Adalberto Mondesi’s three-hit night not enough as Royals lose fourth in a row
Depending upon your level of optimism, you could certainly point to Adalberto Mondesi’s three-hit performance on Friday night and proclaim that he has come out on the other side of the abyss.
A pessimist might just call it one good night.
Whether for one night or the start of a ripple effect that will extend throughout the rest of the season, Mondesi made his presence felt offensively for the first time in a month.
The player who Royals general manager Dayton Moore earlier this summer said will still be a star went 3 for 4 with two RBIs and two stolen bases in a 7-4 loss to the Chicago White Sox at Kauffman Stadium.
The Royals (14-25) have now lost four in a row and seven of eight matchups with the White Sox (24-15) this season.
Mondesi’s last multiple-hit game came at Wrigley Field on Aug. 4, and he did not have a multi-RBI game this season until Friday night.
“You saw it coming,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said of Mondesi. “The swings looked better. The pitch recognition was better. He started making good contact. We just continued to talk to the guys. That’s one of the things that you can truly do, just keep putting good swings. It’s going to change. It’s going to fall.”
Mondesi’s offensive struggles had become one of the Royals’ major themes of this pandemic-shortened season. He’s batted near the bottom of the batting order most of the season. It has been among the topics his teammates have been asked about most. Matheny even gave him his first day off earlier this week in hopes it might provide the necessary elixir.
The brief but celebratory revelry in the home dugout after Mondesi swatted his second RBI single of the night and drove in the tying run in the fourth inning was unmistakable. Everyone recognized Mondesi was in the midst of a long-awaited breakthrough at the plate.
“There’s no doubt these guys have been hurting for him,” Matheny said. “They know the person as well as the player, and they’ve watched this guy. He’s completely human just like the rest of us. You just kind of feel his pain each at-bat. He’s wanting to do everything he can do help this team and to do his part and to pull weight. Things just kept compounding on him.
“Every time he’d put something together, it just wouldn’t work or he’s hitting right at somebody. These guys care for each other, and that’s going to pay off for us in the long run. Just seeing any kind of positive momentum for a guy like Mondi (was appreciated). That was a great day and hopefully something he continues.”
Mondesi entered the night batting .179 for the season with a .209 OBP, a .231 slugging percentage and a team-high 43 strikeouts. Recent results had not been overly encouraging. The 25-year-old came into the game having gone 0 for 22 and batting .083 with nine strikeouts in his last seven games. Though he had walked twice in his previous three games.
By the end of the fourth inning on Friday night, he had two hits, two RBIs and a stolen base.
He drove in the Royals’ first run in the second inning on a line-drive to right field that scored Alex Gordon. The exit velocity off the bat was 105 mph.
After the White Sox scored to make it 3-1 in the top of the fourth, Edward Olivares’ fielder’s choice allowed Maikel Franco to narrowly beat the tag at the plate and score from third. Then Mondesi hit an RBI single through the middle of the infield that scored Gordon and tied the game.
The White Sox took control from there and scored the game’s next four runs.
Royals starting pitcher Brady Singer allowed five runs on 10 hits and one walk in 5 2/3 innings. All 10 hits were singles.
“The good thing is I obviously kept the home runs down,” Singer said. “I’ll take singles all day long. It’s weird. It’s baseball. It’s how it works. You give up 10 singles. I don’t really know what to say about that. It’s just one of those nights where weird things happen.”
Relievers Jesse Hahn (1/3 of an inning, one run) and Kyle Zimmer (one inning, one run) also gave up runs in relief.
At the end of the game, the Royals made some noise, but couldn’t come through with a rally. Trailing 7-3, they loaded the bases in the eighth inning with two outs, but Whit Merrifield struck out.
Olivares’ RBI single in the ninth got the tying run to the plate.
This story was originally published September 4, 2020 at 11:18 PM.
