Johnny Cueto struggled for the second consecutive start for the KC Royals, giving up six earned runs over five innings of works, as the Royals fell 8-5 to the Orioles Wednesday night.
Cueto, who made his second consecutive start of giving up at least six earned runs, gave up three home runs on the night, while still striking out eight Orioles.
The Royals started the scoring, on an RBI double by Salvador Perez and an RBI single by Omar Infante in the 2nd.
However, the Orioles got those two runs back on a Manny Machado home run in the 3rd and took the lead the following inning on a two-run Jonathan Schoop home run.
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Schoop’s homer traveled an estimated 484 feet, coming off the bat at 111 MPH, and giving the Orioles a 4-2 lead.
Chris Davis added a two-run home run of his own in the 5th, to pad the Orioles lead at 6-2.
The Royals would get one of those runs back on a Kendrys Morales single in the 6th, but a Steve Pearce home run off of former starter Jeremy Guthrie gave the Orioles the run back, making it 7-3.
Mike Moustakas brought the Royals within two runs with a two-run homer of his own, making it a 7-5 game heading into the 9th.
However, Ryan Flaherty hit the Orioles fifth home run of the night in the 9th to make it a 8-5 game, a score that would hold as the final score.
Ironically, even in his first relief appearance, Guthrie couldn’t avoid giving up multiple home runs, something he has now done six times in 2015. With rosters expanding, Guthrie may not get many more chances in the next few weeks.
The loss dropped the KC Royals to 77-49, while bringing the Orioles back to .500 at 63-63.