Scott Kazmir shuts down Royals 4-0 in his debut with the Astros

So that’s what a pitching acquisition for a postseason contender can produce.

Scott Kazmir, the season’s first major rent-a-pitcher transaction, made the buyer look smart on Friday. He befuddled the Royals for seven innings and guided the Astros to a 4-0 victory a day after his trade from the Athletics.

Kazmir, scheduled to become a free agent after this season, was dealt for a pair of prospects to an Astros club that surprisingly is battling the Angels for the American League West title and a playoff berth, a year after finishing 22 games under .500 and two years removed from the franchise’s third straight season of at least 106 losses.

The Astros made a move for pitching, landing a top-notch veteran starter in Kazmir, who was at his best on Friday, scattering three singles over seven innings.

“He’s got three above average pitches, he hits his spots and he attacks you,” Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer said. “He was on tonight. He wasn’t missing many locations.”

Only twice did the Royals put more than one runner on in an inning, including the ninth. But with runners at the corners and one out, Kendrys Morales hit into a game-ending double play.

The Royals had been successful against Kazmir while he was wearing a different uniform. Kazmir had a personal five-game losing streak against Kansas City, including a loss earlier this year for the A’s.

Still, Kazmir had been superb this season, bringing a 5-5 record and 2.38 ERA into the game. He had surrendered three or fewer earned runs in 17 of his 18 starts and extended that run with Friday’s performance, which gave the Royals their first losing streak in more than three weeks.

He struck out three and needed only 91 pitches to complete his task.

“It seemed like early in the game they were a lot more aggressive than they are usually,” Kazmir said. “I think that’s how I was able to get quick outs.”

The Royals have been rumored to be in the pitching market. Friday, they got seven innings from Jeremy Guthrie, who received no support.

The Astros jumped on Guthrie in the third, starting with Preston Tucker’s ninth home run of the season and fourth in the last five games.

They weren’t finished. Carlos Correa drew a walk and moved around the bases on singles by Evan Gattis and Colby Rasmus.

An inning later, the Astros pushed across two more around a superb Royals defensive play.

Jake Marisnick doubled and stole third when catcher Drew Butera’s throw landed on the wrong side of the bag. The stolen base was huge because Jose Altuve dropped a base hit, just on the edge of the grass behind shortstop, about where Alcides Escobar would have been playing had there not been a runner on third.

Tucker followed with a double to the left field wall. Paulo Orlando quickly got a throw to Escboar, whose one-hopper to Butera was on the money to nab Altuve.

But the Astros charge continued. Correa brought in Tucker with a single and the Houston lead was 4-0.

Guthrie settled down after the fourth, retiring nine of the last 10 batters he faced, but the damage was done.

“I didn’t make adjustments, I just got better results (later),” Guthrie said. “The home run was a bad pitch that Tucker took advantage of.”

Escobar opened the first with a single. Mike Moustakas lined a single to center in the fourth, and Omar Infante opened the fifth with a bloop single. That was the Royals attack.

In the fourth, Hosmer followed Moustakas’ single with Kazmir’s lone base on balls, and for the first time the Royals had more than one runner in an inning. But Kazmir got Morales and Alex Rios to fly out to end what qualified as a threat.

In the ninth, Moustakas walked and Hosmer singled ahead of Morales’ double play.

Kazmir was going to start at some point in the series, and Astros manager A.J. Hinch wasted no time getting him on the mound.

“A lot of times when you change teams — new uniform, new teammates, new surroundings — the best thing you can do is just get up and running right away,” Hinch said.

Kazmir was scheduled to pitch Thursday for the A’s against the Blue Jays, giving him an extra day’s rest entering Friday’s start, and he made the most of the first opportunity with his new club.

This story was originally published July 24, 2015 at 10:01 PM with the headline "Scott Kazmir shuts down Royals 4-0 in his debut with the Astros."