Royals Report: Joakim Soria Earns First KC Save In Five Years

Royals reliever Joakim Soria earned his first Kansas City save in five years, holding off the Astros for a 4-2 Royals win Wednesday night.

Kansas City Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura and Houston Astros starter Scott Feldman traded zeros through five innings before both teams broke through in the sixth.

Lorenzo Cain and Eric Hosmer stroked back-to-back singles with one out to open the sixth, followed by Scott Feldman’s comical attempt to field Kendrys Morales tapper to the third base side of the mound.

Feldman hurled the ball skyward with a weird scooping motion just as he picked it up. The crazy throw sailed in an underhanded rainbow over first baseman Tyler White‘s head for an error, which allowed Cain to score and Hosmer to move to third.

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Feldman then walked Gordon to load the bases. Salvador Perez slammed a deep sacrifice fly to left center that almost left the park for a grand slam, giving the KC Royals a 2-0 lead.

Astros second baseman Jose Altuve answered while leading off the bottom of the sixth with a deep shot to left center to close the gap to one.

Houston tied up the game in the seventh when Royals reliever Luke Hochevar gave up a one out triple to catcher Jason Castro, who scored on Altuve’s double to center.

Salvador Perez ended the scoring with a two-run bomb Astros Ken Giles surrendered a two-out walk to Alex Gordon.

Joakim Soria finished the ninth inning since closer Wade Davis threw 33 pitches on Tuesday night. Soria earned his first Kansas City save since 2011, which was before his second Tommy John surgery and four-year, free-agent exodus with Texas, Detroit, and Pittsburgh.

Key Pitching Performances:

Kansas City Royals:

Yordano Ventura: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 BB, 1 ER, 6 K

Joakim Soria: 1.0, IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 ER, 1 K, SV (1)

Houston Astros:

Scott Feldman: 6.1 IP, 7 H, 1 BB, 2 ER, 4 K

Ken Giles: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 HR, 2 K, L (0-1)

Key Hitting Performances:

Kansas City Royals:

Salvador Perez: 1-3, 1 HR, 3 RBIs

Eric Hosmer: 2-4, 2 H, 1 R

Houston:

Jose Altuve: 3-5, 3 H, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI

Jason Castro: 1-2, 1 3B, 1 BB, 1 R

Fantasy Notes:

Yordano Ventura looks like he’s harnessed his spectacular stuff to mature into a top-of-the-rotation pitcher. He’s improved his curve and change to the point that he’s now the strikeout pitcher most expected him to be, despite throwing a tad slower to improve command.

Hard-throwing Ken Giles had a rough night. Though many expected him to take over as Astros closer over junk-baller Luke Gregersor, giving up three home runs in 3.2 IP will keep him as the set-up man for the foreseeable future.

Next: Royals Fantasy Report: Mike Minor Touches 96 MPH

Next Game:

The KC Royals finish their four-game series against the Astros by sending Ian Kennedy (1-0, 0.00 ERA) against Doug Fister (1-0, 5.40 ERA) 7:15 CST at Minute Maid Park in Houston.