What is the story about?
The Kansas City Royals couldn’t manage enough offense as they fell 3-2 to the Los Angeles Angels tonight. It was an odd looking box score as Kansas City only managed two hits while committing three errors. It was a sloppy, dispiriting performance overall. Let’s hit the highlights:
- Stephen Kolek didn’t hide anything from the Angels, using essentially his entire arsenal from the jump — he threw six different pitch types in the first two innings alone. He wasn’t at his sharpest tonight and had some self-inflicted wounds, but he managed to gut out six innings.
- The Royals were very aggressive early on against Yusei Kikuchi. The gambit did not work — Kikuchi didn’t allow a baserunner the first time through the order and, thanks to a preponderance of early count outs, he only needed 30 pitches to do so.
- Luis Rengifo recorded the game’s first hit with a soft liner into right field in the second inning. When Rengifo made the turn at first, Jac Caglianone had a chance to throw him out at second, but he double-clutched the throw. The next two at-bats: a single off the end of Christian Moore’s bat and a hit-and-run 6-3 that scored Rengifo. Moore should have scored later in the inning when Caglianone dropped a shallow popup, but he seemingly forgot how many outs there were and stayed at second base. The Angels got another run in the third when Taylor Ward crushed a hanging slider from Kolek out to left-center for a homer.
- Kikuchi’s perfect game bid ended when Moore booted a Bobby Witt Jr. grounder. Witt would move to second on a wild pitch but was stranded there.
- The fourth was ugly for Kolek and the Royals. Oswald Peraza singled on a soft liner with one out and stole second base. Old friend Sebastián Rivero then bounced one right back to Kolek. The pitcher snagged it and turned towards second base — Peraza was well off the bag. But Kolek rushed the throw and slung it into center field. Peraza scored, giving the Angels a 3-0 lead, while Rivero reached first. A walk and a Jonathan India throwing error later, the Angels had the bases loaded. Kolek miraculously escaped, throwing a dead center sinker to Ward and getting a slick 6-4-3 double play out of it.
- Leading off the fifth, Randal Grichuk ended Kikuchi’s no-hitter and shutout on one swing. Kikuchi threw a backdoor slider and Grichuk poked it out to center, just barely clearing the wall and Bryce Teodosio’s outstretched glove.
- The Royals soon caught a break. Kikuchi came out to warm up ahead of the sixth inning having thrown just 66 pitches. He felt something in his arm during warm-ups and the trainer came out for a visit. Ultimately he was removed from the game.
- Matt Quatraro started emptying the bench in the seventh to great effect. With one out and Chase Silseth on the mound, Mike Yastrzemski hit for Grichuk. He was plunked. After a grounder moved him to second, Carter Jensen pinch-hit for Luke Maile. Jensen smoked a liner into the right-center gap for a single that scored Yastrzemski, making the score 3-2. That was the second and final hit by a Royal in this game.
- Adam Frazier pinch hit to lead off the eighth and battled through ten pitches to draw a walk. That was the last baserunner for Kansas City. Frazier was promptly erased on a double play. The next four batters were set down in order, with Kenley Jansen pitching a perfect ninth to lock down the save.
The loss drops Kansas City to 79-79. They have a chance to win the series, and top my preseason win prediction, tomorrow night in the rubber match in Anaheim.
Stephen Kolek: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 HR
Yusei Kikuchi:
5.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 HR
Randal Grichuk: 1-2, HR, R, RBI
Taylor Ward: 1-4, HR, R, RBI
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