Kansas City Royals lose third in a row as Daniel Lynch gives up 6 runs in four innings
The Kansas City Royals once again found themselves trying to dig out of a hole by the time they reached the middle innings. This time, their normally-steady left-hander Daniel Lynch had been the one to give up the runs early and force the club to play from behind.
The Royals trailed by three after the first inning, pulled within a run, but were immediately put on their heels after Lynch gave up a second three-run inning in a 8-3 loss to the Cleveland Guardians in front of an announced 10,519 at Progressive Field on Tuesday night in the second game of a three-game set.
Whit Merrifield (1 for 4, double, RBI), Andrew Benintendi (1 for 4, RBI) and Kyle Isbel (1 for 3, RBI) all drove in runs for the Royals (16-32).
Hunter Dozier (1 for 2, walk, hit by pitch) had a double and two runs scored, while Nicky Lopez (1 for 3, walk) also doubled and scored.
Lynch (2-4) allowed six runs on nine hits in four innings. He also hit a batter and walked three.
“I felt like they just always seemed to have runners on base today,” Lynch said. “Whether balls found holes or I just didn’t make good pitches, I was kind of just pitching in a hole the entire time. It’s hard to do that.”
Lynch gave up all six runs in the first three innings.
The Guardians sent eight batters to the plate in the first inning and came away with three runs on four hits. The lone extra-base hit was the first hit of the inning, a one-out triple to center field by Amed Rosario that Isbel made a leaping attempt to catch.
After the Royals intentionally walked Jose Ramirez, an RBI ground out by Owen Miller drove in the game’s first run. Oscar Gonzalez singled. Then an RBI single by Ernie Clement made it 2-0 with two outs. Andres Gimenez singled up the middle to bring in Gonzalez with the third run.
“I felt like there in the first inning if I looked at things that I can control, there weren’t very many things that I could have done differently,” Lynch said. “I felt like I made good pitches. They just — balls found some holes. As far as things that I can control, I don’t know that there’s much I would change.”
Lynch pitched into and out of trouble in the second after a double, an intentional walk and a hit batter loaded the bases, he got an inning-ending grounder to end that threat.
The Royals pulled within a run on an Isbel RBI single in the second and a Benintendi RBI single in the third. Aggressive base running ended up with Benintendi thrown out at the plate in the third, trying to score from second on a single to right field by MJ Melendez. The play at the plate ended the top of the third.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Guardians hung another three runs on Lynch.
The Guardians did it a lot more economically the second time around. A single and a walk set the table for Austin Hedges’ three-run home run down the left-field line. Hedges jumped on a 2-2 changeup that stayed over the middle of the plate for his fourth homer of the season.
That gave the Guardians a 6-2 advantage.
“It looked like he had trouble finding the feel for his slider, and it got in the way,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said of Lynch. “That’s been such a good pitch for him to kind of get him back into counts, it’s a finishing pitch for him. Then he felt like he had to be perfect with the fastball and the changeup. It’s just one of those days he didn’t have all three.”
The Royals got one more run against Guardians starting pitcher Cal Quantrill, but it didn’t come until the seventh inning. At that point, they trailed 8-2 thanks to two runs given up by Royals reliever Dylan Coleman in the sixth inning.
Dozier got hit in the hand by a pitch to start off the seventh, the third time in the game they put the leadoff batter on to start the inning against Quantrill (2-3). Each time they did, they scored.
Dozier advanced on Emmanuel Rivera’s single and then scored on a two-out double off the left-field wall by Merrifield.
“He used both sides of the plate, elevates; the slider is good down,” Matheny said of Quantrill. “He’s smart with his breaking ball. Mixed the changeup in. He’s just very unpredictable.”
Royals reliever Jose Cuas, whom the club selected from Triple-A Omaha on Monday and arrived in the middle of that night’s game, made his major-league debut on Tuesday night. He entered with a runner on in the fifth and retired the next three batters.
The teams conclude their series with the Guardians on Wednesday afternoon. Right-hander Brad Keller (1-5, 3.95 ERA) will pitch the final game of the club’s three-city road trip, while left-hander Konnor Pilkington (0-0, 3.75) is slated to start for the Guardians.
Gallagher on path back
Royals catcher Cam Gallagher began a minor-league rehab assignment with Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday night. He’s been on the injured list since May 2, with a left hamstring strain. He started at catcher for Omaha and played five innings.
Schedule change
The Royals announced on Tuesday afternoon that the first game of the split doubleheader scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 10, against the Chicago White Sox will become the first game of a single-admission doubleheader on Tuesday, Aug. 9, beginning at 3:10 p.m. CT.
This story was originally published May 31, 2022 at 8:07 PM with the headline "Kansas City Royals lose third in a row as Daniel Lynch gives up 6 runs in four innings."
