Inexperienced pitchers continue to be a Kryptonite for the Royals.
In just his second MLB game, Brewers pitcher Chad Patrick kept the Royals off the board in a 5-0 Brewers win on Tuesday night. The Royals left nine runners on base and went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
Patrick wasn’t exactly sharp, but the Royals had trouble bringing runners home against him. Maikel Garcia continued his hot hitting with a double in the second, followed by an MJ Melendez one-out walk, but they were stranded. Bobby Witt Jr. doubled in the third, but ended the inning still at second. Jonathan India was also stranded at second on a double in the fifth. Patrick would last just 4 2⁄3 innings, but the Royals couldn’t manage a run against him.
Michael Lorenzen made his first start of the season and pitched a bit better than his line would suggest. In the third inning he gave up a solo home run to Eric Haase to put the Brewers on the board. Brice Turang and Jackson followed up with singles to put runners on the corner. Christian Yelich hit a chopper to second base was probably hit too slowly to be an inning-ending double play, but Bobby Witt Jr. threw it away anyway as the run scored, allowing Yelich to advance to second.
After cruising through the fourth and fifth, Lorenzen walked the first two hitters in the sixth. An Rhys Hoskins RBI single made it 3-0 and ended Lorenzen’s night. A Kyle Isbel throwing error on the play allowed William Contreras to move up to third, and he later scored on a ground out for the fourth run. Lorenzen would exit the game after 5 1⁄3 innings with five hits and four runs – three earned.
Sam Long had his first good outing, retiring four of the five hitters he faced without giving up a run. But John Schreiber gave up a long solo home run to Christian Yelich on an 88 mph cutter down the plate to make it 5-0 Brewers.
The Brewers got 4 1⁄3 scoreless innings from Jared Koenig, Abner Uribe, Joel Payamps, and a 1-2-3 ninth from Trevor Megill to slam the door shot. The Royals managed just four hits while striking out nine times.
The Royals fall to 2-3, but can still take the series tomorrow afternoon when Cole Ragans faces Freddy Peralta at 12:10.