Royals' Young aims for better results in second 2017 start
Chris Young allowed four runs and seven hits, including a home run, in three innings in his first start of the season Tuesday.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Chris Young moved into the Kansas City Royals' rotation when Ian Kennedy went on the disabled list with a hamstring strain. He'll be hoping his start Sunday in the series finale against the Baltimore Orioles goes better than his first.
In a Tuesday start at Tampa Bay, Young allowed four runs and seven hits, including a home run, in three innings. He surrendered all of the runs with two outs in the first inning and stranded four runners the next two innings.
Young's last 14 starts -- 13 last year and one in 2017 -- have been anything but good. He is 1-8 with a 7.63 ERA during that span.
"I'm just trying to make pitches and get outs," Young said. "Whether you're starting or relieving, you're trying to get outs as efficiently as possible. So there's no real major adjustments on my end. Just taking the same approach and going out there and competing."
Young said he does not hold anything back to go deeper into a game when he starts.
"I don't know that starters really do that," Young said. "I don't do that when I've been a starter and I didn't do that when I was a reliever. Maybe there are guys that do that. But I don't. I try to treat every out the same and try to attack and keep the same approach."
Does Young give hitters a different sequence -- mix it up more if he sees them three or four times?
"Sometimes you do and sometimes you don't," Young said. "It just depends upon who the hitter is, what your stuff is that day. You know, your ability to execute it. There are just so many variables that go into it. Sometimes you have to really mix it up and make adjustments, and other days you stick to what's working. It really comes down to execution and what's working that day.
"I always say you can have the best game plan, but if you don't have a feel for your slider that day and you get out there, then you better figure out something else. It's just part of the game. It's one of the nuances that makes it fun."
The Orioles are a power-hitting team, scoring all three of their runs on homers in a 4-3 loss Saturday night.
"I think you have to take an aggressive approach and try to attack them and not get passive with them," Young said. "It seems like that, with the power that they have, if you get sort of a passive state of mind, they feed off that and really make you pay for that. If you start nitpicking a little bit and not really attacking and you fall behind, then you have to make a pitch and they can really punish it."
Young has had success against Baltimore. He's 3-1 with a 3.41 ERA in five starts and one relief appearance during his career.
The Orioles have scored only five runs, one of those on a wild pitch, in losing the first two games of the series.
"Regardless of how you want to critique pitching, and that's part of it, we just haven't scored much," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said.
The Orioles struck out 15 times in the Saturday loss.
"We didn't string many at-bats together, and I choose to give them credit for that," Showalter said. "The story the last two nights, for me, is we just haven't scored any runs. Like I said, I'll just give their pitcher credit, but we're capable of better, too."
The Orioles will counter with right-hander Kevin Gausman, who is 2-3 with a 6.63 ERA in eight starts. He has yielded 47 hits and 28 runs in 38 innings. He has walked 19 and struck out 28.
