Chris Young departs early as Royals fall to Cardinals, 4-3

Mike Moustakas shuffled across the diamond, cutting through a procession line of celebrating Cardinals. Fireworks exploded from atop Busch Stadium’s scoreboard after the Royals’ 4-3 loss to St. Louis. Moustakas peeled off his gloves and peered back at the field, the sight of a missed opportunity in Thursday’s ninth inning.

Moustakas made the game’s final out, a slow roller toward second base, but the responsibility did not belong with him. The team had three chances to drive in the tying run against Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal. The team came up empty each time in this one-day makeup date.

“We needed to execute there,” manager Ned Yost said. “Of course, it’s easy for me to sit here and say, ‘We just need to execute,’ against a closer like Rosenthal. They had a lot of confidence in him. Any time you’re going to let the winning run waltz to second base, they’ve got a lot of confidence in their closer.”

On two occasions in the ninth, the Cardinals elected to let a Royals runner take second base unimpeded. The call was defensive indifference, because Rosenthal focused on holding the tying run at third. In this clash between the best of the American League and the National League, the senior circuit’s leaders held on.

Kansas City, 57-37, cut a two-run deficit in half with two at-bats to start the inning. Alex Rios recorded his third hit of the night, and Omar Infante followed with an RBI triple. With no outs, Rosenthal walked outfielder Jarrod Dyson. Yost was forced to call upon as a pinch hitter rookie Dusty Coleman, a 28-year-old infielder without a big-league hit, a player who began this season in Class AA Northwest Arkansas.

The bench was empty because Yost had already used Kendrys Morales and Paulo Orlando as pinch hitters. Yost sent Morales up to hit for starter Chris Young in the fourth because Young had surrendered four runs in three innings and Yost saw an opportunity against St. Louis starter John Lackey. Morales flied out and stranded two runners. In the seventh, Yost chose Orlando to hit with one out, hoping he could spark a rally. Orlando struck out.

So it was up to Coleman. Dyson took second base. Rosenthal didn’t seem to notice, but a hit would have likely put Kansas City ahead. It was up to Coleman, who replaced Christian Colon on the roster earlier this month so Colon could receive steady at-bats in the minors.

“You just go up and hope he puts the ball in play,” Yost said.

Coleman did not. He struck out. Alcides Escobar, the next batter, chopped a grounder toward third base. Matt Carpenter scooped it up and pegged the ball to catcher Yadier Molina, who tagged out Infante. Moustakas grounded out soon after to end the game.

The final inning added some life to a game that appeared otherwise decided after three. There were no runs scored from the fourth through the ninth innings.

Yost’s decision to remove Young, 8-6 with a 3.32 ERA, stemmed from the National League rules, but it also reflected the slightly shifting tides on Young, a first-half stalwart who has tried to navigate choppy waters in his last few outings. The team is still seeking stability in its starting rotation, with Jason Vargas out for the year and Yordano Ventura ineffective since returning from the disabled list this month.

Earlier in the season, Kansas City could trust Young in these situations. But he has looked more vulnerable as the season progresses. Only one of his last five outings has met the qualifications for a quality start — six innings or more pitched, three runs or fewer allowed. The four runs he allowed on Thursday resulted from a pair of two-run homers.

“It just wasn’t good enough,” Young said. “I made two bad pitches. They both got hit out of the park. I needed to keep the ball in the park. I needed to keep the lead. I didn’t do that.”

His troubles coincide with the approach of the trade deadline. Kansas City continues to explore options for upgrades in its rotation, and continues to be linked to Cincinnati’s duo of Johnny Cueto and Mike Leake. The club could also pursue an offensive upgrade like Oakland’s super-utility man, Ben Zobrist.

The rotation remains the team’s major area of concern. There is one in-house candidate, Kris Medlen, but the Royals are expected to be cautious with him. Medlen just returned Monday from his second Tommy John surgery. He threw two scoreless innings Thursday, but gave up a double and issued two walks.

“He came in and held the fort,” Yost said. “Did a good job for us.”

The one-day jaunt deviated from routine. For the first time he could remember in his managerial career, Yost allowed his players to board the team plane in jeans, rather than slacks. There was no reason to pack a suit, he reasoned, for a 24-hour trip.

Coincidence wrought a rematch of Young and Lackey, the two pitchers slated to face each other before the original rainout. The Royals stoked a two-run, first-inning rally against Lackey, a veteran of 13 big-league seasons.

A night after swatting a decisive homer against Pittsburgh, Moustakas sparked the sequence with a one-out walk. Hosmer placed an infield single that put two on base. Salvador Perez and Rios chipped in with RBI singles.

The hit by Rios continued an impressive revival. His bat looked comatose for the first month after he rejoined the Royals in late May from the disabled list. But Rios entered the game with an .856 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in July. He stroked hits in his first two at-bats. The second was a fourth-inning double that eventually led to Young’s removal from the game.

“We've been playing very well lately, and we don't have to worry about losing a game like this, I would say,” Rios said.

Young could not hold the lead. He rescued the rotation in May, when the group was smacked by injuries to Vargas and Danny Duffy. But Young has regressed in the last few weeks. In his last seven starts, he has a 5.14 ERA.

A fly-ball pitcher, Young will always be susceptible to home runs. The first he allowed on Thursday came in the second inning. Young looked unable to access the upper portion of the strike zone with his fastball against outfielder Randal Grichuk. Three high fastballs led to a full count. Young hung a slider, and Grichuk drove a two-run shot over the left-field fence.

“My slider didn’t the depth that it normally has,” Young said. “I felt like it was flat tonight, for whatever reason.”

St. Louis powered ahead an inning later. Young yielded a leadoff single to second baseman Kolten Wong. Young threw a pair of fastballs for strikes to third baseman Matt Carpenter. With the count at 0-2, Perez set up down and away. Young grooved a fastball that cut back over the middle of the plate.

The pitch was 85 mph. Carpenter crushed it.

Young gave up a double to Matt Holliday in the next at-bat. There were no outs, but Young kept the inning under control. He picked up three outs and stranded Holliday. But Yost still yanked Young from the game in the top of the next inning.

“I had no absolutely no problems with it,” Young said. “It was the right decision.”

Cardinals 4, Royals 3

This story was originally published July 23, 2015 at 9:19 PM with the headline "Chris Young departs early as Royals fall to Cardinals, 4-3."