Royals’ defense falls apart in 10-1 loss to the Oakland A’s
The final line Sunday suggested a starting pitcher scuffling in the final week of spring training. Chris Young sounded a more optimistic tone, offering a tepid endorsement of his day.
In his penultimate start before the regular season, Young allowed eight runs in 4 1/3 innings in a 10-1 loss to the Oakland Athletics at Hohokam Stadium. The numbers did not reveal the whole story. Just five of the runs were earned. One of the homers was of the Cactus League variety. Young was hounded by a bunch of hits that found holes in the Royals’ defense.
“It sounds funny, but you get caught up in results a lot of times,” Young said. “I felt like I pitched better today than my results, but not even close to well enough.”
In all, the A’s scratched out nine hits and cracked two home runs in the first two innings. They added five runs in the fifth inning as the Royals’ defense came apart at the seams. By the end, Young was charged with five earned runs while his pitch count surpassed 90 for the first time this spring. Outside the hitter-friendly conditions of Arizona, the performance might have looked considerably different.
“We got him past the 90-pitch mark, which was important,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “There were a lot of balls that found holes that won’t find holes in the regular season.”
Oakland’s Chris Coghlan opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the first inning. Jed Lowrie connected on a solo shot to center in the second. Young settled down and threw scoreless innings in the third and fourth. But three errors, including one by Young on a slow comebacker to his left, opened the door for a five-run fifth inning. The other errors were charged to center field Paulo Orlando, who dropped a ball while attempting a charging basket catch, and left fielder Terrance Gore.
Young was coming off sterling results in consecutive starts. In his previous outing, he had allowed one earned run in 4 1/3 innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers. On March 13, he had tossed four scoreless innings against the Chicago Cubs. Sunday offered a counterweight to the solid starts.
“I got to make some better pitches at times, but I felt like I did some things really, really well,” Young said. “I was more dissatisfied with my last one against the Dodgers. The results were better, but I didn’t feel like I pitched that well.”
As the Royals enter the final days of camp, Young will have one more spring training start before making his season debut against the Minnesota Twins on April 9 at Kauffman Stadium. After his latest outing, he will likely welcome the opportunity for more seasoning.
“Coghlan’s ball probably had a chance of being a home run,” Yost said. “The second (homer), during the season, wouldn’t have been. All in all, I thought it was a pretty good outing.”
The regulars
The Royals’ offense did little against A’s starter Kendall Graveman, who allowed just one run in seven innings. Second baseman Omar Infante finished 1 for 2, raising his spring average to .353.
The arms
Left-hander Brian Duensing allowed two unearned runs in 1 2/3 innings. Duensing is still in contention for what appears to be one open bullpen spot. After signing a minor-league deal in the offseason, Duensing has an opt-out clause that takes effect Tuesday. If he triggers the opt-out, the Royals must add him to the 40-man roster or release him.
Up next
The Royals will play their final split-squad games of the spring on Monday. Opening day starter Edinson Volquez will take the mound for his final tuneup as the Royals play host to the San Diego Padres at 3:05 p.m. Another group will face the Seattle Mariners at 3:10 in Peoria, Ariz.
Rustin Dodd: 816-234-4937, @rustindodd. Download True Blue, The Star’s Royals app.
Sunday’s summary
Athletics 10, Royals 1
TableStyle: SP-basebattersCCI Template: SP-basebatters
Kansas City ab | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. | |
A.Escobar ss | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .186 |
Barmes ss | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .226 |
Moustakas 3b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 |
C.Colon 3b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .140 |
A.Gordon lf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .310 |
C.Decker 1b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .286 |
K.Morales 1b | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .245 |
Gore pr-lf | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .188 |
S.Perez c | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .234 |
T.Cruz c | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .139 |
Infante 2b | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .353 |
W.Merrifield 2b | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .353 |
Fuentes rf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .400 |
Snider rf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .222 |
Orlando cf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .208 |
L.Moon cf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .333 |
Mondesi dh | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .268 |
Totals 33 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
TableStyle: SP-basebattersCCI Template: SP-basebatters
Oakland ab | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. | |
Crisp cf | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .167 |
Lambo lf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .325 |
Coghlan 2b | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .279 |
M.Chapman 3b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .235 |
Reddick rf | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .405 |
W.Kirkland rf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
Valencia 3b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .366 |
C.Pinder 2b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .235 |
K.Davis lf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .256 |
J.Sportman cf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .400 |
Lowrie ss | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .457 |
Sogard ss | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
B.Butler dh | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .314 |
D.Oh ph-dh | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Alonso 1b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .325 |
McBride 1b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .067 |
Phegley c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .306 |
B.Maxwell c | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .263 |
Totals 36 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 5 |
TableStyle: SP-basebyinningsCCI Template: SP-basebyinnings
Kansas City | 000 | 000 | 100 | — | 1 | 6 | 4 |
Oakland | 210 | 052 | 00x | — | 10 | 11 | 3 |
E: Young (1), Orlando (1), Gore (1), L.Moon (1), Coghlan (2), Sogard (1), Graveman (1). DP: Kansas City 1. LOB: Kansas City 7, Oakland 5. 2B: Crisp (2). HR: T.Cruz (1), Coghlan (2), Lowrie (1). CS: A.Gordon (1), K.Davis (1). SF: K.Davis.
TableStyle: SP-basepitchersCCI Template: SP-basepitchers
Kansas City | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
Young L,2-2 | 4 1/3 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 5.94 |
Duensing | 1 2/3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2.61 |
Soria | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
K.Herrera | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4.00 |
TableStyle: SP-basepitchersCCI Template: SP-basepitchers
Oakland | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
Graveman W,1-1 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4.98 |
Rzepczynski | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.05 |
Dull | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.00 |
Umpires: Home, Bill Miller; First, Jim Reynolds; Second, Kerwin Danley; Third, Stu Scheurwater. Time: 2:34. Att: 7,172.
AP-WF-08-31-14 0338GMT
This story was originally published March 27, 2016 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Royals’ defense falls apart in 10-1 loss to the Oakland A’s."