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The Kansas City Royals beat the Houston Trash Can Banging Cheaters, 3-1, on Tuesday night, taking a 2-0 lead in the series.
Daniel Lynch is your big story here. Since being recalled from AAA, Lynch has been an excellent starting pitcher, and Tuesday may have been his most impressive performance yet. He silenced a really good offense to the tune of seven innings of one-run ball, allowing just four hits. He was efficient, bouncing back from lengthy second and third innings to get through seven on 98 pitches.
By earning the win, Lynch is now 3-3 in his career. His ERA, originally at 15.75 following his demotion back in May, has lowered all the way to 5.12 after four straight quality starts.
The Trash Can Banging Cheaters took a 1-0 lead on an RBI single by proven cheater Carlos Correa, but the Royals answered in the fourth when Michael A. Taylor hit a game-tying RBI double. Two innings later, Hanser Alberto, who I think has earned the “Bert” nickname with Adalberto Mondesi nowhere to be found, hit a go-ahead two-run double with two outs. He snuck a grounder down the left-field line, scoring Andrew Benintendi and Hunter Dozier. 3-1.
Josh Staumont looked fabulous in handling a shutout, 1-2-3 eighth inning. He hit 100 mph with the head and then dropped a beautiful curveball to punch out Jake Meyers. Amidst a chorus of boos, he got proven cheater Jose Altuve to pop out to end the inning. Altuve was 0-for-4. It was great.
With Scott Barlow unavailable, Jake Brentz was summoned for the save opportunity. He delivered, retiring the Astros
Proven cheater Jose Altuve and proven cheater Carlos Correa got booed every single pitch. It was hilarious. If there’s one thing Royals fans are good at, it’s booing players on big-market teams when they act like jerks.
The record is 51-67. Aside from the two run-producing hits, the offense was pretty quiet. Benintendi had two hits. Carlos Santana reached twice, which felt like a miracle.
The Royals, after not being able to buy a win for a week, suddenly have turned into the Trash Can Banging Cheaters’ daddy. They have two chances to win this best-of-four series, with the first coming tomorrow night at 7:10 pm. It will be Brady Singer and Zack Greinke going tomorrow. Mike Minor goes on Thursday, so if they want to win the series, they better win tomorrow.