Kansas City Royals bounce back with a 6-0 series-ending win over the Orioles
One night after the Kansas City Royals let a five-run lead slip away in the eighth inning and suffered a heart-wrenching loss, they bounced back behind another strong starting pitching performance, solid defense, timely hitting, and their bullpen put the previous night’s woes behind them with three scoreless innings.
The Royals responded with a 6-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles in front of an announced 5,087 in the finale of a four-game series in Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Thursday night. The shutout marked the seventh of the season for the Royals, the third on the road.
The win gave the Royals (63-77) a series split, and snapped a string of five consecutive series losses to the Orioles at Camden Yards dating back to the 2015 season.
Nicky Lopez went 3 for 5 with a home run, two runs scored and two RBI for the Royals, and Hunter Dozier also homered and went 2 for 4 with a double and two runs scored. Michael A. Taylor also had two hits. Lopez extended his career-best on-base streak to 19 games.
“It’s still a tough one,” Lopez said of Wednesday’s loss. “If you still think about it, it’s obviously one that we’ll sit there and be like, ‘Wow. We let that one slip.’ You never want to lose. We’re competitors. We always want to win. But to come out and everyone, one through nine, had great at-bats, played team baseball, and obviously it helps that Carlos (Hernández) kept us in that game and was competing right from the start.”
Royals left fielder Andrew Benintendi had a hit, and RBI and threw out a runner at the plate on Thursday to keep the Orioles scoreless. He now has six outfield assists this season.
Hernández, the Royals starting pitcher, held the Orioles scoreless for six innings. All three hits he allowed came in the second inning, and he also allowed three walks.
In his last eight games (seven starts), Hernández (6-1) has posted a 1.68 ERA and opponent’s have batted just .192 against him.
Orioles left-hander John Means, a native of Olathe, allowed two runs on five hits and two walks in seven innings. He also struck out five.
Means, who has a younger brother currently playing in the Royals’ farm system, graduated from Gardner Edgerton High School as a teammate and classmate of Royals minor-league outfielder Bubba Starling.
Lopez gave the Royals a 1-0 lead in the first inning when he blasted an 0-1 fastball from Means over the right-field wall for his second homer of the season.
The Orioles (45-94) had their best scoring chance in the second inning with three consecutive two-out singles by Pedro Severino, Jorge Mateo and Jahmai Jones.
“They were good pitches, but not where I wanted them,” Hernández said of giving up those hits. “They got through, and it was all about coming back and getting the hitters. I’m really thankful about having the defense behind me. That’s why we won that ballgame.”
Severino attempted to score from second on the Jones single on the ground into left field. Benintendi fielded and made a strong throw to the plate to squash the scoring opportunity and end the inning
The score remained 1-0 until the Royals tacked on three more runs in the eighth inning. Dozier’s leadoff double lined into the left-center field gap set the table and marked the end of the outing for Means.
Dozier tagged up and advanced to third on a Whit Merrifield flyout, and he scored on Lopez’s single on the ground into right field.
Lopez moved up to second on Salvador Perez’s single, and Lopez advanced to third on a wild pitch. Benintendi’s RBI single up the middle deflected off of second baseman Jahmai Jones and scored Lopez and allowed Perez to go first-to-third.
Carlos Santana’s RBI groundout drove in Perez with the third run of the inning, giving the Royals a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth.
Dozier smacked a two-run homer in the top of the ninth, adding insurance runs.
Royals relief pitcher Domingo Tapia pitched two perfect innings, while Scott Barlow closed out the game in the ninth. The Orioles did not have a hit after the second inning.
“Especially with as hard as it was to swallow the game (Wednesday) night, (it was important) to be able to show up and be able show up and play good baseball,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said.
“We needed Carlos to be good. Their guy was good today. He wasn’t giving us a lot. Nicky getting us on the board and then really impressive defense. Great throw by Benny. The tag at the plate with Salvy. Then just keep us in that game to give us a chance. Carlos did a fantastic job of pitching, mixing it up, using everything.”
The Royals will begin a three-game weekend series in Minneapolis on Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. CT. The pitching matchup will feature Royals left-hander Daniel Lynch (4-4, 5.29) against Minnesota Twins right-hander Griffin Jax (3-3, 6.79).
This story was originally published September 9, 2021 at 9:14 PM.
