Mike Minor gives up 6-run inning as Kansas City Royals get routed by Cleveland Indians
With the MLB All-Star break quickly approaching, the Kansas City Royals lost their fourth straight game and their eighth in a row to their AL Central Division rivals the Cleveland Indians.
The first two losses of this series came in gut-wrenching ways as the Royals gave up a pair of walk-off home runs.
Saturday, the Indians did not need a walk-off homer: They battered Royals starting pitcher Mike Minor with a six-run fourth inning and then pushed their lead to as many as six going into the final three innings.
The Royals rallied to get within three runs, but the Indians kept the offensive onslaught going and dealt the Royals a 14-6 loss in the third game of a four-game set at Progressive Field.
The Indians hit four home runs and smacked 17 hits.
The Royals were poised to try to salvage a win in Sunday afternoon’s series finale and avoid a five-game losing slide headed into the break, but the game was postponed until September because of rain.
“Tonight is one of those nights where you feel really bad because we put six on the board,” Minor said. “We’re supposed to win those games. The offense does their job and then the pitching doesn’t. …
“I didn’t do my part today, and it’s a game we could’ve maybe won with six runs on the board. So it stings a little bit, but you move on and you go into the break and try to get a fresh start after the break and forget about things.”
Salvador Perez and Andrew Benintendi each hit home runs for the Royals (36-53). Benintendi went 3 for 5 with two runs scored and two RBIs.
Perez, who has started every game this season, is scheduled to take part in his seventh All-Star Game as well as his first Home Run Derby this coming week. He came out of the game Saturday in the sixth inning with the Royals trailing by four runs.
Royals manager Mike Matheny said he pulled Perez because his back tightened up after making a diving catch in foul territory on a bunt attempt by Bradley Zimmer in the third inning.
Minor (6-8) allowed six runs on nine hits and a walk in four innings in his 200th career start.
Minor had navigated through the first three innings having allowed just three hits. While two of those early hits were doubles, including a leadoff double by Oscar Mercado in the third, Minor stranded runners on base in the second and third innings.
“I just didn’t feel like I threw very good pitches tonight,” Minor said. “I didn’t have anything to start with. The start to the game, I kind of felt like I was getting lucky anyways, trying to grind through the innings, trying to make pitches. Breaking stuff — slider and curveball wasn’t great — changeup was flat.”
The Royals had just grabbed a 2-0 lead on Perez’s 21st home run of the season in the top of the fourth.
In the bottom of the fourth, Minor gave up hits to each of the first four batters.
The defense came through with one out on Bobby Bradley’s RBI double with two men on. A strong relay throw from center fielder Michael A. Taylor to shortstop Nicky Lopez to the catcher Perez cut down the second runner, Franmil Reyes, at the plate.
However, the Indians (45-42) kept the pressure on Minor. Harold Ramirez’s single put runners on the corners. Then Mercado delivered a two-out RBI double, and Zimmer hit an RBI infield single on a ball deflected by Minor. Cesar Hernandez crushed a first-pitch slider to left field for a three-run homer that capped the six-run inning.
In his last three road starts, Minor has allowed 20 runs on 27 hits in 14 innings.
“I feel very inconsistent,” Minor said. “I have a decent game and the next one is pretty bad, especially the last four or five. I feel like I’ve been up and down, and that’s something I’ve thought about the whole season. I want to string a couple good starts, a couple quality starts together in a row and I feel like I haven’t done that.”
The Royals rallied to within three runs and brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh inning. Sebastian Rivero, batting for Perez, grounded out to end the inning.
The Indians tacked on four runs in the bottom of the seventh. One run came against left-handed reliever Richard Lovelady, the other three came on a Mercado homer given up by Kyle Zimmer.
The seventh inning featured a first as Royals relief pitcher Kyle Zimmer faced his brother and Cleveland Indians outfielder Bradley Zimmer in the majors. The two had faced one another in the minors, but never in the majors. Kyle struck out his younger brother.
After Minor got roughed up, the Royals’ bullpen allowed an additional eight runs in the final four innings with the Indians not batting in the ninth.
“Certainly, we score two — a big home run by Salvy — and you’re looking for the shutdown inning,” Matheny said. “But you give up six and we’re in a bad spot. You give up six in an inning and you’re normally going to be playing catch-up the rest of the game. That’s really what it was.
“We come back, score a little bit, get a little momentum going, and then we give up another four. That’s just too much to overcome.”
This story was originally published July 10, 2021 at 8:41 PM with the headline "Mike Minor gives up 6-run inning as Kansas City Royals get routed by Cleveland Indians."
