Yordano Ventura hurt in Royals 9-2 loss

Royals starting pitcher Yordano Ventura left in the third inning of Monday's game with elbow pain, adding injury to insult as the home team fell 9-2 to the Houston Astros.

Our new fearless leader already has a post on the news, but I will repeat some of the information here. Ventura left in the middle of an at-bat during the third inning after a visit from the trainer. The team announced that Ventura left with "lateral elbow discomfort," and will undergo an MRI on Tuesday.

The righthander did not look good during his 2 2/3 innings of work, allowing five runs on seven hits. Ventura struck out three, but issued three walks as well.

Houston jumped over the Royals starter in the first inning, loading the bases with nobody out thanks to a single and back-to-back walks. Two productive outs by the next Astros' hitters drove in two runs before Ventura escaped the inning with a flyout.

Ventura recorded two outs to start the top of the second, but the Astros rallied after that. Marwin Gonzalez laced a two-out double, then Jose Altuve earned a walk.  George Springer followed with a double off the outfield wall, driving in both runners. Dexter Fowler plated Springer with a single, giving the Astros a 5-0 advantage.

The Astros recorded two more hits against Ventura in the third before the trainers and Ned Yost visited him on the mound and pulled him from the game. He looked ineffective and battled his command for most of the night, and saw his velocity drop in the third.

Michael Mariot replaced Ventura and did his best to eat innings in a lost game. Houston scored a run in the fourth, fifth and sixth against the reliever, but Yost kept him in there, no doubt trying to save the rest of the bullpen. Louis Coleman worked the final three innings, and looked more effective than Mariot, although Springer blasted a monster solo homer that landed in the leftfield fountains against Coleman.

Springer and Marwin Gonzalez both finished with four hits, while Fowler, Alex Presley and Jason Castro also had multi-hit games. It was an impressive offensive showing from a team who entered the day with the fewest runs scored in the AL.

Kansas City collected ten hits against Astros pitching, but only managed to score two runs. Lorenzo Cain, who finished the day with four hits, drove in Alex Gordon with a single in the fourth. The other Royals run came in the sixth, when Scott Feldman forced Salvador Perez to ground into a double play with runners on the corners. Gordon finished the game with two hits, while Billy Butler added his ninth double of the season.

So to sum things up, the Royals were blown out at home by the worst team in the AL and saw their most exciting pitching prospect since Zack Greinke leave with pain in his elbow. It's hard to imagine how things could have gotten worse, but the Royals former manager always reminds us that you never say never.