Ventura settles in after rocky start, but KC can't break through in I-70 finale
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kendrys Morales jogged to first base, Eric Hosmer coasted to second base, Lorenzo Cain stood steady at third. Alex Gordon abandoned the worn-out grass in front of the Royals' dugout and strode to the plate with Sunday's game in the balance.
Gordon watched two fastballs from Michael Wacha sail inside for balls. He was ahead in the count and looked for a third fastball. He got it. But Gordon lofted a toothless flyball to right, easily handled by Randal Grichuk, evaporating Kansas City's final scoring chance in a 6-1 loss to St. Louis.
"Fastball, middle-in, good pitch to hit," Gordon said. "Just got jammed a little bit. ... Good pitch, good swing, just ran in a little bit."
Gordon's at-bat was one of just two legitimate scoring opportunities for the Royals against Wacha. They scratched out five hits and managed just two at-bats with runners in scoring position. One was Gordon's; the other concluded with Salvador Perez's RBI single in the fifth inning.
In the sixth inning, Kansas City trailed 4-1 and quickly made two outs on six Wacha pitches. Cain singled to center and Hosmer poked a base hit through the left side. Morales worked a six-pitch walk before Gordon's flyout ended the threat.
"We got him on the ropes a couple innings," Hosmer said, "but he made some good pitches to get out of it."
"That's baseball," Royals manager Ned Yost said.
Yordano Ventura delivered seven innings of four-run ball, a pair of two-run innings his downfall. In the first inning, the first four Cardinals reached base -- two on walks, the other two knocking RBI hits. Jhonny Peralta squeaked a check-swing single up the middle and Matt Adams blasted a double to the center-field wall.
St. Louis had scored two runs before Ventura had recorded an out. Cardinals still stood on second and third.
But Ventura bounced a third-pitch fastball to Molina, hitting Perez in the mask and bouncing away far enough for Peralta to wander off third base. Perez grabbed the ball on a hop and fired to Mike Moustakas at third, who returned the ball to Perez to complete the out.
"We got lucky on that one," Perez said.
Ventura had finally recorded his first out. Then he would get 14 more consecutively.
"After the first inning," Yost said, "I thought he threw the ball awesome."
Ventura wasn't touched again until the sixth inning, when Kolten Wong singled to right. A double play was set up with Matt Carpenter at the plate, so Ventura tried to locate a changeup down and away. He missed. Carpenter didn't, sneaking a 347-foot home run inside the foul pole.
"But that was one he just pulled to the inside and Carpenter was able to get the barrel on it," Jeremy Guthrie translated for Ventura.
Ventura finished with four runs on his ledger, five hits accompanying two walks (to the first two batters). He struck out seven.
Despite the loss, the Royals retained baseball's best record (28-15) and finished an eight-game homestand with six wins, including a series victory over the cross-state Cardinals.
"When you're playing a tough team like St. Louis and you win the first two games, obviously, you're disappointed when you don't get the sweep," Yost said. "But you look at the job Wacha did, and you know that's a dynamic club over there, we're pleased with the way the homestand ended."
You can follow Matthew DeFranks on Twitter at @MDeFranks or email him at matthew.defranks@gmail.com.
