MLB

Kansas City Royals at Washington Nationals

· Major League Baseball
Kansas City Royals
84-74, 39-38 Away
Final
3 - 0
Washington Nationals
69-89, 36-41 Home

Royals ride bullpen to 3-0 win over Nationals after Lorenzen's early exit

“Throwing strikes,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro explained. “We know that’s a big key is to challenge hitters. They have good stuff. They know that.”

Michael Massey singled in a run off DJ Herz (4-9) to help lift the Royals to a second straight shutout victory after a season high-tying seven-game losing streak.

Kansas City and Detroit are both 84-74 but the Royals hold the head-to-head tiebreaker advantage over the Tigers for the second wild-card spot. The Tigers beat the Rays 7-1 on Wednesday night.

Daniel Lynch IV (2-0) worked 2 2/3 scoreless frames in relief of Lorenzen, who exited with lower body fatigue after 2 1/3 innings in his first start since sustaining a left hamstring strain on Aug. 27.

Lynch has not allowed a run in 10 relief appearances since he was recalled from Triple-A Omaha on Aug. 26.

“Since he’s come back up, he’s thrown the ball exceptionally well. And that was a huge part of tonight as well,” Quatraro said.

Angel Zerpa, John Schreiber and Sam Long bridged the gap to Lucas Erceg, who completed his 13th save. That effort extended the Kansas City bullpen's scoreless streak to 15 2/3 innings over four games, and the pitching staff's overall scoreless run to a franchise record 26 innings.

“When it’s going Zerpa to Schrieber to Long to Erceg, I mean that’s pretty nasty guys,” Lynch said. “So I think that when guys just keep going and doing their jobs, it makes it easier.”

James Wood and Nasim Nuñez had the only hits for Washington, which fell to a third consecutive shutout defeat and has lost eight of its last nine games.

"I think they’re pressing for sure," Nats manager Dave Martinez said. “We’ve just got to go out there and relax tomorrow and just get a good pitch to hit.”

Lorenzen cruised through the first two innings but departed with a batter retired in the third after a brief visit from the team medical staff. He threw 28 pitches, striking out two and officially issuing two walks, the latter coming on the at-bat that Lynch completed.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Royals: Kansas City optioned RHP Steven Cruz to Triple-A Omaha to make room for Lorenzen.

Nationals: Manager Dave Martinez confirmed that All-Star shortstop CJ Abrams has reported to the club's complex in West Palm Beach, Florida as planned and will work out there through Sunday. Abrams was demoted from the major league team Saturday for what was termed an internal matter.

UP NEXT

Left-hander Patrick Corbin (6-13, 5.58 ERA) will pitch likely his final game for the Washington Nationals on Thursday. He is the last remaining active Nationals player who was on the 2019 World Series-winning team. His six-year, $140-million contract expires at the end of the season. RHP Michael Wacha (13-8, 3.28) goes for Kansas City.

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This story has been changed to correct that Robbie Grossman hit a two-run single not a two-run double.

How can I watch Kansas City Royals vs. Washington Nationals?
  • TV Channel: Royals at Nationals 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
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Matchup Prediction

Nationals: 46.3%
Royals: 53.7%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Millas grounded out to pitcher.
9th Inning Vargas lined out to first.
9th Inning Gallo struck out swinging.
9th Inning Erceg relieved Long
9th Inning Renfroe in right field.
9th Inning Pham in left field.

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/kc.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originKC https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/wsh.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originWSH
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
0 Hit By Pitch 0
10 Ground Balls 12
6 Strikeouts 7
3 Runs Batted In 0
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
7 Hits 2
0 Stolen Bases 2
3 Walks 5
0 Catcher Interference 0
3 Runs 0
1 Ground Into Double Play 0
0 Sacrifice Flies 0
33 At Bats 29
0 Home Runs 0
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
15 Runners Left On Base 14
0 Triples 0
1 Game Winning RBIs 0
0 Intentional Walks 0
1 Doubles 0
17 Fly Balls 10
0 Caught Stealing 0
144 Pitches 135
0 Games Started 0
1 Pinch At Bats 0
0 Pinch Hits 0
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
0 Is Qualified In Steals 1
8 Total Bases 2
36 Plate Appearances 34
0.0 Projected Home Runs 0.0
1 Extra Base Hits 0
1.9 Runs Created 0.2
.212 Batting Average .069
.000 Pinch Hit Average .000
.242 Slugging Percentage .069
.121 Secondary Average .241
.278 On Base Percentage .206
.520 OBP Pct + SLG Pct .275
0.6 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 1.2
1.9 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 0.2
21.0 Batter Rating 4.0
0.0 At Bats Per Home Run 0.0
0.00 Stolen Base Percentage 1.00
4.00 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 3.97
.030 Isolated Power .000
0.50 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.71
.083 Walks Per Plate Appearance .147
-.091 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average .172
6.0 Runs Produced 0.0
1.0 Runs Ratio 0.0
0.3 Patience Ratio 0.2
0.3 Balls In Play Average 0.1
72.8 MLB Rating 56.3
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Nationals Park

Location: Washington, District of Columbia
Attendance: 16,670 | Capacity:

2024 American League Central Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Cleveland 92 69 .571 - L2
Kansas City 86 76 .531 6.5 W1
Detroit 86 76 .531 6.5 L2
Minnesota 82 80 .506 10.5 L4
Chicago 41 121 .253 51.5 W2

2024 National League East Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Philadelphia 95 67 .586 - W1
Atlanta 89 73 .549 6 W1
New York 89 73 .549 6 L1
Washington 71 91 .438 24 L1
Miami 62 100 .383 33 W4
Full Standings