Robbie’s RBI rip reinforces Royals relief retinue in 3-0 rout

The magic number is down to 3.

In a matchup of two struggling offenses, the Kansas City Royals scored more runs than they had in the previous four games combined in a 3-0 victory over the Washington Nationals.

The starting pitchers were in control early, with Michael Lorenzen and DJ Herz allowing just three combined baserunners across the first two innings. In the third, the Royals mounted the evening’s first rally. Kyle Isbel worked a walk to lead off the inning before Tommy Pham roped a single into center. Bobby Witt Jr. followed with a flyout that moved Isbel to third, giving Kansas City runners on the corners with just one out. Michael Massey would then single on a pretty good slider from Herz to score Isbel. The next two batters flew out, but Kansas City led 1-0.

With one out in the bottom of the inning, Lorenzen threw ball three to Nasim Nuñez. He felt something on the pitch and signaled to the dugout. Out came Matt Quatraro with Kyle Turner to talk to their starter. After a short discussion, with Daniel Lynch IV already warming in the bullpen, Lorenzen exited the game. It would later be announced that he was pulled as a precaution for “lower body fatigue.” Lynch would walk Nuñez and serve up a single to James Wood, but he managed to finish the inning with the lead intact.

Herz didn’t allow another run through the fifth inning. In keeping with how Washington has used him this season, he was pulled having thrown just 81 pitches. Eduardo Salazar entered to pitch. Salvador Perez greeted him with a hard single up the middle. Yuli Gurriel followed with a grounder to the 5-6 hole that was probably going for a hit, but Nuñez clipped it with his mitt, kicking the ball towards the left field line and allowing Perez to reach third and Gurriel to scoot to second with a double. With two runners in scoring position, Robbie Grossman did not wait around, whacking the first pitch he saw into center field to bring home both runners. That was enough for Washington manager Dave Martinez, who yanked Salazar and brought in Robert Garcia to put out the fire, which he did in nine pitches.

Lynch got into a bit of a jam in the bottom of the fifth but managed to escape without allowing a run. Angel Zerpa took his place in the sixth and tossed a 1-2-3 inning with a lot of help from his middle infield defense. John Schreiber entered for the seventh and promptly walked Ildemaro Vargas and Drew Millas to begin the inning. He bounced back, striking out Jacob Young and Nuñez on some nasty sweepers before getting Dylan Crews to fly out to the warning track and end the inning. In the eighth inning, Sam Long retired the side in order to send the game to the ninth with Kansas City in the lead. Lucas Erceg pitched the ninth, looking for a franchise-record 26th straight scoreless inning (for the whole team, not just Erceg). Washington went down in order for the fifth time in this game as Kansas City finished out the 3-0 victory.

The win improves the Royals to 84-74. They are a half game ahead of the Tigers who are, as of this writing, leading Tampa Bay 7-1 in the eighth inning. Should that result hold, Kansas City will remain tied with Detroit (albeit with the tiebreaker) and 2.5 games ahead of Seattle (who have already played today) and Minnesota (who are 3-3 with Miami in the fifth inning). They will go for the sweep tomorrow afternoon in Washington.

Michael Lorenzen: 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 0 HR

DJ Herz: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 0 HR

Robbie Grossman: 1-4, 2 RBI

Nasim Nuñez: 1-2, BB