Two rallies too much to ask of Kansas City Royals, who fall to Orioles in wild matinee
With baseball’s second-worst record entering Thursday’s afternoon game at Kauffman Stadium, the Royals have found plenty of ways to lose this season.
But this 13-10 loss to the Baltimore Orioles will sting more than most.
The Royals overcame a 8-1 deficit to remarkably take the lead after seven innings, only to have their best reliever this season, Aroldis Chapman, cough it up in the eighth.
But Royals manager Matt Quatraro said he doesn’t regret using Chapman in that spot.
“I would take that any day of the week,” Quatraro said. “What went wrong? He lost the zone.”
The Orioles retook the lead by drawing four walks — three against Chapman (who also issued a balk) — and stealing three bases. They had just one hit during the sequence.
The damage could’ve been worse, but reliever Amir Garrett started a nifty double play on a comebacker to the mound to end the inning.
That was enough for Baltimore to retake the lead, which the O’s then extended with three additional runs in the ninth.
Gone was a terrific Kansas City comeback fueled by a combination of the long ball and a little small-ball.
Trailing 8-7 in the seventh, the Royals put together the final pieces of their rally. Maikel Garcia opened with a double and stole third. Michael Massey walked. Kyle Isbel, who earlier had stroked his first home this season, laid down a perfect safety squeeze to score Garcia. Isbel suffered a hamstring strain on the play.
Bobby Witt Jr. delivered an opposite-field single to score Massey and the Royals led 9-8.
“I think it says something about the character of the guys in the clubhouse,” Massey said. “Any time you get down like, that there are two options. You can roll over and fold or come back and make an effort like we did.”
Had their lead held, the Royals would’ve recorded their most improbable victory of the season. Instead, it was their 24th loss in 32 games.
Freddy Fermin got things started in the third by belting the first home run of his eight-game major-league career. The solo shot down the left-field line traveled 413 feet.
Later in the inning, Salvador Perez launched a two-run opposite-field shot. The blast was Perez’s 100th at home, matching Mike Sweeney for the most home runs at Kauffman Stadium. George Brett tops the list with 136.
Fermin contributed to the two-run fourth inning with his first triple. He came around to score on Vinnie Pasquantino’s single after Isbel’s first home run of the season.
“I’m very excited for my first homer,” said Fermin, who was appearing in his first game at Kauffman Stadium. “I liked my plan. I stayed focused and read fastball. ... I knew that ball was gone.”
The Royals had scored in four straight innings starting with the second. That run ended after a promising start to the sixth. Fermin walked and Witt doubled him to third, but the Royals couldn’t get them home.
And on this wild afternoon, they needed all the runs they could muster.
ORIOLES GET TO LYLES
The matchup of pitcher against his former team went to the former team early on. Royals starter Jordan Lyles surrendered eight runs, six earned, in five innings.
Lyles was a workhorse for the Baltimore staff last season, leading the team in starts and innings. But if there was any familiarity with the O’s lineup, it didn’t help.
Lyles surrendered a pair of home runs, both coming after he’d gotten the first two outs in the first and third innings.
In the first, right fielder MJ Melendez dropped Ryan Montcastle’s short fly for an error and Antony Santander followed with a two run shot. Trailing 5-1 in the third, Lyles got the first two outs before giving up three runs.
“Poor execution on my part,” Lyles said. “But on the positive side it was good to see the guys bounce back.”
IRONMAN SALVY
Perez not only caught Sweeney in Kauffman Stadium home runs, he passed him in games played. Thursday marked Perez’s 1,283rd game in the majors, all with the Royals and seventh in club history.
The next rung on the ladder will take some time. Sixth is Alex Gordon, who played in 1,753 Royals games.
NEXT UP
The Royals open a series with the Oakland Athletics Friday. Three games, three different start times.
On Friday at 7:10 p.m., Brad Keller (2-2) will oppose the A’s Kyle Muller (0-2). Saturday’s game starts at 6:10 with Brady Singer (2-3) against Ken Waldichuk (0-2). On Sunday at 1:10 p.m., Ryan Yarbrough (0-4) faces Mason Miller (0-1).
This story was originally published May 4, 2023 at 4:36 PM.