Yordano Ventura overwhelms Tigers, Royals’ bats come alive in 12-1 drubbing

Yordano Ventura trotted toward the mound with clipped strides, like a kid conserving energy for a junior high fitness test. Ventura has always trafficked in deception, with his slight frame obscuring the fire stored in his right arm and his stony expression concealing the pride bubbling beneath the surface. At times in 2015, team officials wondered whether the only substance capable of extinguishing the former was the latter.

In the third inning of Wednesday’s 12-1 pummeling of the Detroit Tigers, Ventura faced the sort of roadblock over which he stumbled so often earlier this season. Umpire Quinn Wolcott had just warned both benches after Ventura and Tigers starter Randy Wolf each hit batters. Each inside pitch would be scrutinized, and the Royals have worried all season that Ventura feared such scrutiny. The events of Wednesday’s third inning rejected that premise.

“Now he’s got his swagger back,” pitching coach Dave Eiland said.

The first pitch of the inning buzzed in the vicinity of Tigers catcher Alex Avila’s ribcage, close enough to cause his elbows to flinch upward. Ventura would not be cowed by the warnings. He intended to claim the inner half of the strike zone and designate the territory as his own.

He struck out Avila with a 98-mph fastball, fanned outfielder Anthony Gose with a curveball and froze second baseman Ian Kinsler with a changeup. He unveiled his entire arsenal to punch out the side, part of an 11-strikeout evening to match a career high.

“He felt like he never really lost his confidence,” catching coach Pedro Grifol, who translated for Ventura, said afterward. “He just got into a bad little rut for a little while, that he had to overcome, like every player goes through, at some point in time in their career.”

After months of waiting for Ventura to resemble the phenom who so captivated this club and this city in 2014, the Royals (81-51) believe that distressing interval has ended. In his fifth consecutive strong showing, Ventura (10-7, 4.24 ERA) bulldozed the Tigers during seven innings of one-run ball. His pitches crackled with life and his body language displayed the boldness he showed last October.

“We feel like when he’s on, he’s our best guy,” first baseman Eric Hosmer said. “He obviously proved himself last year. He’s worked out of whatever little funk, or whatever he did in the beginning of the year. It’s the perfect time to see him looking like his normal self.”

The Royals did not require excellence from Ventura. Their hitters plastered the veteran southpaw Wolf (eight runs allowed) and rookie reliever Guido Knudson (four runs allowed). The Royals reached double digits by the fifth inning.

Kansas City produced four homers in a game for the first time since June 24, 2012. Ben Zobrist unleashed the first drop of the deluge with a first-inning solo shot. Lorenzo Cain walloped a solo homer in the third and added a two-run double in the fourth. Kendrys Morales crushed a three-run blast later in the fourth. An inning later, rookie Cheslor Cuthbert hit his first career homer, a two-run job down the left-field line.

Ventura entered the game in the midst of perhaps his best stretch of pitching all season. He had posted a 1.08 ERA in his previous four outings, which winnowed his ERA down from an unsightly 5.29 on Aug. 6. Along the way he struck out 32 in only 25 innings.

Manager Ned Yost sensed rejuvenation in Ventura, the sort of confidence that allowed him to lock up hitters inside with fastballs and fan them with offspeed pitches away.

“All of a sudden, he’s throwing fastballs, in, effectively,” Yost said. “Which opens up the outside part of the plate for his curveball and his fastball and his changeup away.”

To hear the Royals tell it, the organization believes Ventura has, at last, ditched the psychological baggage he shouldered since April. In the eyes of Eiland, Ventura worried about challenging hitters inside, fearful he would make contact and spark another bench-clearing brawl. Ventura harbored guilt after his role antagonizing one with the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field early in the year.

“He didn’t want to do something to cause a ruckus, whatever word you want to use,” Eiland said. “Because ‘I don’t want my teammates mad at me anymore, I don’t want the league mad at me anymore, I don’t want people to think I’m a loose cannon.’ You’ve got to pitch in. If you hit somebody, you hit somebody.

Eiland added, “So you’ve got to get back to pitching in, and he did. And then he started having more success. He started using secondary pitches in fastball counts. Then, all of a sudden, success breeds confidence.”

The game Wednesday tested Eiland’s theory and Ventura’s resolve. After striking out the first batter he faced, Ventura drilled Kinsler in the back with a 98-mph heater. Miguel Cabrera ripped a single to send Kinsler to third. A Tiger would not travel that far against Ventura until the sixth inning.

