KC Royals Shut Down By Scott Kazmir in 4-0 Loss

The Houston Astros made the first move of the trade deadline, acquiring Scott kazmir from the Oakland A’s. That trade paid immediate dividends for Houston, as Kazmir shut down the KC Royals offense in the Royals 4-0 loss.

Scoreless through two, the Astros got to Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie in the third. With one out, Preston Tucker homered to right to put Houston on the board. A walk and a single put runners at the corners, and Colby Rasmus followed with an RBI single to right to give Houston a 2-0 lead.

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The Astros added on to their lead in the fourth. With one out, Jake Marisnick doubled, stole third and scored on Jose Altuve‘s infield single. Tucker followed with a double, but Altuve was gunned down at home by an excellent relay from Paulo Orlando to Alcides Escobar to Drew Butera. However, the only delayed the Astros from scoring again, as Carlos Correa followed with a base hit to plate Tucker and give the Astros a 4-0 lead.

That was more than enough support for Kazmir, who shut down the Royals offense. Kansas City’s best scoring chance came in the bottom of the fourth, as they had runners at the corners with two out, but Kazmir was able to get Alex Rios to fly out to right to end the threat.

The Royals had one final chance to get on the board. Mike Moustakas walked, and after an out, Eric Hosmer hit a little chopper to short. Correa made an errant throw, allowing Hosmer to reach with an infield single and putting Moustakas at third. However, Astros closer Luke Gregerson was able to get Kendrys Morales to ground into a double play to end the game.

Jeremy Guthrie took the loss, allowing four runs on eleven hits and two walks over this seven innings of work. While he labored through his outing, Guthrie was able to keep the Royals in the game, but the offense only mustered three hits and a walk against Kazmir.

Hosmer and Moustakas were each 1-3 with a walk in the loss.

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