2nd inning hurts Royals as they fall to the Angels, 5-2

Kicking off a brief five-game road trip, the Royals took on the Los Angeles Angels for a three-game set. Handing the ball to right-hander Brad Keller, the Kansas City offense would face Matt Harvey for the second time this season. Struggling to find the zone once again, Keller’s rough second inning proved fatal in the long run, resulting in a game one loss, 5-2.

After a rather quiet first inning, the Angels tallied a handful of runs in the bottom of the second on some free passes. Walking three in the inning, Los Angeles plated three by way of a base on balls, RBI groundout, and an RBI single. Shutting the Royals down offensively in the top of the third, the Halos added one more in the bottom half on another RBI groundout.

Putting up multiple zeroes on both sides for the next two innings, Kansas City finally scratched across a few in the top of the sixth. Following a double steal by Mondesi and Alex Gordon, first baseman Ryan O’Hearn bounced one up the middle with two outs. Scoring both runners, the Royals cut the deficit in half heading into the final third of the game.

Exiting with two outs in the sixth, lefty Richard Lovelady relieved Keller to record the final out of the inning. His final line included four earned runs and five walks. Scott Barlow was knocked for a run in the seventh, but did manage to strike out the side. His ERA skyrocketed to 2.11.

Failing to create any kind of rally late, the Angels shut the door to claim their second straight victory over the Royals. Tomorrow, Jakob Junis will be asked to halt the three-game slide. Los Angeles will go with Griffin Canning. First pitch is another late one at 9:07 CT.