Kansas City Royals See Familiar Problems in 6-2 Loss
By David Hill
Just when it seemed as though the Kansas City Royals were back on the right track, everything fell apart once again. The Royals bugaboos, an inconsistent offense and mediocre starting pitching, reared up once again, as they lost a rain shortened game to the Cleveland Indians 6-2.
With Chris Young on the mound against Trevor Bauer, the Royals had to feel confident. Young certainly did his part through the first two innings before the bottom fell out in the top of the third. Cleveland scored four runs that inning, as Jason Kipnis and Michael Brantley each had RBI singles and David Murphy hit a two run double to cap the scoring.
The Royals came back in the bottom of the inning. Bauer, who was fighting his command during the first two innings, finally made a mistake as the Royals two out magic came back. Omar Infante had singled to lead off the inning, and Lorenzo Cain hit a two out, two run shot to center to cut the lead in half. A walk and a base hit put runners at the corners, as the Royals had a chance to cut further into the Indians lead, but Alex Gordon grounded to first to end the threat.
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That would prove to be the final scoring threat for the Royals. Bauer shut down their offense from that point on, as the Royals recent offensive ineptitude reared it’s ugly head once more. Cleveland added two more runs in the top of the fifth as Brandon Moss hit a two run home run in the top of the fifth to provide the final margin of defeat for the Royals.
Chris Young took the loss, allowing six runs on eight hits and two walks over five innings of work. While we all knew that the excellent start that Young had would not last, his last two outings, where he has given up ten runs on fifteen hits and four walks over eleven innings are concerning.
The Kansas City Royals offense drew five walks, but only managed four hits during the rain shortened game. Alcides Escobar was the only Royal to reach base more than once, as he was 1-3 with a walk.