Kansas City Royals stumble late, lose game and series to Reds. Cleveland’s up next
Brady Singer pitched well enough and went deep enough into the game to give the Kansas City Royals a great chance to pull out a win. This season, neither length nor caliber of performance have been a given for Royals starters — because of injuries, inexperience and inconsistency.
Singer, who made his 30th career start, held the Cincinnati Reds scoreless through their first six innings. The lone run he allowed scored after he’d handed the game over to the bullpen. He turned in his sixth quality start of the season.
However, the Royals gave up runs in each of the final three innings, including a three-run seventh, and failed to protect a slim lead in their rubber match with the Reds.
The result: a 5-2 loss in front of an announced crowd of 11,457 in the finale of a three-game series Wednesday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium.
The Royals (36-50) will now hit the road for a four-game series against the Cleveland Indians leading into the All-Star break.
“I felt like the fastball command was a little shaky there in the first few innings, and the I felt like like I kind of dialed it in later on,” Singer said. “I felt like I got better throughout the game.”
The game included an 1 hour, 12 minute rain delay between the end of the seventh inning and the top of the eighth. The Reds led 3-2 at the time.
The game also featured a battle of starting pitchers through the first seven innings. Singer didn’t factor into the decision, but he allowed just one run, five hits and one walk. He struck out six and didn’t allow an extra-base hit.
Reds starter Sonny Gray, a two-time All-Star, pitched seven innings and allowed two runs, seven hits and two walks. He struck out seven on his way to his second win of the season.
“We got two there off of him, so that was really good to see,” Singer said. “It was a pitcher’s duel. It was definitely fun. We were going back and forth there for a long time.”
Singer entered the seventh inning having thrown 90 pitches. Reds catcher Tucker Barnhart hit a leadoff single past the dive of second baseman Whit Merrifield and into right field.
Matheny immediately went to the club’s most reliable reliever, Scott Barlow, who began warming up before the inning started.
Barlow (2-3) saved the wins on Friday and Saturday against Minnesota, and he began the day tied for the third-highest wins above replacement among American League relief pitchers (1.4) as calculated by FanGraphs.com.
After Singer allowed the single to start the inning, Barlow gave up three consecutive hits, including a Mike Freeman RBI single and a Jonathan India two-run double that gave the Reds a 3-2 lead. The first run that scored was charged to Singer.
“I feel like I was getting ahead OK, but definitely the two-strike pitches weren’t what I wanted for sure,” Barlow said. “I definitely failed at execution, especially with two strikes.”
Each of those first three hits allowed by Barlow came with two strikes, including the India double on a 1-2 curveball that didn’t get to where Barlow intended.
“The fastball felt pretty good today, but both slider and curve were definitely not up to par,” Barlow said.
The Reds (45-41) took a 3-2 lead in the seventh against Barlow, and they added a run in the eighth against Kyle Zimmer as well as a final run in the ninth against Greg Holland.
“He’s been so good all year,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said of Barlow. “We’d take him against anybody in any situation. … We haven’t seen many days like that for Scott. They’re going to happen. It’s unfortunate because we’re in the right spot of the game. We want him in there. Just a tough one to give up three runs right there.”
Michael A. Taylor went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a stolen base for the Royals. He also got picked off at third base for the second out of the third inning, when the Royals came away without a run after putting two men on with no outs.
The Royals split the six-game home stand after winning their previous series against the Minnesota Twins.
This story was originally published July 7, 2021 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Kansas City Royals stumble late, lose game and series to Reds. Cleveland’s up next."
