Carlos Santana, MJ Melendez launch homers as Kansas City Royals win opener over Orioles
Nights like Thursday only bolster the Kansas City Royals’ belief that they have the ingredients of a productive major-league lineup. The recipe came together splendidly with a second consecutive game of seven runs or more with contributions from a blend of veterans and rookies.
Veteran first baseman Carlos Santana blasted a go-ahead home run in the fifth inning to break a tie and set the Royals on path to a 7-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles in front of an announced 15,594 in the first game of a four-game series at Kauffman Stadium.
The Royals (19-37) won back-to-back games for the first time since May 17-18.
“We feel confident,” Santana said. “This is what happens in the game. Sometimes you lose. Sometimes you win. We’re thinking one day at a time and trying to do our best. We have a great team, a lot of young players that have good talent. It’s good that we won two games in a row, but we have to keep it up. It’s a long season, four more months. We have to keep it up.”
Santana, who entered the day batting .188, went 1 for 4 with two RBIs. He is 8 for 24 with a home run, three RBIs and five walks in his past seven games. He’s started the last three games as Hunter Dozier has dealt with tightness in his right side.
“That’s me,” Santana said of his recent success. “All of my career, I’ve started slow and finished strong. That’s what happens. I’m confident. I never had my head down. I’m keeping focused and working hard every day.”
Rookie catcher/outfielder MJ Melendez, who was on base for Santana’s homer, went 1 for 2 with two runs scored and smashed a home run of his own. Fellow rookie Bobby Witt Jr. went 2 for 3 with a run scored and an RBI, while Emmanuel Rivera went 1 for 3 with a triple and a walk.
Whit Merrifield went 2 for 5 with two runs scored, and Salvador Perez (1 for 4) drove in a pair of runs.
Since May 10, Merrifield has slashed .295/.333/.443 with 19 RBIs and 21 runs scored in 29 games. Perez entered the night having gone 7 for 23 on the current homestand with two doubles, a triple, two home runs and seven RBIs.
“We need the veterans to certainly lead the way, and they’ve been doing a much better job and starting to look more like themselves,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “They set the tone for our club. The other guys are, not a little young, they’re young. They’re learning fast, and they’re making great adjustments.
“MJ taking his walks, and then you watch him display the power. Same with Bobby taking really good at-bats. They seem to be ahead of where they should be. I’d give that to Rivera too. … He looks dangerous every time he walks into the box because he’s got that ability to drive the ball as well. So that’s three young players in the game today that all had good contributions to our win.”
Royals starting pitcher Kris Bubic gave up a run in the third on an infield grounder with a runner at third base. Witt fielded and threw home, but he was off-balance when he threw and the throw hit the dirt before it got to Perez at home plate. The Orioles took a 1-0 lead.
The Royals responded quickly with four runs in the bottom half of the third. Merrifield started the inning off with a base hit, then Witt’s double down the third base line put runners on second and third with one out.
Perez smoked a two-run single off the left field wall to put the Royals in front. Melendez then crushed a two-run homer to right-center field for his fifth home run of the season. The Royals sent all nine hitters to the plate in an inning for the second day in a row.
“I think a lot of guys just have confidence,” Melendez said. “They know their game plan. Everybody is looking for a specific pitch, a specific spot to do something and they’re getting it done. Everybody is doing a really good job of that, and I feel like, as a team, if one person is not getting it done it I feel like it’s really easy to count on the guy behind you.”
The 4-1 lead didn’t last through the middle innings. Bubic ran into trouble in the fifth and the bullpen did not bail him out. Bubic struck out the first batter of the inning, but then gave up a double and two singles before Matheny turned to reliever Collin Snider.
Bubic allowed four runs, six hits and two walks in 4 1/3 innings. He also struck out a season-high five in his second start since being recalled from the minors on June 4. He stranded runners on base in each of the first four innings.
“I think just executing pitches when you really have to,” Bubic said of being able to leave men on base. “Obviously, you want to avoid those situations as much as you can. But I think to be able to pitch out of some jams and pitch out of some tight situations to kind of keep the game competitive, keep the game close and keep our team ahead is really important.”
Snider gave up a two-run double, both runners inherited from Bubic, then got a pop-up. However, he came out after he walked a batter. Reliever Joel Payamps took over and walked the first batter he faced to load the bases before he got an inning-ending ground ball.
The Orioles tied the score 4-4 going into the bottom of the fifth.
After Melendez walked to start the fifth, Santana turned on a 1-2 sinker from Orioles starter Jordan Lyles and sent it 423 feet into the right field stands for a two-run homer.
The Royals added a run in the sixth when Merrifield singled, advanced on a passed ball, moved up to third on a ground out and scored on Witt’s sacrifice fly.
The Orioles got one run back in the top of the eighth against reliever Arodys Vizcaino, but that’s as close as they got to a rally.
“We play the game to win,” Melendez said. “That’s something we look forward to doing every single day, just trying to build that moment to keep it rolling because baseball is a game that’s crazy. You can get really, really hot. And when you get hot at the right time, it can be something pretty dangerous.”
This story was originally published June 9, 2022 at 10:36 PM.
