Kansas City Royals can’t stop losing skid as Angels sweep three-game series
Kansas City Royals pitcher Brad Keller couldn’t stop the slide. The right-hander kept his club within striking distance until the sixth inning, but the Los Angeles Angels got to him and the Royals offense never got going.
For the second night in a row, the Royals offense scratched out only one run as they fell to the Angels 6-1 in front of an announced 10,474 Wednesday night at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California. The Angels completed a three-game series sweep and clinched the season series between the teams.
The Royals (29-31) have now lost five in a row. They’ll continue their West Coast road trip with four games in Oakland starting on Thursday night.
Keller, who retired the side on six pitches in the first inning, allowed five runs, eight hits and four walks in 5 1/3 innings. He also struck out four. The four walks tied his season high, and two of the walks resulted in runs.
“I thought he had some of his best stuff that he’s had,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “He just got hurt in the third with a two-out walk, and things just started kind of rolling when you get to the middle of their lineup.”
The Royals were outscored 22-5 and batted .206 in the three-game series.
Angels starting pitcher Griffin Canning (5-4) struck out six and walked two in 6 2/3 innings. He held the Royals to one run and five hits.
The Royals left the bases loaded in the first inning after a single by Whit Merrifield and a pair of walks by Andrew Benintendi and Jorge Soler.
With no outs and Merrifield on, Carlos Santana struck out. With one out and two men on, Salvador Perez struck out. With two outs and the bases loaded, Hunter Dozier grounded out to the shortstop.
In the fourth inning, a one-out infield single by Kelvin Gutierrez drove in Perez but the Royals stranded two more runners in that inning after they had two on with one out.
“We left money on the table,” Matheny said. “It affects this team, there’s no question about it. We talk a lot about the importance. One, you just don’t want to leave money on the table when they’re giving you opportunities. Second, it has a carryover effect on this team maybe as much as any team I’ve been around. When we don’t capitalize on those opportunities, it deflates.”
Short outings from starters Jackson Kowar (2/3 of an inning) on Monday and Kris Bubic (four innings) on Tuesday put extra strain on the Royals bullpen.
Those outings necessitated the addition of right-hander Carlos Hernández prior to Wednesday’s game. The Royals optioned outfielder Edward Olivares to Triple-A to make room for Hernández.
“I felt like I had some of my best stuff as far as fastball-wise,” Keller said. “To let it kind of slip away like that was pretty tough to swallow. Just unfortunate breaks at a time where I felt like I needed to really get deep into that game. Throwing six pitches in the first inning, I was honestly feeling really good. Then I just kind of hit a snag, I guess.”
The Angels scored two runs in the third inning. Both runs came on an Anthony Rendon RBI double with two outs.
Keller (6-5) got ahead of Justin Upton, 0-2, with two outs. Home plate umpire Adam Hamari called a ball on a 3-2 sinker that could have gone either way, and that started the two-out rally.
Shohei Ohtani followed with a single to left field, and Rendon hit a 96-mph 3-2 fastball at the knees and on the outside corner to the base of the wall in right-center field.
“We executed really well on Upton, didn’t get a call down in the zone,” a frustrated Keller said. “It turns into a walk. Then I throw a pretty good first-pitch slider to Ohtani, who honestly hasn’t gotten a first-pitch hit all season, and he flips one into left. So we’re talking two quick batters on base.
“Then get to a battle count with Rendon and make a really good pitch. He puts a good swing on it and puts it in the gap. Even looking back at the whole inning, I feel like I executed pitches. That’s the name of the game…. I feel like I made some good pitches, even in an inning like that. It just happened quick.”
Keller entered the night having won four consecutive decisions.
Since he gave up 16 earned runs in his first four starts (12 innings), Keller showed encouraging signs of progress in his last eight starts. He allowed 18 earned runs in those eight starts (43 2/3 innings). He hadn’t allowed more than three runs in any of his past six starts.
The Angels (30-32) scored three runs against Keller in the sixth inning to give themselves breathing room in what had been a one-run game.
A leadoff walk, a single and a fielder’s choice left runners on the corners with one out to start the sixth inning. Keller then gave up an RBI double down the right-field line to José Iglesias followed by a two-run single by Kean Wong.
Wong’s single concluded Keller’s outing.
Reliever Kyle Zimmer got the Royals out of the inning with a pair of strikeouts. Zimmer struck out four of the five batters he faced in 1 2/3 innings of no-hit relief.
The Angels tacked on a run in the eighth against Wade Davis.
This story was originally published June 9, 2021 at 11:44 PM.