With runners at the corners, Ventura dissected outfielder J.D. Martinez in three pitches. He pumped a curveball for a first-pitch strike. Martinez swung through a 100-mph fastball. Ventura bounced another curveball shy of the plate, but Martinez could not help himself. After that strikeout, designated hitter Victor Martinez grounded out and Ventura disabled the threat.

From his post in right field, Gomes took notice. “I think anywhere in the building is a good place to watch that,” Gomes said. “I’m pretty excited to share the same uniform as him.”

Wolf hit catcher Salvador Perez in the bottom of the second. By then, the Royals already led by one, and would plate two more in the inning on a single by Cuthbert. Jonny Gomes had just roped a double in his first at-bat as a Royal. Then Wolf clipped Perez with a 90-mph fastball. Perez looked unhappy, and Wolcott decided to warn both benches.

Teams often chafe at early warnings in games like this. The animus between the two couples appeared to be low – though rivals in the past, the Royals have eclipsed the Tigers in stunning fashion this season. Pitchers don’t want one mistake inside to trigger an ejection. In this spot, timidity once griped Ventura. On Wednesday, it did not.

“We told him ‘Look, don’t get crazy, but don’t come out of your game,’” Yost said.

After he busted Avila inside and dusted off the Tigers in the third, Ventura kept mowing down hitters. With the count full against Cabrera in the fourth, Ventura hummed a 99-mph fastball, up and in, which nipped enough of the corner to produce a third strike. Cabrera protested the decision until he was ejected. Ventura whiffed two more in the fifth.

“His command, he feels, is back,” Grifol said. “His mechanics are good, and he’s able to pitch inside. That’s the key to his success.”

The tension seeped from the game as the Royals scored five runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth. Ventura surrendered a sixth-inning triple to Gose, who scored soon after.

The last batter Ventura faced was Avila. As he did in the third inning, when he asserted his dominance in the face of an umpire’s warning, Ventura started with a fastball on the hands. Five pitches later, he fooled him with a changeup low and away. The formula from August still worked, and the man at the center of it executed it with verve.

As a group interview wrapped up on Wednesday, a reporter stopped Ventura for one more question. How much was he enjoying this run?

“I’m not smiling, but I’m having fun,” Ventura said.

Wednesday’s box score

Royals 12, Tigers 1

TableStyle: SP-basebattersCCI Template: SP-basebatters

TableStyle: SP-basebattersCCI Template: SP-basebatters

TableStyle: SP-basebyinningsCCI Template: SP-basebyinnings

a-flied out for Zobrist in the 5th. 1-ran for A.Escobar in the 5th.

LOB: Detroit 5, Kansas City 5. 2B: J.Martinez (25), L.Cain (30), J.Gomes (1), Orlando 2 (10). 3B: Gose (7), Orlando (6). HR: Zobrist (11), off Wolf; L.Cain (13), off Wolf; K.Morales (17), off Knudson; Cuthbert (1), off Knudson. RBIs: Kinsler (65), A.Escobar (41), Zobrist (48), L.Cain 3 (61), K.Morales 3 (94), Cuthbert 4 (8).

Runners left in scoring position: Detroit 3 (V.Martinez 2, Avila); Kansas City 3 (Zobrist, Hosmer, Infante). RISP: Detroit 0 for 7; Kansas City 4 for 11. Runners moved up: Kinsler, J.Iglesias. GIDP: J.Iglesias, Hosmer, K.Morales. DP: Detroit 3 (Kinsler, J.Iglesias, Mi.Cabrera), (Kinsler, J.Iglesias, An.Romine), (J.Iglesias, An.Romine); Kansas City 1 (A.Escobar, Zobrist, Hosmer).

TableStyle: SP-basepitchersCCI Template: SP-basepitchers

TableStyle: SP-basepitchersCCI Template: SP-basepitchers

Knudson pitched to 4 batters in the 5th.

Inherited runners-scored: Knudson 2-2, Farmer 1-0. HBP: by Wolf (S.Perez), by Ventura (Kinsler). WP: Ventura. PB: Avila.

Umpires: Home, Quinn Wolcott; First, Ryan Blakney; Second, Eric Cooper; Third, Gary Cederstrom. Time: 2:47. Att: 26,789.

AP-WF-09-03-15 0303GMT

This story was originally published September 2, 2015 at 10:21 PM with the headline "Yordano Ventura overwhelms Tigers, Royals’ bats come alive in 12-1 drubbing."