After Royals tie score, rookie Collin Snider gives up 3-run homer in loss to Guardians
With the score tied in the bottom of the eighth inning, Kansas City Royals reliever Collin Snider gave up three runs courtesy of Andres Gimenez’s fifth home run of the season. That blast changed the complexion of the game.
The Royals had just scored two runs in the top half of the eighth to pull even, but the Guardians swung the game against Snider and added an unearned run on a Bobby Witt Jr. throwing error to take a four-run advantage.
The Royals couldn’t overcome the deficit in the final inning and fell 7-3 in the opener of a three-game series Monday night in front of an announced 15,271 at Progressive Field.
“It was a terrible pitch, just middle of the plate and up in the zone,” Snider said of the sinker to Gimenez.
Snider got the leadoff hitter in the eighth to fly out. But he walked Josh Naylor on five pitches and gave up a single on the ground through the middle to Oscar Gonzalez. That brought Gimenez to the plate.
Snider, who made his major-league debut in April, has produced an oddity thus far in his big-league career. He’s thrived when entering a game with runners on base and has produced an ERA of 1.04. This season he has already established a franchise record by stranding 19 inherited runners to begin his career.
However, he has also produced an ERA of 11.17 when he enters the game with a nobody on base and no outs.
“I know there’s a difference,” Snider said of the statistics. “I’m not really sure what’s going on. Coming into the game with guys on base, middle of the inning, there’s a little less time. You just kinda get your arm going, go into the game and figure it out from there. But regardless, I just have to be better.”
Offense rallies again
Nicky Lopez went 3 for 4 with a run scored, while Andrew Benintendi (2 for 5, RBI) and rookie MJ Melendez (2 for 3, walk) had two hits apiece. Whit Merrifield (1 for 5) had a hit, an RBI and a run scored for the Royals (16-31). Emmanuel Rivera (1 for 4) homered for the third time in his past nine games.
The Royals’ lone run until the eighth inning came on Rivera’s blistering third-inning solo homer off Guardians starter Zach Plesac. The ball traveled an estimated 420 feet to left-center field.
Lopez’s second single of the day started the eighth-inning rally. He scored on Merrifield’s double to left and Benintendi lined a double to the left-center field gap to drive in Merrifield.
But after Witt walked to put two men on for Salvador Perez, Perez grounded into a double play.
The Royals kept pushing for a potential go-ahead run. Melendez drew an intentional walk and Hunter Dozier walked to load the bases. Carlos Santana’s pop-up ended the inning.
“Personally, I need to start hitting a little more,” said Perez, who is now batting .196. “(I’ve been) like that all season long, so hopefully things change for me and I can try to help my team win, produce for my team.”
Perez praised Melendez, Benintendi, Lopez and Rivera for swinging the bat well, and then added, “Hopefully, Santana and me will get a little better at the plate and try to produce for the team.”
A learning experience for Heasley
Royals rookie starting pitcher Jonathan Heasley turned in a quality start. He allowed three runs, six hits, one home run and three walks in six innings. He struck out three and did not factor in the decision.
The six-inning outing marked the longest in Heasley’s career, which spans seven starts.
“A lot of positives,” Heasley said of his performance. “If you go back and look at it, I kinda got beat by one guy. Obviously, no secret, I learned from a couple things today. Just handling certain situations and the best way to go about that. But overall, I thought I threw the ball well, competed really well and kept us in the game, had really good defense behind us.”
A leadoff walk in the first inning came back to bite him when the runner tagged and advanced on a deep fly ball to the track, then scored on Jose Ramirez’s RBI single.
In the fifth inning, Ramirez inflicted pain upon the rookie again. With two outs and a runner on second base, he hit a 3-2 fastball — one of just two he saw in the at-bat — over the right field wall for a two-run homer to break what had been a 1-1 tie.
Royals manager Mike Matheny described Heasley’s performance as “great.”
Matheny also referenced the plan coming into the night having been to be careful against Ramirez.
“You can put him on. You can also pitch tough,” Matheny said of the fifth-inning Ramirez at-bat. “You have those two options. You could put him on in the first. But also when you’re trying to pitch around him and, all of a sudden, you get yourself into a strike count, then get yourself in a two-strike count, we’re trying to spread the zone at that particular point and hopefully get a free out. It’s easy in hindsight to go back and say just put him on.”
Matheny also acknowledged that it’s a “fine line” because they’re always harping on walks and “free bases” with the pitching staff.
Heasley admitted his recent high walk totals factored into his aggressiveness in that situation. He’d walked six in his previous outing (five innings) and a total of seven in the two starts prior to that (8 1/3 innings).
“In that situation, it’s probably going to be smarter to put the guy on,” Heasley said. “I think that was just hard for me with where my mind’s at right now, especially with walks. How I’ve been walking guys pretty frequently in the first few starts.
“I feel like the last thing I want to do is be like, ‘Oh, let’s walk a guy.’ So it’s just kind of a different frame of mind. But at the time it’s the smartest decision and would’ve hopefully kept two runs off the board. We’ll never know.”
Heasley’s veteran catcher Perez claimed responsibility for the pitch call, and defended his choice.
“I still feel the pitch on Ramirez was a pretty good pitch,” Perez said. “He didn’t chase. It was my call, up and in. When we did the report today, there was a hole up and in. That was a pretty good pitch. I think he’s super hot right now. He’s going to hit everything. So, I think Heasley is doing a pretty good job.”
Ramirez has batted .364 with 10 extra-base hits and 16 RBIs in his last nine games. His 51 RBIs this season lead the majors.
This story was originally published May 30, 2022 at 8:08 PM with the headline "After Royals tie score, rookie Collin Snider gives up 3-run homer in loss to Guardians."
