Glenn Sparkman cruises in season’s longest outing; Royals beat first-place Twins

The score tilted toward the Royals as Glenn Sparkman took each of his trips to the mound last weekend, pitching with a lead for nearly a couple of hours. And then it all fell apart in a matter of minutes.

A second chance awaited in his next turn. By the time Sparkman walked onto the hill after the Royals’ initial at-bat on Thursday, he already had a lead.

Same opposing lineup. Same opposing pitcher, even.

Different result.

Sparkman matched his longest outing of the season, leading the Royals to a 4-1 victory to open a four-game series against the first-place Twins at Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals have won four of five.

“He was on the attack,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “I thought our pitching was fantastic tonight.”

In a pitching rematch of a game the Twins won 5-4 on Saturday, the Royals chased Twins starter Jake Odorizzi, a 10-game winner, after just four innings. Sparkman (2-3) lasted seven for his first victory since May 1, his initial major-league appearance of 2019.

The Royals didn’t have any hits leave the ballpark Thursday, but they collected 10 of them.

The early ones made the difference. The Royals (26-49) led off the game with three — a Whit Merrifield double down the left-field line, a Nicky Lopez single through the infield and an Alex Gordon double that flirted with the top of the wall in right to score two. Lucas Duda snapped a 0-for-20 skid to cap a three-run inning. Martin Maldonado doubled to drive in another run in the fourth.

“He kinda has that sneaky fastball (and) likes to throw it up in the zone,” Gordon said of Odorizzi. “He kinda blew it by me last game, so I just wanted to make sure I was on top of the fastball. When I had first-and-third, just trying to drive something. I was able to fight off a couple good pitches and finally got one that I was able to hit and put a good swing on it.”

The Gordon double stood as the key hit of the evening. He produced the top defensive play of the night, too, even if it didn’t count. Battling the wall in left field, he juggled and then caught a ball barehanded while slamming backward onto the warning track. The ball nicked the fence, though, negating the catch.

The double was enough of a contribution.

Five days earlier, the Royals had provided Sparkman an identical 4-1 lead. He lost the lead in the fifth and then was on the hook for the loss one inning later.

On Thursday, he held strong. And then some. He did not allow a batter to reach second base in his final three innings. The final line: seven innings, six base runners, one run.

“Just staying with the plan, really,” Sparkman said. “Just staying low in the zone and attacking those guys. And like always, letting my defense be as good as they are behind me.”

The Twins (48-26) actually struck first, No. 2 hitter Jorge Polanco skying a ball 395 feet into the right-field bullpen. That was the extent of their offense.

The Royals followed with the deciding inning, with a new-look top of the order due to Adalberto Mondesi’s absence. Odorizzi (10-3) needed 34 pitches to complete the inning. Dominant against the remainder of the league, he has struggled in each of the past two outings against the Royals, the team that offered him his MLB debut. Odorizzi gave up four runs and eight hits over four innings.

“It’s crazy. It’s hard to give you an explanation why,” Yost said. “We just swung the bats pretty good off him.”

The Royals placed Mondesi on the 10-day injured list before the game due to mild groin tightness, offering Humberto Arteaga his major-league debut. Arteaga was 0 for 2 with a sacrifice bunt, but true to his scouting report, he had a few slick plays at shortstop.

This story was originally published June 20, 2019 at 10:00 PM.