Royals’ 6-1 victory over Orioles crafted by Yordano Ventura, home runs and spot starters

In the seventh inning, Christian Colon took off from second base on Jarrod Dyson’s sacrifice bunt attempt. The Orioles didn’t take the easy out at first, making a play for Colon instead. Third-base umpire Laz Diaz ruled Colon out. Colon thought he was safe. The Royals challenged the call, but it was upheld.

The Royals lost a base but Drew Butera gained a plate appearance, and he made the most of it — collecting his second double, this one driving in Dyson, and helping the Royals to a 6-1 triumph on Sunday before 34,748 at Kauffman Stadium.

The triumph was shaped by starting pitcher Yordano Ventura’s best start of the season, a pair of solo home runs by Alex Gordon and Eric Hosmer and the contributions of guys like Colon and Butera, who made the most of their spot starts. Colon started at second base for regular Omar Infante, and Butera for catcher Salvador Perez.

The Royals, who have lost only one of six series this season, improved to 12-6 and remained perfect in 11 games when scoring at least four runs. They begin a West Coast trip with three against the Angels beginning Monday and finish the week in Seattle.

Gordon led off the seventh with a single and on a hit and run scored on Colon’s double to make it 3-1. Had Colon been ruled safe at third, manager Ned Yost had an alternate plan, involving Perez.

“If CC is safe we were probably going to pinch hit Salvador in that spot with first and third with nobody out,” Yost said. “When the call didn’t go our way, we led Drew hit.”

The Royals were rewarded with a double, Butera’s second two-base hit of the game. He was making his second start and third appearance of the season.

“I love to play, so it’s not hard at all to stay ready,” Butera said. “It’s part of my job.”

What’s new about Butera’s job is the hair flip. When he stood on second, he removed his helmet, shook his head and flipped his hair from one side to the other.

It started last year.

“As with just about everything else, it was Sal’s idea,” Butera said. “He’s a huge figure, so he stands on top of the dugout and yells at me until I do it. So I do it and get it out of the way.”

Beside the doubles and hair flip, Butera caught a gem by Ventura. After a 28-pitch first inning in which he surrendered a run, Ventura settled in and twirled six scoreless innings. His seven innings was a season best and his two walks a season low. Ventura surrendered three hits.

“The biggest thing after that first inning is over the next few innings he needed to economize his pitch count and attack the strike zone,” said Royals coach Pedro Grifol, interpreting for Ventura. “HE had to make sure he made quick outs to go deep in the game.”

That’s precisely what happened. Over the next three innings, Ventura stabilized his pitch count. He was at 85 when he started the seventh and finished the day having thrown 96.

“Back by the third inning he was at par, what we call it, back at 45 pitches, 15 per inning,” Yost said. “He was very, very efficient from that point on. He just pitched a game from that point on.”

The Orioles scratched a first-inning run, when Mark Trumbo singled in Manny Machado, who had walked..

The Royals tied it in the fourth. Gordon stepped up with two outs and his shot skied toward the left field corner. On a windless day, the ball might have bounced off the wall or perhaps the warning track. But the wind was blowing 21 mph in that direction when the game started, and the championship flags were blowing toward the fair/foul pole as the ball approached.

The breeze favored Gordon as the ball carried into the seats for his second home run this season, knotting the game 1-1.

It stayed there until the sixth when Hosmer hit a laser shot into right field stands, also his second homer of the year.

“Good timing, I put a good swing on it and caught it out front,” Hosmer said.

The Royals led 2-1 when Ventura retired the Orioles in the seventh and at this point the usual formula seemed in order, Kelvin Herrera in the eighth and Wade Davis in the ninth. The four-run seventh, which included RBI singles by Mike Moustaskas and Lorenzo Cain, changed the plan.

Herrera pitched the eighth and Danny Duffy turned a 1-2-3 ninth. Herrera threw because he had already warmed up, Yost said.

“He was up, and it was a one-run game at that point,” Yost said. “We kept tacking on runs but you still have to win the eighth inning against a very good team. You get a bid of a lead, get past a three-run lead and your whole goal the rest of the game is to keep Wade (Davis) out of the game.”

This story was originally published April 24, 2016 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Royals’ 6-1 victory over Orioles crafted by Yordano Ventura, home runs and spot starters."