Three-game winning streak ends
KANSAS CITY, MO. – With a leadoff home run to mark his return from a few days on the bench with a sore hip, Orioles rookie Cedric Mullins reclaimed his rightful place as not only their brightest star in the present, but a piece to look ahead to with a modicum of hope.
The rest of the eventual 9-2 loss Friday night at the Kansas City Royals, who now at 43-91 are 31⁄ games better than the 40-95 Orioles in the race to not have the league’s worst record, was largely the kind of baseball that got the visitors into the sad situation they find themselves.
Facing a rookie Rule 5 draft pick in Brad Keller (7-5), the Orioles’ bats were wholly overmatched, and even if they played a sound defensive game, the speedy young Royals kept them on their heels.
Starter Andrew Cashner (4-13) had to enter survival mode just as quickly as Mullins homered to give him a lead. Kansas City’s leadoff man, Whit Merrifield, doubled on Cashner’s second pitch, was on third base after Alex Gordon singled on his fourth and scored when Hunter Dozier grounded into a double play on Cashner’s eighth.
Cashner stranded one in the first, left the bases loaded in the second after falling behind 3-0 to Gordon but bouncing back to strike him out, and worked a clean third. But speedy center fielder Brian Kansas City’s Cam Gallagher crosses the plate past Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph after hitting a solo home run during the sixth inning Friday night. Goodwin walked to open the fourth and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Merrifield.
Dozier homered to open the fifth, and the Orioles pulled one back after Mullins’ double thanks to a sacrifice fly by Trey Mancini. Cam Gallagher then homered with one out in the sixth to chase Cashner.
Yefry Ramírez allowed two runs before getting out of the inning, and Ryan Meisinger was responsible for a three-run eighth.