Kansas City Royals blanked by Matt Harvey, Baltimore Orioles in series-deciding game
Matt Harvey holding the Kansas City Royals scoreless certainly solidified the theme of this weekend’s series as the ghosts of seasons past.
Harvey, a former Royal as well as the former face of the New York Mets team the Royals defeated in the 2015 World Series, tossed six scoreless innings for the Baltimore Orioles and set the tone for a 5-0 Royals loss in the rubber match of a three-game set in front of 13,706 at Kauffman Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
“He made pitches when he had to,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said of Harvey. “He had the lefties off-balance with the changeup, and the slider was good. We just couldn’t get much going against him.”
The Royals (37-55) have now lost six of seven dating to before the All-Star break. They hadn’t lost a home series to the Orioles since 2012, nor had they lost a series-deciding game at home to the Orioles since 2006.
The two rosters shared a handful of familiar faces. Former Royals Jorge Lopez started Saturday night’s game for the Orioles, while former Royals infielder Kelvin Gutierrez started two of the three games in the series. Gutierrez, who started 34 games for the Royals this season, has been filling in for another former Royal, infielder Maikel Franco, who is on the injured list.
Royals infielder Hanser Alberto spent his previous two seasons as a regular starter for the Orioles.
Hunter Dozier went 4 for 4 on a day when the Royals had six total hits. His four hits matched his career-high. Carlos Santana and Nicky Lopez were the only others with hits.
The Royals finished the series having not scored in the final 13 innings.
Dozier, who is now batting .192 for the season, had three of his hits to the opposite field. That included a double off the right-center wall in the ninth inning.
“When I’m driving balls to right-center, up the middle, that tells me I’m doing something right,” Dozier said.
Dozier also admitted the thumb injury he suffered in the Royals’ season-opening series caused him difficulty for weeks. He blamed himself for getting into bad habits at the plate that altered his swing while trying to “protect” that hand. Dozier said that’s why at times it looked like he was so pull-centric with his swing.
Sunday’s game featured an interesting starting pitching matchup of former teammates, Harvey started for the Orioles opposed by Royals right-hander Carlos Hernandez.
Hernandez’s MLB debut came in relief of Harvey last year on September 1, in what amounted to a piggyback start against the Cleveland Indians. Harvey pitched 1 1/3 innings and gave up five runs that day, while Hernandez stole the spotlight with 3 2/3 scoreless innings.
Harvey, the former first-round pick of the New York Mets (seventh overall) who started the 2013 All-Star Game for the National League, spent last season with the Royals after signing a minor-league contract in late July.
Last season, Harvey made seven appearances (four starts) for the Royals and posted an 0-3 record with an 11.57 ERA, a 2.74 WHIP with 10 strikeouts and five walks in 11 2/3 innings. He finished last season on the injured list with a right lat strain.
Harvey (4-10) signed a minor-league deal with the Orioles this offseason. He entered Sunday’s start tied for the second-most losses in MLB (10) and without a win since May 1.
Against the Royals on Sunday, Harvey held the Royals to three hits and one walk and a hit batter in six innings. He pitched six innings for just the second time this season, the other coming against the New York Yankees on April 26.
Meanwhile, Hernandez (1-1) matched his single-game career-high with six strikeouts — the third time he’s reached that mark this season — and allowed two runs on three hits and two walks in four innings.
Hernandez, who was slated to start the final game going into the All-Star break before it got rained out, has now struck out 12 in his past two appearances (7 2/3 innings).
Sunday marked his first start of the season in the majors. He started six games at Triple-A.
“It was really exciting,” Hernandez said with assistant strength and conditioning coach Luis Perez translating from Spanish to English. “I’m always looking to work hard and earn that spot in the rotation. As long as I keep getting that chance, I’m going to do my best to continue to help the team.”
The Orioles scored two against Hernandez in the third inning after a leadoff walk and a one-out single. A two-out walk loaded the bases and set the table for Ramon Urias’ two-run single down the right-field line.
“I thought his stuff was good right from the top,” Matheny said of Hernandez. “Ball was jumping out of his hand. He used the slider and the curveball. It was the right kind of stuff to have a good day.
“It was good to push him a little further. He did a nice job getting himself out of a mess. Guys made a couple nice plays in the outfield behind him. But that was the kind of start we were hoping we’d have from him.”
Hernandez threw a season-high 78 pitches, including five pitches of 100 mph.
The Orioles tacked on runs against the Royals’ bullpen. Relievers Kyle Zimmer, Josh Staumont and Greg Holland gave up one run apiece.
The ink is dry
The Royals announced before Sunday’s game that they’d signed 12 of their 21 draft picks, including first-round selection Frank Mozzicato. Mozzicato was at the ballpark on Saturday and had a conference call with reporters after he signed his deal.
Along with Mozzicato, the group of signees included: left-handed pitcher Noah Cameron (seventh round), outfielder Parker Bates (ninth), left-handed pitcher Shane Connolly (tenth), left-handed pitcher Tyson Guerrero (12th), right-handed pitcher Patrick Halligan (13th), left-handed pitcher Caden Monke (14th), outfielder River Town (15th), right-handed pitcher Anthony Simonelli (16th), right-handed pitcher Harrison Beethe (18th), infielder Camryn Williams (19th) and left-handed pitcher Jack Aldrich (20th).
This story was originally published July 18, 2021 at 4:34 PM with the headline "Kansas City Royals blanked by Matt Harvey, Baltimore Orioles in series-deciding game."
