Both starters were dealing tonight. Despite that, the Royals were able to get on the board early. Vinnie Pasquantino turned on a fastball in the first inning and drove it out of the park down the right field line. Bobby Witt Jr. had walked on four pitches right before that, so the Royals had a 2-0 lead just three batters into the game.
After that, Chase Burns only allowed a few Royals on base and when he did, he would just strike everyone out to prevent them from coming around to score. He struck
out 9 Royals across his six innings before turning it over to the bullpen.
Stephen Kolek also felt like striking out a lot of batters today. Through four innings he was straight up dominant before it seemed his command started to wane a bit. In the 5th inning this got him into a little trouble. Will Benson led off that inning with a bunt single because the defense was back and shaded to pull leaving the third base line a long way from any defenders. That ended up not mattering because Kolek rolled up a double play and looked like he was going to get through five without any runs, but Matt McLain had a seeing eye single to keep the inning going and get it back to the top of the lineup. Blake Dunn then saw a slider break into the middle of the zone and drove it out to tie up the game. Kolek still managed to get through 7 innings and struck out 8 for the second time in his career. The final line was 7IP, 6H, 2BB, 2ER, 8K. He had 7 Ks through three innings though, so his slider that was dominant early lost some of its power the 2nd and 3rd time through Cincinnati’s order.
In a year that has mostly gone wrong, Stephen Kolek has been a bright a spot. He now has a 3.32 ERA and four of his six starts have been quality starts. Not bad for a guy who was 7th on the depth chart for the rotation.
With the starters out, it was a new game all tied up. Daniel Lynch was the first out of the pen for the Royals. Other than a load double off the wall from pinch hitter Dane Myers, Lynch looked in control. The Reds’ relievers only allowed a single to Pasquantino in the 7th and 8th. The Royals then got something going in the 9th. Jac Caglianone led off the inning with his second single of the night, which brought in Tyler Tolbert as a pinch runner. Isaac Collins then sac bunted him to get a runner in scoring position with Michael Massey coming up. Tony Santillan was having his attention divided watching Tolbert on base and trying to pitch to Massey until finally, on the 8th pitch of the plate appearance, Michael singled to right and got the Royals back ahead 3-2. There was still only one out and a runner on. Nick Loftin came up to try and get some insurance runs. Ryan Lefebvre then said, “Loftin has not hit a home run yet this year”. Two seconds later he did just that and the Royals’ lead was extended to 3.
Lane Thomas, who pinch hit for Kyle Isbel in the 7th, walked and that ended Santillan’s night. Zachary McCambley was next up and had his major league debut. He struck out Carter Jensen and started heading for the dugout, which his teammates are going to have some fun with I am sure given that there were only 2 outs. And the Royals kept making things interesting with a Bobby Witt single and then an intentional walk to Vinnie after Bobby took second on defensive indifference. Bases loaded, Salvador Perez coming to the plate, but it was not to be as he struck out and the lead stayed 5-2.
The Royals have blown multiple saves through this bad stretch of baseball. Lucas Erceg was not given the opportunity to have a fourth consecutive blown save and Alex Lange came in to try and close it out. Spencer Steer immediately doubled into the left field corner and that sinking feeling started to creep in. The Reds did have their 7, 8, and 9 hitters coming though. Benson struck out on a check swing and Cincy decided to pinch hit with Edwin Arroyo and his 1 career hit after making his debut on Monday. He was called out on a slider that hit the top of the zone for strike three. Noelvi Marte was up and things got a little weird. He checked his swing on the first pitch for a ball, but then said it hit his arm, so the Reds decided to challenge. They did not win the challenge and Marte returned to the batter’s box. The next pitch was called a strike and Marte challenged that turning it into a ball and eventually leading to a walk. Dunn was back up with a chance to hit a second game-tying home run of the day, but then he bunted the first pitch foul? Bunting with 2 outs and runners on first and second was a strange choice. He then hit a fly ball to center than Lane Thomes caught ending the threat, giving the Royals a win for the game and the series.
That was an uncomfortable ninth inning, but the bullpen did its job tonight. Thanks to Kolek they only needed to take care of two innings and they did. Next it is off to Minnesota for four games against a division rival who is not very good, though their record is still quite a bit better than Kansas City’s.
