Royals Report: 3 Things About Brawl In Baltimore

The KC Royals tailspin reached six games in a row with their 9-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards Tuesday night. Yordano Ventura touched off a brawl when he hit Orioles shortstop Manny Machado in the back with a 99-mph fastball.

The Kansas City Royals simply can’t break out of their slide, despite the Orioles starting Ubaldo Jimenez, who began the game with an 6.59 ERA. Despite 10 hits, four walks, and 10 runners in scoring position, the KC Royals were still not able to score more than one run.

You’re not going to win many games that way.

What’s disturbing is that Kansas City Royals hitters missed all kinds of hittable pitches from Ubaldo Jimenez with runners in scoring position. It’s not as if the KC Royals didn’t have their chances. They just weren’t able to cash them. Their play screams that they’re a team that has lost its confidence, which is something that’s rather hard to believe coming from the defending World Champions.

Yordano Ventura turned the game into a circus in the bottom of the fifth inning when he plunked Manny Machado in the back. The two had exchanged heated words in the second inning when Ventura pitched him inside before retiring Machado on a hard-hit fly ball. Rather than remain satisfied that he had gotten into Machado’s head, Ventura felt he had to hit him.

At the time, the Royals were trailing 5-1 and still had an opportunity to get back in the game. After umpires ejected both Ventura and Machado, Mark Trumbo pretty much ended those hopes by blasting his second home run of the game to make the score 7-1.

If anything, having to defend Ventura in a brawl that he instigated deflated—rather than fired up—the Kansas City Royals.

On to my observations about the game:

Next: As The Game Turned

3) As The Game Turned

Before Ventura created the meltdown, the KC Royals had plenty of opportunities to get back into the game. After Baltimore opened a 4-0 lead in the first inning, the Kansas City Royals opened each of the next four innings with a hit.

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The KC Royals opened the top of the second with a double from Kendrys Morales, and Paulo Orlando reached first on an error. Orlando then stole second to give the Royals runners on second and third with no outs. Jimenez then stuck out two and got Reymond Fuentes to line out to third.

In the third, Whit Merrifield opened the inning with a single and then got caught stealing despite the Kansas City Royals trailing by four runs. The worst failure, however, came in the fourth inning.

Kendrys Morales opened the inning with a single, followed by an infield hit from Orlando. Cuthbert singled to center to load the bases with no outs. Reymond Fuentes walked to force in a run.

Alcides Escobar, however, lined out first base, Whit Merrifield struck out after a long batting that included a ball just wide of the right field foul pole to miss a game-tying grand slam, and Lorenzo Cain lined out to center.

Though the KC Royals also put two runners on base in the fifth, it was the fourth inning failure that turned the game. If the Kansas City Royals had managed to pull off a big inning, it’s unlikely that Ventura would have thrown at Machado in the fifth.

I suspect both Machado barking at him and Ventura’s frustration with his poor performance and the team’s struggles that led to him pegging Mechado.

Next: Whit Merrifield

2) Whit Merrifield Ties Team Record

Whit Merrifield’s single leading off the third inning allowed him to tie Johnny Damon‘s team record of reaching base safely in his first 16 games with the club. Of course, these were Merrifield’s first 16 games of his professional career. 

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That’s a pretty good start by any measure. Especially when you consider that Merrifield has hits in 15 out of his first 16 games.

With manager Ned Yost already announcing that Merrifield will get most of the starts at second base, he’s enjoyed an almost dream-like debut to the big leagues. Beginning your career slashing .319/.338/.420 and pretty much winning a regular job is what kids fantasize about in their backyards.

Despite Merrifield’s failure in the fourth inning in which he fouled off three hittable pitches, he’s been getting quality at bats while seeing a lot of pitches. If he continues to work pitchers as well as he has in his first two plus weeks of play, he’ll hold onto that regular job.

Add in his ability to play any position except catcher, and Merrifield seems poised to enjoy a long career.

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