Andrew Benintendi delivers pinch-hit double, scores winning run for Kansas City Royals
Andrew Benintendi has been the best, most consistent hitter in the Kansas City Royals’ lineup all season. He’d been the hands-down answer to the question of who the Royals would want at the plate if they needed a hit or someone to get on base.
But Benintendi had cooled off considerably as of late. He entered June batting .328 with a .395 on-base percentage. Since the calendar flipped, he’s batted .188 (9 for 48) with a .250 OBP in the 12 games leading up to Wednesday.
That recent slump didn’t deter Royals manager Mike Matheny from turning to Benintendi as a pinch hitter to lead off the eighth inning of Wednesday’s game against the Giants with the score tied.
“Zero hesitation right there,” Matheny said of going to Benintendi. “We know he’s going to put together a pro at-bat.”
Benintendi delivered a double that set the Royals offense into motion to produce the game-winning run.
Nicky Lopez’s bunt put Benintendi 90 feet from scoring, and Whit Merrifield hit a deep fly ball to right field that allowed Benintendi to tag up and score as the Royals beat San Francisco 3-2 in front of an announced 25,527 in the finale of a three-game series at Oracle Park.
Matheny referred to that eighth-inning offense as “textbook baseball” and characterized it as “beautiful to watch.”
“That’s kind of how you’d want to draw up an inning like that,” Benintendi said. “Nicky laid down a great bunt and Whit got the job done with a sac fly. Especially at Kauffman, it’s a huge ballpark and we don’t have the biggest team. So we’ve got to manufacture some runs. That was a good example right there.”
The win stopped a four-game losing slide for the Royals (21-41) as they head into day off on Thursday.
The eighth-inning run was the only one for the Royals that was credited with an RBI. Their first two runs were unearned and scored on a fielding error with two outs. They had four hits in the game.
Benintendi was not in the starting lineup with the Royals facing a left-handed pitcher and after having taken several foul balls off his leg in recent weeks. The Royals were trying to maximize his rest and recovery time with the team’s scheduled day off looming.
Benintendi hit an infield single in the eighth inning in his final at-bat of Tuesday night’s game.
“I think it started last night in that last at-bat for me, just getting to first base and being like, ‘OK, I finally got that one out of the way,’” Benintendi said. “Now, hopefully that can snowball into getting hot.”
Heasley goes four innings
Royals starting pitcher Jonathan Heasley allowed two runs and five hits, including a home run, and two walks in four innings. He struck out four.
He threw 92 pitches in four innings, which pressed the bullpen into duty early.
Relievers Amir Garrett, Taylor Clarke and Jose Cuas bridged the gap to closer Scott Barlow with 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Barlow then tossed 1 2/3 scoreless to earn his seventh save of the season.
“He had everything, but he just wasn’t getting any early outs,” Matheny said of Heasley. “Then that ended up running him deep and not being able to get him past four, but the bullpen did a great job of picking up the back end.”
The Royals scored the first two runs of the game in the first inning when Merrifield (1 for 3, run, RBI) and Bobby Witt Jr. (2 for 4, double, run scored) scored with two outs on a MJ Melendez grounder that Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford misplayed. Merrifield scored easily from third, and Witt sped around from second despite the ball only getting as far as the edge of the outfield grass.
The Giants (35-27) put two men on in the bottom of the first inning, threatening to answer immediately thanks to a walk and a bloop single. Instead Heasley answered the bell and struck out left-handed hitting slugger Brandon Belt on a 96 mph fastball that Belt whiffed at.
Heasley came through in similar fashion in the second inning when a pair of two-out singles put runners at the corners. Once again, Heasley used a 96 mph heater to get a swing and miss for an inning-ending strikeout.
“I felt like just some of the swings they were taking on fastballs — I don’t know if they were a little late, but they just didn’t look too comfortable,” Heasley said. “I felt like I was going to go with my best bullet against theirs with those full counts and challenge them. I’d rather go down with my best bullet than try and be too crafty.”
After three scoreless innings, the Giants got on the board against Heasley via Belt’s solo home runs to center field. That cut the Royals’ lead in half.
The Giants weren’t done in that inning. The next two batters reached base on a walk and a single. Tommy La Stella’s fly ball to center field allowed the lead runner, Thairo Estrada, to tag and advance to third base with one out. Curt Casali’s sacrifice fly tied the score.
Heasley made it through the inning with the score tied, but Garrett took over on the mound to start the sixth.
“The home run, I thought it was a decent pitch,” Heasley said. “Kind of the same pitch I struck him out on his first at-bat. So I don’t really have a problem with that. He just put a good swing on it. But overall, I felt good. I felt like I was on the attack. Unfortunately, I just got into some deep counts and some longer innings with those bloop hits. It is what it is.”
On their way back
Royals relief pitchers Gabe Speier and Matt Peacock joined Triple-A Omaha on their minor-league rehab assignments Tuesday night. Both went on the COVID-related injured list on May 30.
Speier, a left-hander, last pitched in Minnesota on May 28. Peacock, who the Royals acquired during the season from the Arizona Diamondbacks, last pitched in Minnesota on May 29.
They both were with the team in KC during the most recent homestand, having cleared health and safety protocols. Similarly to left-hander Amir Garrett, who returned from the COVID IL this past week, Speier and Peacock began throwing progressions while working out with the club in KC before going out on rehab assignments.
Omaha currently has catcher Cam Gallagher, outfielder Edward Olivares, Peacock and Speier on rehab assignments.
Starting pitcher Zack Greinke pitched on a rehab assignment on Sunday. The Royals have not said whether or not Greinke will make another start with Omaha or make his next start with the Royals this weekend during their west coast road trip.
This story was originally published June 15, 2022 at 6:15 PM with the headline "Andrew Benintendi delivers pinch-hit double, scores winning run for Kansas City Royals."
