Royals stun San Diego in 5-4 thriller

After nearly being no-hit last night, the Royals bounced back with a thrilling 5-4 victory on Tuesday against the Padres. The win snaps a four-game slide that began last Friday in Milwaukee.

As mentioned in the opening graph, Kansas CIty’s offensive woes were alarming on Monday. The untouchable arm was an aged Michael Wacha who managed to step into a time machine and emerge as his 2015-self. However, Seth Lugo would not do the same for the Padres on Tuesday.

In the bottom of the second inning, the Royals used soft contact to inflict damage off the former New York Met. With runners at the corners and one out, Matt Duffy smacked an RBI-single to left. Moments later, Nate Eaton and his sub-.030 batting average legged out a double play ball to push to lead to two — though the scoring didn’t stop there. Bobby Witt Jr lined another RBI-single to left and Salvador Perez put an exclamation point on the inning with a bases clearing double. When the dust settled, Kansas City had put up a five-spot.

Just like his previous outing against Chicago, Brady Singer had better command of his three-pitch offering. After tight-roping around trouble in the first, the right-hander settled in with a big lead. He cruised through the first four innings without allowing a run.

Unfortunately, bad defense allowed the Padres to climb back into the game. With two outs in the fifth inning, Matt Duffy botched a routine grounder and overthrew first base — scoring San Diego’s first run. Shortly after, Jake Cronenworth tripled to cut the deficit to three. The poor defense continued into the sixth, as a misplay by Eaton in center drove in another run.

Unlike his starts in April, though, Singer avoided the disastrous inning. He managed to grind through six complete innings and allowed just two earned runs (four in total).

Despite its inability to lock down games in the latter stages all year, the bullpen showed more stability on Tuesday. Aroldis Chapman blast furnaced his way through the seventh — ending the frame with the hardest pitch thrown this season at 103.8 mph. Taylor Clarke sweated through a first-and-third situation in the eighth, but was bailed out by the bad base running of Rougned Odor.

In the bottom of the ninth, Scott Barlow held down the fort and secured the Royals’ 13th win of the season. Tomorrow afternoon, Kansas City will attempt to take the series against Yu Darvish. Matt Quatraro has yet to make a decision on the Royals’ starter. First pitch is slated for 3:10 p.m.