Royals’ defense wobbles behind a shaky Kris Medlen in 8-3 loss to Baltimore

The inning unraveled in pieces, a baseball game slipping away in a matter of moments on Saturday night. The Royals’ usually sturdy defense began to bend. Starting pitcher Kris Medlen labored through an uneven performance. An RBI blooper tucked inside the foul line and found grass in right field.

The opponent on this night, the Baltimore Orioles, appeared ready to pounce. The result was a decisive four-run fourth inning in the Royals’ 8-3 loss at Kauffman Stadium, an inning that could have been avoided had a double play been completed with a little more urgency; an inning that could have been limited had a run-down been executed in more proper fashion.

“It just kind of blew up on us,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

In his third start of the season, Medlen produced his worst outing of the season, allowing seven runs and nine hits in 3  2/3 innings. He issued three walks as his command came and went. He allowed a solo homer to slugger Chris Davis, who tied a career high with four hits on a breezy night at Kauffman Stadium.

The Kansas City defense, however, offered no lifelines, especially during a rather porous fourth inning. With the Royals trailing 3-2 and a runner on first base with one out, Medlen induced a routine double-play ball from the bat of speedy right fielder Joey Rickard. Shortstop Alcides Escobar fielded the ball cleanly but tossed it in rather leisurely fashion to second baseman Omar Infante. The turn from Infante was quick, but the throw lacked zip, and Rickard beat the double play by a step.

Escobar conceded the speed of Rickard caught him off guard. But he felt like the play was executed with the right focus.

“Because I throw the ball right away, boom,” Escobar said. “And Omar throw to first, and … ‘Oh, he can run.’”

The half-inning could have been over. Medlen still shouldered the brunt of the blame.

“I got the double-play ball, and he was busting his tail down the line and beat it out,” Medlen said. “It’s just a good play by him. I just think I needed to execute more and I didn’t. A lot of times, when you’re facing the really good teams, they’re gonna make you pay for it.”

The Orioles, one of the hottest offenses in baseball, did just that. Moments later, Baltimore third baseman Manny Machado followed with an RBI double. Adam Jones drew a five-pitch walk. And Davis singled down the right-field line, scoring Machado. Once again, the Royals’ defense blinked. As right fielder Jarrod Dyson fielded the baseball in right field, Davis took off for second. Dyson fired the throw to Escobar, catching Davis in a run-down. But as Escobar ran Davis back to first, he unloaded the throw too quickly, leaving nobody to back him up at second.

Infante had meandered into right field, to handle a possible relay throw, and Lorenzo Cain never moved from his position in center. Davis was able to reverse course and arrive safely at second base.

That was it for Medlen, who was replaced by reliever Dillon Gee after throwing just 67 pitches. Moments later, designated hitter Mark Trumbo greeted Gee by depositing a first-pitch slider into right field for a bloop single, scoring two more runs. Four batters after failing to complete an inning-ending double play, the Royals trailed 7-2.

“I was leaving pitches arm side, just pushing everything,” Medlen said. “So when I tried to go away to righties, it was (in the) middle. When I was trying to go into righties, it was way in. It just felt a little off.”

The fourth inning encapsulated much of the night as the Royals fell to 11-6 on the year, a half-game behind the Chicago White Sox in the American League Central.

“We had a double play ball that we could have turned, and we didn’t turn it,” Yost said. “But you still have to find ways to try to cover it, and we couldn’t cover it.”

The Royals will complete its home stand against the Orioles on Sunday before embarking on a grueling portion of the schedule. After Sunday, they will play four of their next five series on the road, sandwiching a trip to the West Coast and a sojourn to the East around a three-game home series against the Washington Nationals. In all, they will play 13 of their next 16 away from home, beginning on Monday, which makes Sunday’s rubber match an important game in the interim.

Before Saturday, the Royals had rolled to the American League’s best record with a combination of sterling starting pitching and sensational defense. On this night, both categories were liabilities.

In addition to the leaky fourth inning, Escobar muffed a potential double play ball in the first inning and Cain uncharacteristically misplayed a ball in the sixth, failing to track down a shallow blooper in front of him. The defensive wobbles outweighed a terrific diving stop from Mike Moustakas in the fifth and a excellent dig by first baseman Eric Hosmer on the aforementioned muff from Escobar in the first.

Even after the Orioles, 11-5, seized control, the Royals displayed a pulse on offense. Escobar trimmed the lead to 7-3 with an RBI single in the fifth. With two men on and one out, the torrid Moustakas had a chance to inflict more damage, and perhaps pull the Royals back into the game. He grounded into a 4-6-3 double play instead, ending the inning.

The Royals brought the tying run to the plate in the sixth, loading the bases against reliever left-hander Brian Matusz. Once again, they could not convert. With Salvador Perez due up, Orioles manager Buck Showalter called on right-hander Mychal Givens, who maneuvered out of the jam by striking out Perez and Infante. Perez went down after waving at an 88-mph slider out of the strike zone. Infante swung through a 3-2 slider.

“That was a big jam,” Yost said.

Reliever Dillon Gee kept the Royals’ in the game, throwing 4  1/3 scoreless innings in his first outing in seven days— his first appearance since returning from paternity leave after the birth of a daughter. He did allow two inherited runners to score, a result that irked him.

“I’m happy with the way I threw the ball,” Gee said. “It still frustrates me that I cashed in two of Medlen’s runs. So that’s still on my mind.”

The Orioles opened the scoring by scratching across two runs against Medlen in the top of the second. Perez responded in the bottom half of the inning, driving a two-run homer into the seats below the fountains in left field. In the moment, the Royals appeared poised to engage in another close game. Two innings later, it all came apart.

Orioles 8, Royals 3

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1-ran for Kim in the 8th.

E: C.Davis (2). LOB: Baltimore 8, Kansas City 5. 2B: Machado (8), Trumbo (3), Hosmer (4), Infante (6). HR: C.Davis (6), off Medlen; S.Perez (4), off T.Wilson. RBIs: Machado (11), C.Davis 2 (13), Trumbo 4 (15), Kim (1), A.Escobar (6), S.Perez 2 (13). CS: Machado (2).

Runners left in scoring position: Baltimore 3 (Rickard, J.Hardy 2); Kansas City 4 (A.Gordon, Moustakas, Infante 2). RISP: Baltimore 5 for 10; Kansas City 2 for 7. Runners moved up: A.Jones, K.Morales. GIDP: Moustakas. DP: Baltimore 1 (Schoop, J.Hardy, C.Davis).

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T.Wilson pitched to 1 batter in the 6th.

Holds: Givens (4). Inherited runners-scored: Matusz 1-0, Givens 3-0, Gee 2-2.

Umpires: Home, Laz Diaz; First, Cory Blaser; Second, Jeff Nelson; Third, Doug Eddings. Time: 3:04. Att: 39,900.

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This story was originally published April 23, 2016 at 9:51 PM with the headline "Royals’ defense wobbles behind a shaky Kris Medlen in 8-3 loss to Baltimore."