Back in the win column.
For the first time in nearly two months the Kansas City Royals won a rubber match by taking down the Los Angeles Angels 3-0 at Kauffman Stadium on Wednesday.
The Royals came out with an aggressive gameplan against Johnny Cueto: swing early and often. At first that played right into Cueto’s hands as he allowed a couple lasers but managed to retire the first five batters of the game on just 11 pitches (with the help of a spectacular catch by Mickey Moniak to rob Salvador Perez of a hit). With two outs in the second, Kansas City mounted a rally. Hunter Renfroe and Adam Frazier singled before Maikel Garcia drew a walk to load the bases. That brought up Kyle Isbel, who put the Royals on the board with a double to the right-center gap that scored two. Cueto settled in after that, allowing just two more baserunners through the fifth inning, one of which was an intentional walk.
Meanwhile, Michael Lorenzen was dancing in and out of trouble. He allowed a Taylor Ward single to lead off the game but erased him on a double play. Logan O’Hoppe led off the second with a walk but the Angels were unable to advance him past second base. The third saw a Zach Neto walk and Nolan Schanuel single but still no runs for Anaheim. Much like Cueto, Lorenzen settled in for the middle innings and did not allow another baserunner until Jo Adell singled with one out in the seventh.
The Royals were making plenty of hard contact against Cueto but little to show for it. With two outs in the sixth, MJ Melendez finally managed to elevate, getting just enough of a changeup to knock it off the right field foul pole for a homer that gave Kansas City a 3-0 lead. Renfroe followed with a flare down the right field line that dropped in for a hit and Frazier looped a ball into left-center that went for a double thanks to Moniak fumbling it in the outfield. The Angels stuck with Cueto and he got the job done, retiring Garcia 4-3 to squash the rally.
Cueto came back out for the seventh and retired Isbel before Michael Massey served up a line drive single to right field. That ended the night for Cueto, who exited to a nice standing ovation from Royals fans that haven’t forgotten his contributions for the club nine years prior. Roansy Contreras entered to pitch and Dairon Blanco pinch-ran for Massey. Blanco promptly swiped second but that mattered little as Bobby Witt Jr. worked a walk anyway. The Royals were unable to capitalize with speed on the bases, however, as Vinnie Pasquantino hit into a game-ending double play.
Lorenzen gave way to John Schreiber in the eighth. After a rough night last night, the relief corps faired much better tonight. Schreiber worked a scoreless eighth before Lucas Erceg did the same in the ninth. The most interesting moment of the last couple innings came when Angels coach Tim Laker was ejected for shouting at the home plate umpire about the strike zone. LA’s broadcast crew didn’t care for the strike zone either, but fortunately their opinions on the matter are irrelevant.
The win improves the Royals to 71-56. They are tied with Minnesota for the second wild card and are just two and a half games behind Cleveland in the division. Kansas City will get the day off tomorrow before welcoming the Philadelphia Phillies to town for a three-game weekend set.
