Royals’ bullpen yields 6-run seventh inning as Indians sweep series
Royals starting pitcher Homer Bailey didn’t go deep into Thursday’s outing, but he left with a lead and having minimized damage in a way he couldn’t in his previous start in Toronto.
A grand slam in Toronto changed the entire outlook of that start. This time, Bailey kept the Cleveland Indians from putting up any crooked numbers on the scoreboard.
However, the Royals bullpen did not fare nearly as well.
Six of the Indians’ eight runs came after Bailey’s outing ended. The Royals couldn’t cling to a one-run lead and ultimately fell 8-4 in the series finale in front of an announced 18,076 at Kauffman Stadium on the Fourth of July. Heavy rain delayed the game’s start by two and a half hours.
The Indians (48-38) swept the series, and the Royals (29-59) will hit the road for their final series before next week’s All-Star break. The Royals, having now lost 10 of 13, won’t play at home again until July 12.
A six-run seventh inning erased the Royals 3-2 lead and dug a hole they weren’t able to climb out of in the final three turns at bat. Four of the runs were earned and came against reliever Jorge Lopez, who simply couldn’t command his pitches.
“It’s really, really frustrating,” Lopez said. “I’ve got no excuse. I fell behind with the first guy. I threw a right down the middle curveball. I tried to get after the next guy, tried to be down, looking for that ground ball I always try to get. Unfortunately, I didn’t have it.
Lopez gave up hits to each of the four batters he faced before he got pulled from the game. All four earned runs in the inning came against Lopez. Lopez’s trouble started when he gave up back-to-back singles to Kevin Plawecki and Bobby Bradley. Then Tyler Naquin’s double to right field scored the tying run.
Francisco Lindor’s two-run single put the Indians in front for the first time since the second inning. That marked the end of Lopez’s outing. Lopez, who’d posted a 3.79 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP in his 10 relief appearances this season, did not record an out.
“It’s all about me,” Lopez said. “It’s just executing pitches, putting it on target, try to make weak contact, try to put away guys in big situations like today. They gave me the lead right there. Homer did a really nice job. Timmy did a really nice job.”
Wily Peralta, who’d given up five earned runs in his previous 5 2/3 innings, came on in relief of Lopez and watched the one inherited runner score on a throwing error by catcher Cam Gallagher on an Oscar Mercado sacrifice bunt. Mercado ended up on second base, and he scored on a sacrifice fly two batters later.
Jose Ramirez’s second home run of the game closed out the scoring for the inning.
When asked about his level of puzzlement with Lopez’s inconsistency, Royals manager Ned Yost said, “All of them. It’s not just Lopez, it’s all of them. They’ll have good outings and then not a good outing. It was set up for us. We really like his breaking ball against those lefties, plus he’s got a decent changeup. It just wasn’t the sharp breaking ball we were expecting.”
Cheslor Cuthbert went 2 for 4 with a double, and Cam Gallagher hit his first home run of the season and had two hits to lead the Royals offensively. Terrance Gore doubled and scored a run.
Bailey allowed two runs on six hits and two walks in five innings. He pitched into the sixth, but he allowed a leadoff double to Carlos Santana, and Yost turned the inning over to left-handed reliever Tim Hill. Hill retired three batters in a row to preserve a 3-2 lead.
The Indians broke the game open in the seventh, and the Royals got one run in the ninth on Gallagher’s home run.
This story was originally published July 4, 2019 at 6:31 PM.