Throwing errors by O’Hearn, Merrifield cost Royals in loss to Rays

The Royals lost to the Rays 4-3 at Tropicana Field on Thursday night. With the bases loaded, Royals rookie first baseman Ryan O’Hearn made a throwing error on a play at the plate that allowed the Rays to squeak in a run in the bottom of the ninth inning and walk off victorious.

It was the second Royals error of the night. Second baseman Whit Merrifield committed a throwing error of his own that cost the Royals a 3-2 lead in the seventh inning.

“It would have been nice to salvage one game here,” said reliever Brian Flynn, who was charged the loss. “We’ll have to bounce back tomorrow.”

Before they were swept in a series of three or more games for the 12th time this season, and before they lost their fifth game in a row, starting pitcher Danny Duffy returned to the mound for the Royals after a 12-day absence caused by an impingement in his left shoulder. He seemed more like himself than he had in weeks, striking out seven batters in five innings on Thursday.

It wasn’t a drama-free outing. Duffy yielded two runs on six hits and two walks. He had to wiggle his way out of two bases-loaded jams. He still struggled to control his pitch count, elevating it to 79 through four innings.

Yet his fastball velocity, which had diminished to an average of 90 mph in his last loss on Aug. 11, was back in the 93-95 mph range for his first four innings of work. Duffy threw 96 pitches, 54 for strikes, after petitioning manager Ned Yost for one more frame.

“I didn’t really have any expectations,” said Duffy, who had allowed six earned runs in each of his two starts before going on the disabled list Aug. 13 . “I just wanted to go out there with plenty in the tank and be efficient. I could have been more efficient. But I did make some pitches when I needed to.”

Either way, the Royals bullpen could not hold what had been a 3-2 lead when Duffy departed after the fifth inning. Royals reliever Kevin McCarthy got three ground balls to get through the sixth inning without allowing damage beyond a two-out hit to preserve the Royals’ lead. But he had no such luck in the seventh, giving up two straight singles with no outs before Merrifield threw away what would have been a double-play ball. The tying run scored and C.J. Cron, who hit the ground ball to Merrifield, advanced to second base on the error.

When it seemed the Rays might stake McCarthy to the loss in the seventh inning, the Rays thwarted themselves by way of an illegal slide.

With the score 3-3, Kevin Kiermaier hit a routine ground ball to Merrifeld, initiating what should have been a double play but was ruled on the field as a fielder’s choice. Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar had gotten his foot on the bag at second base to force out Willy Adames, then threw to first baseman O’Hearn. Kiermaier beat the throw, allowing a run to score.

But within seconds, Escobar and Merrifield appealed to their bench for a review. They contended that Adames had executed an illegal slide, intentionally interfering with Escobar’s play. Royals replay coordinator Bill Duplissea gave the go-ahead for a challenge. Umpires overturned the call within two minutes, giving the Royals an inning-ending double play and erasing what had been the Rays’ go-ahead run.

“I think they definitely got the play right,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “To be honest with you, that’s not Willy’s fault. That’s my fault. I need to do a better job of communicating. Willy went into the slide like you would see over the last 20 years anybody do. The rules are in place now to protect the infielders. It’s kind of my responsibility to deliver that message.”

Still, the Royals could not keep back the Rays in the ninth. Flynn allowed the Rays to load the bases with one out and Kiermaier due up at the plate. Kiermaier hit a sharp grounder to the right side, where O’Hearn, playing in on the infield grass, was able to snag it.

But O’Hearn’s throw to catcher Salvador Perez was too low. Rays first baseman Jake Bauers, who had reached on a lead-off walk, scored feet-first as the ball trickled away with the Royals’ 90th loss of the season.

“I didn’t wanna put (Flynn) in a position where he was trapped having to throw strikes but (intentionally walking Adames to load the bases) was our best chance of trying to get through that inning,” Yost said. “I wasn’t going to play the infield back. We were just gonna try to cut the run off at the plate. We ended up getting the ground ball that we needed, just couldn’t complete the play.”

This story was originally published August 23, 2018 at 9:21 PM.