Letdowns from defense, bullpen hurt Royals in season-opening series finale at Cleveland
The Royals’ lack of starting pitching depth combined with the absence of their top two pitchers from last season due to COVID-19 has forced Kansas City’s bullpen to carry the load. On Sunday, the defense didn’t exactly provide a helping hand and the bullpen couldn’t hold up.
The Royals gave up two unearned runs in the first inning and were never within two runs after the bottom of the third as they dropped the afternoon rubber match of a three-game series with the Cleveland Indians 9-2 at Progressive Field.
“We’ve got to clean some things up overall,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “Our walks are scoring at an extremely high rate. Our mistakes are scoring at an extremely high rate. We’ve talked about this since the very first breath of this season. We can’t afford to give up bases, and we’ve got to make sure we’re cleaning that up.”
Indians starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco held the Royals to two runs on five hits in six innings. He struck out 10 and gave up just one walk. The Royals struck out 15 times in the game.
Salvador Perez (1-for-3) and Whit Merrifield (1-for-3) each drove in a run, while Adalberto Mondesi and Maikel Franco each doubled.
For the first time, the Royals went with an “opener” as opposed to a traditional starting pitcher. Right-hander Ronald Bolaños, acquired on July 16 in the trade that sent Timmy Hill to the San Diego Padres, pitched the first two innings.
The Royals starting rotation has been taxed by the losses of Brad Keller and Jakob Junis. Both continue to ramp up their throwing progressions after dealing with COVID-19 infections during spring training 2.0.
Entering the day, Royals relief pitchers had pitched 8 2/3 scoreless innings and held the Indians to a .107 batting average (3-for-28) with nine strikeouts.
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Bolaños initially figured into the Royals’ plans as a power arm out of the bullpen, but he has started in the majors. He made his MLB debut last season and appeared in five games (three starts) in September.
Bolaños began last season in the minors at High-A and advanced to Double-A before making the jump to the big leagues. While in the minors, he appeared in 25 games (23 starts).
The Indians scored two unearned runs in the first inning after third baseman Erick Mejia’s throwing error pulled first baseman Maikel Franco off of first base and paved the way for an extended inning. With two out in the first, Fanmil Reyes and Domingo Santana each hit RBI singles to drive in runs during an inning that should have been over.
“It’s pretty consistent right now — we don’t make a play for a guy and it seems to hurt us every single time,” Matheny said. “That one would’ve got him through that inning clean and with just a little more confidence. He’s throwing the ball well. The stuff looks right. … He’s got major-league weapons. I’m seeing him being able to be a part of what we’re doing moving forward.”
Bolaños threw 32 pitches in the game, but he went to the bullpen after his outing. With assistant strength and conditioning coach/Latin American coordinator Luis Perez serving as his interpreter, Bolaños said he worked his way up to 50 pitches, and he does still hope to get another chance as a true starter.
“I felt a little rushed because I felt like I needed to get a lot of work done within those first couple innings,” Bolaños said of starting in an “opener” role. “I knew I was limited.”
Bolaños worked a scoreless second inning. In the third inning, another error helped doom the outing of reliever Jorge Lopez.
Lopez, who began last season in the starting rotation, has moved the the bullpen full-time this season. He has shown flashes of intriguing promise as a reliever, but Sunday was not a feather in his cap.
Lopez gave up a leadoff single. Then Ramirez singled to right field and outfielder Franchy Cordero misplayed the ball off the bounce which allowed the lead runner to score and Ramirez to advance all the way to third base.
The next batter, Francisco Lindor, doubled on a sharply-hit ground ball down the line and just inside of third base to drive in Ramirez with the second run of the third inning.
“This is a spot where I have to prove myself,” Lopez said. “I have to come in and do my best. First thing, I get behind. … I feel like I was trying to do too much rather than me just concentrating and sticking to the plan.”
In the fourth inning, after the Royals scored on Perez’s RBI single to make it a three-run game, the Indians broke it open on Jose Ramirez’s three-run homer to right field off reliever Kevin McCarthy. McCarthy had just entered the game in place of left-hander Gabe Speier, who’d given up back-to-back singles after retiring the first batter of the inning.
Merrifield’s RBI single in the fifth inning made it 7-2, but Ramirez added another homer in the sixth, a solo shot that hit the left-field foul pole. It was his fifth game with home runs from each side of the plate. Rarmirez’s blast made it 8-2 and the Royals substituted heavily in the bottom of the seventh, with Alex Gordon, Merrfield and Perez all coming out of the game.
Bradley Zimmer’s seventh-inning sacrifice fly drove in the game’s final run.
This story was originally published July 26, 2020 at 3:28 PM with the headline "Letdowns from defense, bullpen hurt Royals in season-opening series finale at Cleveland."
