Why the Kansas City Royals struggled offensively on opening day vs. the Twins
The Kansas City Royals were held in check by Minnesota Twins ace Pablo Lopez. The Kansas City Royals struggled defensively on their opening day game against the Minnesota Twins, with a 4-1 victory. The Twins' ace, Pablo Lopez, had previously shut out the Royals on opening day last year. Despite allowing four hits and generating seven strikeouts in seven innings, the Royals managed only one run. The Royals' new-look lineup struggled, with new slugger Hunter Renfroe struggling to score. The team's manager, Matt Quatraro, tipped his team's efforts to get back on track. The game was marked by a 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, and a late rally from Kyle Isbel.
Published : 4 weeks ago by Jaylon Thompson in Sports
The Kansas City Royals ran into Minnesota Twins ace Pablo Lopez once again to kick off their season.
Lopez shut out the Royals on opening day last year. He was slightly less effective in Thursday’s season opener, allowing four hits and generating seven strikeouts in seven innings of work.
Still, the Royals managed just one run. The Twins pulled away late with a 4-1 victory.
“He’s an All-Star for what he is,” Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. said. “And so yeah, he just kind of got us today. Hopefully, we can kind of get back going.”
The Royals matched the Twins with first-inning homers. Twins standout Royce Lewis homered off KC starter Cole Ragans. Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia responded with a leadoff home run into the left-field bullpen.
However, the solo shot didn’t rattle Lopez long. He proceeded to sit down 20 of his last 23 hitters faced.
“I was very anxious, there were a lot of emotions in that first at-bat,” Lopez said. “You always want to get the first one. You always want it to go smooth and it didn’t. Being able to turn the page is such a good skill.”
The Royals failed to decipher the next page. Lopez had command of all five pitches in his arsenal.
He found success with his four-seam fastball. The pitch generated 23 swings, 12 whiffs and nine called strikes, per Baseball Savant.
As a result, the Royals offense sputtered. Royals captain Salvador Perez went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. New slugger Hunter Renfroe was hitless in three at-bats. The new-look lineup couldn’t capitalize on scoring opportunities.
And they came few and far between.
“You’ve got to tip your cap to Lopez, (Brock) Stewart and (Griffin) Jax there,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “We didn’t have too many opportunities. The leadoff double from MJ (Melendez), Renfroe put a good swing on the ball. It’s a nice play that (Carlos) Correa makes, but we didn’t mount too much. Lopez is tough.”
The Royals were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. They left four runners on base as the Twins surged ahead at Kauffman Stadium.
KC attempted to mount a late rally. Kyle Isbel produced a two-out single to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. He was replaced by reserve outfielder Dairon Blanco on the basepaths. The Royals were down 2-1 with the top of the order up.
Garcia came to the plate. He lined out to Twins outfielder Byron Buxton to end the frame. The Twins added two more runs in the ninth inning. The Royals couldn’t recover and finished with five hits in the game.
“I think Lopez did an excellent job,” Garcia said. “We couldn’t get the last at-bat today, but we come (back) on Saturday and try to get a better game. Try to get the win.”
The Royals will return to action on Saturday. Seth Lugo will make his Royals debut against Joe Ryan. First pitch is set for 3:10 p.m Central at Kauffman Stadium.
Topics: Baseball, MLB, Kansas City Royals