PHOENIX -- An up-and-down road trip for the Royals ended on a positive note and a winning record with their 4-0 win over the D-backs on Sunday afternoon at Chase Field.
A four-game split in Seattle earlier this week and a split in the first two games of this series in Arizona set up a suddenly important finale on Sunday as the Royals race toward the All-Star break and try to establish themselves as contenders over these next few weeks ahead of the July 31 Trade Deadline.
At 43-48, they’re not where they want to be yet, but heading home after a 4-3 road trip feels a lot better than going 3-4, especially with the way they won on Sunday following Saturday’s forgettable and ugly loss.
“We’ve got to stack good wins together,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “And this trip was a start. You get one game over on the trip, we’d like more, but we competed well in Seattle with close ballgames there. So to come out of there with a split and get the series win here, we’ve got to keep stacking those together.”
Starter Michael Lorenzen assumed “stopper” duties with seven scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and one walk. His seven strikeouts tied a season high. He didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning and had a runner on second just twice on Sunday.
“I’ve started that way for the past few starts, and I just couldn’t finish it,” Lorenzen said. “And I felt like I finished it today. Was able to stay focused, keep it slow and continue to make quality pitches.”
Lorenzen attacked the D-backs with a steady dose of changeups, a pitch that has been reliable for him throughout his career but not so much this season. On Sunday, the D-backs took 11 swings on the changeup and whiffed on eight of them. Paired with better velocity on his two fastballs, Lorenzen had a solid mix of pitches at his disposal.
“Hopefully I can continue that trend with that pitch, because that’s my bread and butter, and when you don’t have your bread and butter, you don’t have anything to go to,” Lorenzen said.
D-backs starter Anthony DeSclafani had his own no-hitter going until Bobby Witt Jr. -- about two hours after he found out he was headed to his second career All-Star Game -- sent a hanging slider out to left field for his 12th homer of the year, opening scoring in the fourth inning.
Two batters later, Salvador Perez mashed a middle-middle sinker to a similar spot. Perez watched it fly, shrugged, and took a slow trot around the bases. As he rounded second, he joked with D-backs infielder Ketel Marte. Perez had gotten hit on the arm on the first pitch of his first plate appearance against DeSclafani on Sunday.
“We were just playing around,” Perez said. “I got a lot of respect for [Marte]. I’ve known him from years ago. He was laughing too. I got a lot of respect for him, and I love the way he plays the game.”
Lorenzen responded to the lead with a nine-pitch fourth inning against the middle of the D-backs’ order.
“When the guys take the lead and then you go out and get quick outs and go back in, you feel like you’ve built some momentum,” Lorenzen said.
And the Royals responded to that by adding onto their lead. Jac Caglianone was hit by a pitch -- which ricocheted off his face -- and stole his first career bag.
Nick Loftin then scorched a ball back off DeSclafani for a base hit that moved Caglianone up to third. With runners on first and third, John Rave was looking to get a ball in the air -- but he did the next best thing by sneaking one past first baseman Josh Naylor, who was trying to hold Loftin on first base.
When the D-backs brought in Jalen Beeks for the left-on-left matchup against Kyle Isbel, the Royals’ center fielder worked a great at-bat before driving a two-strike hit into left field for an RBI.
Sunday’s win was an example of what the Royals’ brand of baseball should be – an excellent start, some power from the middle of the lineup and productive at-bats from the bottom.
Now they have to keep that rolling.
“Winning the series, winning the road trip, that feels really nice,” Rave said. “You want to take that momentum into the homestand and into the All-Star break, just keep it going."