Daniel Lynch’s strong outing, Hanser Alberto’s double lift Kansas City Royals to win
Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Daniel Lynch certainly has put that rocky start to his major-league career behind him.
After giving up 11 earned runs in his first two starts (5 1/3 innings) and getting sent back to the minors, Lynch has returned with a vengeance. The Royals have now won four of his last five starts, and he has a 2.35 ERA during that stretch.
The left-handed rookie largely shut down the Houston Astros’ offense Tuesday night and set the tone for a 3-1 victory in the second game of their four-game series in front of an announced 9,748 at Kauffman Stadium.
The win assured the Royals (51-67) at worst a series split with the AL West Division leaders.
Lynch (3-3) allowed one run and four hits in seven innings. He struck out five and walked three.
“He came out and was special,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “I thought he did it without maybe his best pitch, the slider. I thought it probably took him about until the fourth to really get that going. Then all of a sudden it started biting and you saw the swings look different.”
Despite not having a feel for the slider, Lynch managed his way through an Astros lineup that began the night leading the majors in runs, hits, on-base percentage and batting average.
He did it through pretty good fastball location and a very good changeup.
“My curveball and slider were kind of like a non-factor there,” Lynch said of the first three innings. “I just kind of trusted [catcher Salvador Perez] and knew that he knows these guys and just sort of followed his lead.
“The defense picked me up and made some really good plays. Michael Taylor throwing the guy out at home. Carlos [Santana] had a hard ground ball hit at him and he turned a double play. There was a lot of times where the defense really picked me up today.”
Even with that “special” outing, Lynch also needed some help from his offense to get a lead to put him in line for the win.
Infielder Hanser Alberto, who was in the lineup as the designated hitter, delivered the biggest hit of the game. His two-run double in the sixth inning broke a tie and provided the margin of victory for the Royals, who have won back-to-back games for the first time since Aug. 4-5 in Chicago.
Alberto hadn’t had the same magic against left-handed pitching this season that he’d enjoyed the previous two seasons. He batted .394 against left-handed pitching in 2019-20, an MLB-best among players with at least 100 plate appearances against lefties.
However, Alberto entered the night with a lower batting average against left-handed pitchers (.261) than against right-handers (.271).
He stepped up to the plate with two outs and two runners in scoring position in the sixth inning to face Astros left-handed starter Framber Valdez (8-4).
After falling behind 0-2, Alberto belted the third consecutive curveball he saw from Valdez down the third-base line, past the dive of Astros infielder Aledmys Diaz and into left field for a two-run double to lift the Royals to a 3-1 lead.
“He threw me the first curveball for a strike, so I knew I was not going to see a fastball in that at-bat,” Alberto said. “I was ready the whole time, and I was looking for something up after he put me in two strikes. He missed a little bit, and I put a good swing [on it] and I got the result that I wanted.”
The highly-exuberant Alberto turned to the dugout and cheered with both fists above his head after he cruised into second base.
“Day in, day out, we come to the ballpark and put in a lot of work together, trying to give the team a chance,” Alberto said. “The games are not going the way that we want, but every time we have a moment like that we’ve got to enjoy it. We’ve got to show that emotion because we know how hard we worked to get those results.
“Lynch, he pitched a really good game, so he deserved those runs right there to win the game.”
The Astros lone run came in the third inning. A leadoff double by Jake Meyers set them up nicely. A walk to Martin Maldonado put two men on with no outs as the lineup turned over to the top of the order.
Lynch nearly escaped the inning without giving up any runs after a groundout to third and a strikeout gave him two quick outs after the double.
However, Carlos Correa poked a two-out single to center field to drive in Meyers. Maldonado attempted to score from second, but Royals center fielder Michael A. Taylor’s one-hop throw to the plate cut him down to keep the score 1-0.
Taylor entered the night with seven assists which tied him for the major-league among center fielders.
“Right before that pitch I looked out and realized how far he was in center field,” Matheny said. “He looked deep. Then the ball wasn’t hit all that hard. For him to have that kind of closing speed, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen an outfielder charge like he does. He gets to the ball full-speed and is still able to get off a plus throw, as far as the arm goes. But the accuracy is just off the hook.”
One inning later in the bottom of the fourth, Taylor pulled a 3-2 curveball into the left-field corner for a game-tying RBI double with two outs. Andrew Benintendi, who went 2 for 4 with two runs, scored from first base to tie the score 1-1.
The score remained tied until Alberto’s crucial double in the sixth inning.
Royals relievers Josh Staumont and Jake Brentz each pitched a scoreless inning of relief.
Neither allowed a hit, though Brentz walked two and struck out two in the ninth inning on the way to his second save. He finished the game with a strikeout of Chas McCormick.
This story was originally published August 17, 2021 at 10:02 PM.
