Brewers 1, Royals 0: Offense goes dormant in Nate Karns' last outing of spring

The Royals’ recent offensive fire was extinguished Thursday, as they lost 1-0 to the Brewers at Maryvale Baseball Park.

The starter

In his final outing of the spring, starter Nate Karns fell victim to one fourth-inning mistake: a two-out homer by Brewers outfielder Brett Phillips.

Karns tried to stun Phillips with an 0-1 curveball. But Phillips pulled the pitch into the berm beyond right-center field for the only run of the game.

“He did a great job,” Karns said. “It was a good pitch. I just got beat. It’s part of the game.”

The hit was one of seven Karns allowed in five innings on Thursday. The performance wasn’t his best of the spring — but Karns’ best this spring has spanned all four of his starts. Cactus League numbers suggest the right-hander isn’t feeling any lingering effects from the season-ending surgery he underwent last July to relieve thoracic outlet syndrome.

This spring, Karns has allowed three earned runs in 13 2/3 innings for a 1.98 ERA. With seven more strikeouts Thursday, he increased his total to 18.

“I feel like I’m tapping into what I’m capable of doing,” Karns said. “I think I just kind of picked the ball up where we left off and continued to progress.”

The bullpen

Rule-5 acquisition Burch Smith got through two innings without allowing a run. He’d struggled of late, allowing three earned runs in his last appearance Sunday and four runs (two earned) in an outing on March 12.

But in facing nine batters Thursday, he gave up just one hit, issued two walks and struck out two batters.

Recently signed reliever Justin Grimm made his debut for the Royals in the eighth inning and scattered two hits and a walk. He also had one strikeout.

“Grimm looked a little bit rusty, a little layoff here for a week or eight days, but got through the inning fine, which was good to see,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “Liked his stuff, liked his breaking ball, but just finding that little extra bit of command on it.”

At the plate

It doesn’t appear that shoulder impingement is bothering Adalberto Mondesi in the batter’s box.

The middle infielder has been slow to return to the field since experiencing arm soreness early in Cactus League competition. But he played as a designated hitter and batted 2 for 13 during March 12-18.

After a few days off, Mondesi returned to the lineup and was one of two Royals to register a two-hit game — Lucas Duda went 2 for 3 with a double. Mondesi also stole a base.

After a nine-game power surge in which they scored 86 runs, the Royals tallied just six hits on Thursday.

Up next

The Royals (15-11-2) will play a pair of split-squad games on Friday. Jakob Junis will travel with one squad to Scottsdale, Ariz., to face the San Francisco Giants. Ricky Nolasco, who joined Royals camp on a minor-league contract earlier this month, will start the home game at Surprise Stadium against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Both games are scheduled for 3:05 p.m.

This story was originally published March 22, 2018 at 6:56 PM with the headline "Brewers 1, Royals 0: Offense goes dormant in Nate Karns' last outing of spring."