Kris Bubic hammered for four Angels home runs as Kansas City Royals fall below .500
For the second consecutive night the Kansas City Royals saw a young starting pitcher struggle early and build a deficit that their offense couldn’t overcome.
Left-hander Kris Bubic entered the night having allowed just two home runs this season, but the Los Angeles Angels blasted four against him during a 8-1 win in the second game of their three-game series in front of an announced 9,387 on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California.
The Royals (29-30) lost their fourth consecutive game and fell below .500. They will try to avoid being swept in the series finale on Wednesday night before they continue their West Coast swing in Oakland on Thursday.
“It just sucks that you take the team out of it early like that and we’re playing from a hole,” Bubic said. “That obviously falls back on me not being able to do my job right out of the gate. So that’s something that maybe (I need to) be a little more aggressive out of the gate and not try to do too much, and so it goes back to that simplicity.”
Bubic (1-1) nearly didn’t make it through the first inning because of a pitch count that ballooned to an alarming level. He threw 42 pitches in the first.
He finished four innings, but allowed six hits (five extra-base hits), six runs — all on homers — and two walks. He struck out four, and he threw 92 pitches (his second-highest total of the season). The four home runs he gave up all came on changeups.
“On top of being a little predictable, those pitchers were over the heart of the plate,” Bubic said. “It’s tough because if you’re going to give up hits, you don’t want to give up slug. Five of the six hits were extra-base hits, let alone four bombs. So it’s just making better pitches.
“The changeup has been my go-to pitch for as long as I can remember. I can still get whiffs with it, but at the same time I’m tip toeing a fine line if I leave it where I left it tonight.”
Bubic’s night got off to an extremely rocky start. After he walked leadoff hitter Justin Upton, Bubic gave up a towering 470-foot home run to Angels star Shohei Ohtani on a 2-2 changeup. Bubic walked the next batter, Anthony Rendon, in a 10-pitch battle. Rendon fouled off five pitches.
Monday night, Jackson Kowar lasted just 2/3 of an inning and threw 39 pitches in his major-league debut.
Tuesday night, Bubic recorded his first out, a strikeout, on his 30th pitch of the game.
“The first inning has kind of haunted me, to be honest, the last couple outings,” Bubic said. “You never want to throw 40-plus pitches. I didn’t want this to be a bullpen game again.
“It takes a lot our of you. To somehow grind my way through four there, even though that’s not what you want as a starter, it could have easily been a lot worse.”
Royals pitching coach Cal Eldred made a mound visit as right-hander Ronald Bolaños warmed up in the bullpen after Bubic faced his fifth batter and gave up a single up the middle. Four of the first five batters reached safely.
“That’s as far as we can stretch a guy,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said of the first inning. “The changeup. When he got it up, they made him pay. You’re talking four homers on high changeups, the ones that he just wasn’t able to get down.
“There’s times when he started getting his fastball on the right plane. I thought his breaking ball was better today than the last time out. It was the home run that got him. Obviously, putting walks on base, too, doesn’t help.”
Bubic gave up home runs to Max Stassi (third inning), José Iglesias (fourth inning) and Upton (fourth inning). The Angels (29-32) scored all eight of their runs on five home runs, including three two-run homers.
Like Bubic, Matheny pointed to placement of his pitches as opposed to usage as the primary culprit in Bubic’s outing. The changeup will be his primary weapon, but he repeatedly threw it in bad spots on Tuesday night.
“He’s going to use that pitch to get himself out of trouble,” Matheny said. “It’s just where he throws it location-wise. When it gets elevated, that’s the one that tends to get in the air. When he keeps it down, that’s your swing and miss. Same thing goes with his fastball. He can take a shot high in the zone, but for the most part the two playing off each other — they tunnel well when they’re at the bottom.”
Bolaños took over in the fifth inning. He struck out five of the six batters he faced. He’s the first Royals reliever with five consecutive strikeouts since Jorge López on May 29, 2019, against the White Sox.
The Angels added two more runs in the eighth on Taylor Ward’s two-run homer against Josh Staumont.
The Royals’ lone run came on Hanser Alberto’s RBI double in the seventh inning. Alberto collected two of the team’s six hits. Michael A. Taylor had a hit, a walk and a run scored.
Whit Merrifield’s bunt single in the third inning extended his hitting streak to nine games.
This story was originally published June 9, 2021 at 12:18 AM.
