Royals beat Texas Rangers 5-4 on walk-off single in ninth inning

The Royals aren’t wasting any time getting a good look at outfielder Bubba Starling.

So far, the look hasn’t been a flattering one.

Starling, the former first-round draft pick from Gardner Edgerton High School, struck out three times and stranded four runners on Thursday before the Royals beat Texas 5-4 on Cheslor Cuthbert’s two-run single in the bottom of the ninth at Surprise Stadium.

Starling had a chance to be a hero with runners at second and third, the infield in and one out but took a 3-2 off-speed pitch from Alec Asher for strike three. Then Cuthbert stroked a single to left that gave the Royals their second win in two Cactus League games.

“It was a great at-bat,” Royals manager Ned Yost said of Starling’s ninth-inning plate appearance when he worked the count full and fouled off a tough pitch before taking strike three. “He just threw him a nasty pitch on the corner on the black.”

Starling entered the game as a replacement for Jarrod Dyson in the fifth inning.

Starling, who had one Cactus League at-bat for the Royals in 2014, took a 94-mph fastball from Roman Mendez for strike three in the fifth. In the seventh, he lined a foul down the left field line before striking out on a 2-2 pitch that was too close to take.

Starling, who figures to begin the season at Class A Wilmington, where he hit .218 last season, will get more opportunities to redeem himself.

“This is great, great experience and a chance to come up and be in this environment,” Yost said. “This is great for him. All these young guys … (Hunter) Dozier struck out twice … but this is a great experience factor for these guys to get up here, see this kind of competition, see the atmosphere, even though it’s spring training … be part of the clubhouse culture …”

The Royals, who mashed three home runs and five doubles in Wednesday’s exhibition-opening win, managed just seven singles on Thursday until outfielder Brett Eibner crushed a home run to left in the bottom of the eighth, drawing Kansas City to within a run of their neighbors in Surprise.

Other highlights from Thursday’s game:

▪ Starting pitcher Brian Flynn, a lefty from Wichita State acquired in the Aaron Crow trade, worked the first two innings, surrendering three hits and a run. The run resulted from a leadoff dribbler down the third base line by Jared Hoying, two infield outs that moved Hoying to third, and a solid RBI single by Robinson Chirinos.

▪ Shortstop Alcides Escobar led off by taking a curveball to right field for a single, giving him three hits and a walk in his first four plate appearances of the spring. Designated hitter Kendrys Morales had two singles, giving him four hits in seven spring-training at-bats.

▪  Jorge Bonifacio ended the Texas fourth with a running catch in short right field and opened the fifth by making a diving catch that took a hit from Joey Gallo.

▪ Righthander Miguel Almonte struck out the side in his inning of work, displaying 97 mph fastballs and 78-mph knee buckling curves, but he allowed two runs because of a single, hit batter and triple off the wall that eluded left fielder Reymond Fuentes in a tough sun field.

This story was originally published March 5, 2015 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Royals beat Texas Rangers 5-4 on walk-off single in ninth inning."