Kris Medlen collects another victory, Royals beat the Rays 6-3

The second leg of Kris Medlen’s audition for the Royals’ playoff rotation lacked the tidiness of his first act. He departed the mound at Tropicana Field with one out in the sixth inning, unable to author another quality start, but still able to exit in line for the win, which his teammates secured in a 6-3 victory.

Medlen gave up three runs for the second start in a row. At times, he resembled a model of efficiency. At other times, his command wavered. He walked two batters, hit two more and served up a fourth-inning, two-run homer to Rays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier. The Royals promptly picked up two runs in the top of the fifth and pulled ahead for good.

Asked what pleased him the most about his outing, just his second start since 2013 in his return from his second Tommy John surgery, Medlen pointed to the other 24 residents of his clubhouse. “My team,” he said.

Medlen, 3-0 with a 3.51 ERA, possesses the good fortune of playing for the Royals, 80-49, winners of seven of their last eight, owners of the American League’s best record, a club steaming toward a chance to match a franchise record of 102 victories set in 1977. To put Kansas City’s current dominance in historical perspective, from 1995 to 2014 the Royals won more than 80 games in only three seasons.

This is how charmed life is for the Royals: Southpaw Franklin Morales replaced Medlen with a runner at first in the sixth. Morales promptly induced an inning-ending double play off the bat of pinch hitter Joey Butler.

By then, Kansas City already led by two runs. Mike Moustakas drove in three runs with two doubles and a single. Lorenzo Cain walked twice, scored twice and added a run-scoring single. The defense behind Medlen was sterling, and the relievers who followed him yielded nothing. Medlen expanded his pitch count to 78, and Yost indicated Medlen could throw up to 95 in his next outing.

A common complaint among Tommy John survivors is maddening bouts of inconsistency from outing to outing. In these instances, the arm feels strong, but the baseball does not cooperate. Pitchers often report an inability to successfully locate their offspeed pitches.

The Royals built for Medlen a rehabilitation plan designed to combat this dilemma. He underwent his surgery on the same day last March as Luke Hochevar, but Kansas City never considered using Medlen until after the All-Star break. Medlen undertook a first-half journey that carried him from backfields at the team’s complex in Surprise, Ariz., to minor-league starts in towns like Springfield, Mo., North Little Rock, Ark., and Oklahoma City.

“He went through an extended rehab,” Yost said. “Most guys will go 12 months. He went 16, 17 months. So he made sure he was built up and had done a lot of throwing. There’s been no issues.”

Medlen looked electric at times in his starting debut last week against Baltimore. He struck out six and walked none. He gave up three runs but regretted only two pitches, one of them a curveball that All-Star outfielder Adam Jones destroyed for a two-run homer.

Jones went deep against Medlen in the first inning. Saturday presented a far less taxing beginning. The first inning lasted eight pitches. The second inning lasted seven. In the third, though, Medlen experienced stress.

Tampa Bay’s first baserunner reached in harmless fashion. Kiermaier chopped a grounder toward second base. Ben Zobrist charged the ball, but his throw drew Eric Hosmer off the bag at first. The official scorer declared it a hit, Tampa Bay’s first of the night.

After that hit, Yost felt Medlen inadvertently sped up his delivery, which affected his command. Medlen did not disagree.

“That’s my nature,” Medlen said. “I talk fast. I move fast. I just need to take a breath and calm down.”

Soon after, Medlen missed inside with a fastball. The pitch deflected off the arm of Rays catcher Rene Rivera and connected with Rivera’s face. He stayed down for a couple of minutes as the training staff attended to him. Medlen and the Kansas City infielders stood a few feet away, worried about Rivera’s condition.

Rivera popped up and took first base. He soon shifted to second when Medlen walked outfielder with Daniel Nava with two outs. Medlen steadied himself and struck out fading superstar Evan Longoria with a high fastball to leave the bases loaded.

“I felt like I was being pretty efficient early on, throwing strike one,” Medlen said. “As the outing went on, I had to grind through some at-bats. I think from a personal standpoint, it was good to have some long at-bats and try to battle through that, and rely on my defense.”

Kansas City handed Medlen a two-run lead in the fourth. Cain opened the inning with a walk. Eric Hosmer snapped a zero-for-13 streak with an RBI double. Hosmer outlasted former Royal Jake Odorizzi in a nine-pitch duel, lacing a fastball into left-center field. After shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera bungled a grounder by Kendrys Morales, Moustakas whacked an RBI double on a hanging splitter.

“I’ve been seeing the ball good lately,” Moustakas said. “I’ve just been trying to use my hands and make it as simple as possible.”

The Rays scored three runs against Medlen in the bottom of the inning. John Jaso led off with a double and scored on a single by Cabrera. Two batters later, Kiermaier jumped on a 2-0 fastball, and his two-run homer raced over the fence in right-center field.

“That’s maybe one of the hardest-hit balls I’ve ever given up,” Medlen said.

Tampa Bay did not hold the advantage for long. Alcides Escobar cracked a leadoff single. Cain walked for the second time in as many plate appearances. With two outs, Kendrys Morales performed his usual act of high-leverage magic and flicked a single into left that brought home Escobar.

Up came Moustakas. Odorizzi spotted a 1-2 fastball, up and away. Moustakas sliced it into left field for an RBI double. The hit resembled so many Moustakas cracked in April, when he anchored the Royals offense.

“He’s using the whole field, which is impressive,” Yost said. “He’s really swinging the bat well.”

The Royals picked up a couple more runs in the final innings. Cain rolled an RBI single up the middle in the sixth. Moustakas added another RBI in the ninth. Medlen continued to experience the benefits of life as a Kansas City Royal in 2015.

“Overall, a great team win,” Medlen said. “I screw up the two-run lead by giving it right back. And obviously, you’re going to give up runs, but I hate giving up runs after we score. Frustrating giving up the three, but that’s this team. We respond right back.”

Royals 6, Rays 3

a-grounded into a double play for Loney in the 6th. b-struck out for Rivera in the 7th. c-singled for Sizemore in the 7th.

E: A.Cabrera 2 (8), Nava (1). LOB: Kansas City 11, Tampa Bay 6. 2B: Hosmer (27), Moustakas 2 (27), Jaso (12). HR: Kiermaier (6), off Medlen. RBIs: L.Cain (57), Hosmer (77), K.Morales (90), Moustakas 3 (59), A.Cabrera (37), Kiermaier 2 (30). SB: A.Escobar (14), L.Cain (25), Hosmer (6), Kiermaier (16).

Runners left in scoring position: Kansas City 6 (Zobrist, J.Dyson 2, Orlando 3); Tampa Bay 2 (Longoria 2). RISP: Kansas City 5 for 16; Tampa Bay 1 for 4. Runners moved up: K.Morales, Forsythe. GIDP: J.Butler. DP: Kansas City 1 (Zobrist, Hosmer).

Holds: F.Morales (8), C.Young (1). Inherited runners-scored: F.Morales 1-0, Geltz 2-0, B.Gomes 2-0. IW: off Geltz (S.Perez). HBP: by Medlen (Rivera, Nava).

Umpires: Home, Brian O’Nora; First, Clint Fagan; Second, Alan Porter; Third, Jeff Kellogg. Time: 3:20. Att: 24,372.

AP-WF-08-30-15 0134GMT

This story was originally published August 29, 2015 at 8:31 PM with the headline "Kris Medlen collects another victory, Royals beat the Rays 6-3."