Crimson competitors cannot clobber Cameron’s curves, Royals roll Reds 3-2

Noah Cameron worked into the seventh inning for the fourth time in four starts.

Noah Cameron was sharp once against and the offense did just enough as the Kansas City Royals took down the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 at Kauffman Stadium this evening.

Little of note happened in the early innings. Kansas City made Hunter Greene work and had baserunners in each of the first three innings but couldn’t get anybody home. On the other side, Cameron wasn’t having much trouble rolling through the Reds lineup save a couple bloop hits off the bat of Tyler Stephenson. He got through four innings without allowing a run, having thrown just 49 pitches.

The Royals finally broke through in the fourth. With one out, Maikel Garcia hit a comebacker that deflected off Greene, allowing him to reach. Drew Waters followed with a grounder that got through a diving Matt McLain. Garcia, taking off on the pitch and running hard, came all the way around from first to score and give Kansas City a 1-0 lead. Greene picked off Waters at first and then struck out Nick Loftin to end the inning, but the Royals had the lead and Cincinnati’s ace had thrown 74 pitches to complete four innings.

John Rave led off the fifth inning by ripping a Greene fastball down the right field line and hustling to second with a double. It took a few tries, but he finally notched his first big league hit. Dairon Blanco would bunt him over to third, but Jonathan India lined out on a check swing hit to the first baseman. Fortunately, Bobby Witt Jr. came through, slapping a first-pitch fastball just fair down the right field line for a double to give Kansas City a 2-0 lead.

The Reds answered with a two-out rally in the sixth. Austin Hays battled for eight pitches to work a walk. Stephenson got an elevated changeup and ripped it into left for his third hit of the game. Spencer Steer followed by doing the exact same, scoring Hays to bring Cincinnati within a run. Cameron would not allow the damage to continue, however, retiring Connor Joe on a first pitch groundball. He would come back out for the seventh and walk old friend Garrett Hampson with one out. That turned the lineup over and ended the night for Cameron.

Angel Zerpa entered to pitch. He gave up a single to TJ Friedl on a bouncer that probably would have gone 6-3 with a normal infield alignment to put runners on first and second. Fortunately, the defense came through with a 5-4-3 double play off the bat of Santiago Espinal to end the inning.

Things went sideways for Cincinnati in the seventh. Luis Mey entered to pitch and needed just nine pitches to walk a pinch-hitting Kyle Isbel and Jonathan India. He then moved both of them up a base with a wild pitch. Witt hit a flyball to right that was more than deep enough to score Isbel and push the lead back to two runs. The Royals should have scored another in the inning but Mey got away with a balk while India was on third base.

Zerpa remained in the game for the eighth. Elly De La Cruz led off the inning by crushing a ball to the right-center gap that one-hopped the wall for a double. Terry Francona then went to a pinch-hitter to face Zerpa, summoning Austin Wynns. Matt Quatraro responded by going to the bullpen, bringing in John Schreiber. Francona countered Quatraro’s counter, sending Wynns back to the dugout in favor of Gavin Lux. He grounded out 6-3 on the first pitch, moving De La Cruz to third. Schreiber became the first pitcher to retire Stephenson in this game, running the count full before sneaking strike three past him. He couldn’t escape the jam though. Steer kept his hands in on a backup sweeper with a knock to left, making the score 3-2. The inning of many substitutions continued as Will Benson was summoned to pinch-hit and Carlos Estévez to pitch. Estévez needed just one pitch to retire Benson on a popup.

Estévez remained in the game for the ninth, looking to pick up his first four-out save of the season. He struck out Matt McLain looking to start the inning. It was definitely a strike, but somebody (later revealed to be Nick Martinez) in Cincinnati’s dugout chirped at home plate umpire Carlos Torres and was quickly ejected. Terry Francona came out to argue and was immediately tossed as well. India made his best defensive play of the season to retire Hampson for the second out. Estévez then struck out Friedl to lock down the 3-2 victory.

The win improves Kansas City to 29-27 and averts the series sweep. They will have the day off tomorrow before welcoming the Detroit Tigers to town for a three-game series beginning Friday night.

Noah Cameron: 6.1 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 0 HR

Hunter Greene: 5.0 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 0 HR

Bobby Witt Jr.: 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI

Spencer Steer: 3-4, 2 RBI