Royals’ Chris Young makes quick work of Cubs in 10-0 win
Chris Young had wrapped up his start Wednesday against the Chicago Cubs when he made the long walk to the bullpen.
Young tossed four scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two walks and striking out five as the Royals won 10-0 in front of 11,076 at Surprise Stadium.
Trouble is, Young needed just 47 pitches to complete his four innings, so he threw in the bullpen to get his requisite work.
“I’m still building up the workload,” Young said. “I think I got the pitches I threw in the bullpen close to 60 today (overall). So, roughly 60 percent of where I need to be. So a couple more outings and I should be able to get there. … I’m pretty much happy with where I am.”
Young breezed through the Cubs’ lineup the first time, facing the minimum. Miguel Montero singled to start the second, but Young got Jorge Soler to hit into a double play. Otherwise, no Cubs reached base.
One of the hardest-hit balls was by Cubs starter John Lackey, who grounded out hard to Christian Colon.
The Royals took the lead when Alcides Escobar’s two-out triple was followed by a Mike Moustakas single to left field in the third inning.
Young ran into trouble in the fourth. Former Royal Ben Zobrist led off with a double, while Addison Russell and Montero drew walks around a Kris Bryant fly-out.
But Young, who struck out John Andreoli on an 82-mph slider earlier in the game, dialed it up to 87 mph in striking out Soler. Javier Baez then struck out, and Young’s day was done.
But the bullpen beckoned.
“My fastball command was really good today, slider command was pretty good,” Young said. “That’s my bread and butter.”
The Cubs loaded the bases again in the seventh inning. Baez singled on a shot up the middle that deflected off Royals pitcher Brian Duensing’s foot. Jesus Guzman then singled, and Andreoli walked.
Duensing limped a bit when delivering the final pitch to Andreoli, and Royals manager Ned Yost called on David Huff to relieve. Huff got a pop-out and a double play, keeping the Cubs scoreless.
Duensing has a bruised ankle, the team said.
The Royals put the game away in the bottom of the inning when Reymond Fuentes hit a three-run homer. Dusty Coleman had a two-run homer as part of a five-run eighth inning.
The regulars
Moustakas had two hits and made a nifty grab over the railing of the dugout on a pop-up hit by Zobrist. First baseman Eric Hosmer had a single in three at-bats, as did designated hitter Kendrys Morales.
The arms
Joakim Soria struck out two in his one inning of work in the fifth. He has yet to allow an earned run in four innings this spring. Luke Hochevar had a scoreless sixth, despite giving up a hit and a walk.
Position battles
Second baseman Colon snapped a 0-for-23 skid when he doubled in the fifth inning. Colon had lined out to third in the second inning. Whit Merrifield, in the mix as a utility player, played in center field and right field. He had a hit and scored a run. Fuentes had four RBIs in the game.
Up next
The Royals will play the Dodgers at Camelback Ranch on Thursday. Kris Medlen is expected to start the game, which is at 3:05 p.m.
Pete Grathoff: 816-234-4330, @pgrathoff
Wednesday’s summary
Royals 10, Cubs 0
TableStyle: SP-basebattersCCI Template: SP-basebatters
Chicago AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. | |
Zobrist 2b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .158 |
Alcantara 2b | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .348 |
A.Russell ss | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .238 |
J.Vosler pr-3b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Bryant 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .182 |
M.Parra p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Contreras c | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .417 |
M.Montero c | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .471 |
T.Davis 1b | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .105 |
Soler lf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .050 |
J.Perez rf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .120 |
J.Baez cf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .222 |
Almora pr-cf | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .217 |
Guzman 1b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .545 |
Edwards Jr. p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
H.Rondon p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
J.Candelario ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .345 |
J.Andreoli rf-lf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .360 |
Lackey p | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
Negron ss | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .238 |
Totals 33 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 8 |
TableStyle: SP-basebattersCCI Template: SP-basebatters
Kansas City AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. | |
A.Escobar ss | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .200 |
Barmes ss | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .316 |
Moustakas 3b | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .423 |
C.Decker 1b | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .235 |
L.Cain cf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .286 |
W.Merrifield rf-cf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .389 |
Hosmer 1b | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .391 |
D.Coleman pr-3b | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .214 |
K.Morales dh | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .226 |
Calixte ph-dh | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .313 |
S.Perez c | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .148 |
P.Morin c | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
C.Colon 2b | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .080 |
Mondesi pr-2b | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 |
Orlando rf-cf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .241 |
Snider ph-rf | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .200 |
Fuentes lf | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | .375 |
Gore lf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .100 |
Totals 38 | 10 | 16 | 10 | 1 | 9 |
TableStyle: SP-basebyinningsCCI Template: SP-basebyinnings
Chicago | 000 | 000 | 000 | — | 0 | 8 | 0 |
Kansas City | 001 | 010 | 35x | — | 10 | 16 | 0 |
DP: Chicago 2, Kansas City 1. LOB: Chicago 11, Kansas City 5. 2B: Zobrist (2), C.Colon (1). 3B: A.Escobar (1). HR: D.Coleman (1), Fuentes (2).
TableStyle: SP-basepitchersCCI Template: SP-basepitchers
Chicago | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
Lackey L, 0-1 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5.63 |
M.Parra | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.00 |
Edwards Jr. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5.40 |
H.Rondon | 1 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 20.25 |
TableStyle: SP-basepitchersCCI Template: SP-basepitchers
Kansas City | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
Young W, 1-1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5.63 |
Soria | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 |
Hochevar | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.00 |
Duensing | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.60 |
Huff | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.14 |
Lannan | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.80 |
PB: M.Montero. Umpires: Home, Stu Scheurwater; First, Adrian Johnson; Second, Todd Tichenor. Time: 2:41. Att: 11,076.
AP-WF-08-31-14 0338GMT
This story was originally published March 16, 2016 at 5:57 PM with the headline "Royals’ Chris Young makes quick work of Cubs in 10-0 win."