of the fourth looked like it may go quickly when Rave struck out on four pitches and Isbel bunted the first pitch in play and was thrown out at first. But Yastrzemski worked his second walk of the day to keep the inning alive and Witt got clipped by a fastball to put a couple runners on for Pasquantino. This time, he came through. With the count 2-2, he got a middle-middle changeup and smashed it out to right field for a home run that made the score 7-6. Irvin put away the next batter and his day was also over, with each team’s bullpen responsible for covering five innings.
After the bullpens held things steady for a bit, the Royals had a chance to strike in the sixth. Leading off the inning, PJ Poulin walked Isbel on four pitches. Nick Loftin was summoned to pinch-hit for Yastrzemski and got plunked. Witt followed with a warning track flyout that moved up both runners, bringing Pasquantino to the plate with one out and two runners in scoring position. He popped up for the second out. Cole Henry entered to face Garcia. He flew out on the first pitch to end the inning.
India doubled with two out in the seventh but was left on base. Luinder Avila made his big league debut in the eighth and retired the side in order. In the bottom of that inning, the Royals rallied. Isbel led off with a single and was promptly lifted for Tyler Tolbert, who quickly swiped second base. Loftin grounded out 5-3 to keep Tolbert at second, but not long after he stole third base as well. Witt was at the plate and took strike two on the steal. He hit a flare to shallow right that hung up for the out, but it was just deep enough for Tolbert to come home and tie the game.
The tie game would prove short-lived. After Washington got out of the inning without further damaged, Carlos Estévez entered to pitch the top of the ninth. After Abrams struck out to lead off the frame, Luis García Jr. split the gap in left-center for a double. Bell flew out for the second out, moving García to third. Estévez pitched around Lowe, walking him on five pitches and bringing Lile to the plate. He got a changeup he could handle and ripped it into right to put the Nationals ahead 8-7.
Having left nine runners on base already and gone 4-16 with runners in scoring position, did the Royals have one more rally in them? Initially it seemed they did not as Perez and Frazier unceremoniously grounded out. But India beat out and infield single and Randal Grichuk hit a blooper just out of the reach at Abrams to give them a chance. Unfortunately, Tolbert hit a routine groundball to short to end the game with Washington prevailing 8-7.
The loss drops Kansas City to 60-61. They will have the day off tomorrow before welcoming the White Sox to town for a three-game set starting on Friday.
Seth Lugo: 4.0 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, 2 HR
Jake Irvin: 4.0 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, 1 HR
Vinnie Pasquantino: 2-5, HR, 2B, R, 4 RBI
Nathaniel Lowe: 1-3, HR, R, 4 RBI, 2 BB
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.royalsreview.com ’
