Kris Medlen gives up first-inning homer as Royals fall 3-0 to Diamondbacks
Kris Medlen gave up three earned runs in three innings Saturday as the Royals fell 3-0 to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Salt River Fields. All things considered, it could have been worse.
In the bottom of the third, Arizona’s David Peralta crushed a liner up the middle that came within inches of striking Medlen in the head. The moment stunned him, he said. By the end, he was able to brush off the close call.
“I think that’s the closest anyone’s ever got to killing me on a baseball field,” Medlen said. “A little scary.”
In his second start of the spring, Medlen allowed six hits while striking out two and walking one. As he reached his pitch count of 50 pitches, he sought to challenge the Diamondbacks with fastballs on the outer half of the plate. But it was actually a breaking ball that caused the most damage. In the bottom of the first, Medlen hung a curveball to Peralta, who deposited a two-run homer to right field. The blast capped a three-run first for Arizona. The Royals dropped to 5-8 this spring.
“I threw a curveball 1-0, and he put a good swing on it,” Medlen said. “I totally anticipated him doing the ‘statue take,’ but he dropped the barrel and hit it out.”
For the moment, Medlen is in line to be in the Royals’ starting rotation when the season begins. He threw two scoreless innings against the Cubs in his spring debut. On Saturday, he needed an inning before he was able to lock in.
“I threw a ton of fastballs, and I don’t have the dominant fastball that most people do,” Medlen said.
“But I was just challenging guys. I think I felt a little quick today, in terms of my delivery, but by the time I realized I was being quick, it was already 3-0. After that, I felt good the entire time.”
The regulars
First baseman Eric Hosmer is now hitting .400 this spring after going 2 for 3 with a double. Third baseman Mike Moustakas, meanwhile, is batting .500 after another hit in three at-bats. In all, the Royals managed only six hits on the day. Designated hitter Kendrys Morales had one of those, but he also stuck out twice.
The arms
Top prospect Kyle Zimmer made his third appearance of the spring and his first in relief. He threw a scoreless eighth inning while recording a strikeout. Relievers Wade Davis and Kelvin Herrera also threw scoreless innings on Saturday.
Position battles
Second baseman Christian Colon continued his spring slump, going hitless in two at-bats. He is now 0 for 19 with three walks and two strikeouts in 9 games. Omar Infante had the day off after playing on Friday.
Next up
The Royals return home to Surprise Stadium to face the Cleveland Indians at 3:05 p.m. Sunday.
Rustin Dodd: 816-234-4937, @rustindodd
Saturday’s summary
Diamondbacks 3, Royals 0
TableStyle: SP-basebattersCCI Template: SP-basebatters
Kansas City AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. | |
Orlando lf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .300 |
J.Martinez lf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .294 |
Moustakas 3b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .500 |
Dozier 3b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .333 |
L.Cain cf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 |
Starling cf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .111 |
Hosmer 1b | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .400 |
C.Decker pr-1b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .231 |
K.Morales dh | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .263 |
Fuentes rf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .375 |
Snider rf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .143 |
C.Colon ss | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
D.Coleman ss | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .200 |
Barmes 2b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .214 |
Mondesi 2b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .267 |
Butera c | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 |
Z.Evans c | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 |
Totals 32 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
TableStyle: SP-basebattersCCI Template: SP-basebatters
Arizona AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. | |
Segura ss | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .625 |
D.Leyba ss | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
Gosselin 2b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .421 |
S.Jamieson 2b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
Ja.Lamb 3b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .350 |
Rivero 3b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .294 |
D.Peralta rf | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .300 |
J.Morozowski rf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
Herrmann 1b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .353 |
K.Cron 1b | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 |
Gosewisch c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .091 |
D.Rohlfing c | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Z.Borenstein dh | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .350 |
Bourgeois lf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .238 |
V.Reyes lf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
E.Marzilli cf | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .368 |
M.Wilson cf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Totals 33 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
TableStyle: SP-basebyinningsCCI Template: SP-basebyinnings
Kansas City | 000 | 000 | 000 | — | 0 | 6 | 0 |
Arizona (ss) | 300 | 000 | 00x | — | 3 | 10 | 0 |
DP: Kansas City 1, Arizona 1. LOB: Kansas City 6, Arizona 7. 2B: Hosmer (2), Segura (1), E.Marzilli (2). HR: D.Peralta (1). SB: Herrmann (1).
TableStyle: SP-basepitchersCCI Template: SP-basepitchers
Kansas City | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
Medlen L, 0-1 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5.40 |
W.Davis | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
K.Herrera | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.00 |
Alexander | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 |
Huff | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7.20 |
Zimmer | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.50 |
TableStyle: SP-basepitchersCCI Template: SP-basepitchers
Arizona | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
R.De La Rosa W, 2-0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5.63 |
Ziegler | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
Bracho | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 |
Mat.Reynolds | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6.00 |
Collmenter S, 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6.43 |
Umpires: Home, Doug Eddings; First, Bill Miller; Second, Scott Barry; Third, Kerwin Danley. Time: 2:25. Att: 13,514.
This story was originally published March 12, 2016 at 5:54 PM with the headline "Kris Medlen gives up first-inning homer as Royals fall 3-0 to Diamondbacks."