Lorenzen outpitches his old team, Royals win 7-1

Don’t look now, but Bobby and the Bullpen had a fantastic night.

Michael Lorenzen used to be a Cincinnati Red, years ago. Today marked his first opportunity to pitch against his old team at their home stadium and he appeared to relish it. It wasn’t exactly a dominant performance, but as the Royals’ fifth starter, his job is to keep them in the game and pitch into the sixth inning. He did both things by pitching 5.2 innings and allowing only a single run on two hits, three walks, and three strikeouts. When the only hits you allow are to the first and last batters you see and you pitch into the sixth inning, you’re probably having a good night.

Lorenzen only had a single 1-2-3 inning, but kept buckling down. The most trouble he was in, outside allowing the run in the sixth inning, was when he allowed a leadoff double to Jonathan India in the first. He got Elly De La Cruz to ground out but that advanced India to third with only one out. He then struck out Tyler Stephenson on a nasty fastball before inducing a groundout from TJ Friedl.

Coming into tonight’s action Nick Martinez had been one of the hottest pitchers in baseball. Fresh off of two scoreless starts totaling 12 innings, he mowed down the Royals in order the first time through the lineup. The only hiccup was when Bobby Witt Jr. faced him in the first inning and laced a ball 106.9 MPH but directly at left fielder Spencer Steer. In the fourth inning, Martinez got Michael Massey again but when Witt came to the plate he made sure that no one was going to catch it this time.

That one was 107.9 MPH off the bat and with a little bit more lift to it. It marked Bobby’s second straight 25-25 season and made him only the third Royal to ever have back-to-back 25-25 seasons - Carlos Beltran and Bo Jackson had each done it. Of course, Bobby has more than a month to play to try and achieve his second straight 30-30 season and no Royal had ever managed that until last year, so even comparing him to those two terrific players almost seems disrespectful.

In the sixth inning, the Royals were back at it getting some insurance runs. Witt led off and Martinez decided to try pitching him away. The result was a 103.6 MPH line drive down the right field line and a leadoff double for Witt. Vinnie Pasquantino singled to right but Bobby had to hold at third because it wasn’t clear if Will Benson would be able to catch it. He scored on a groundball by Salvador Perez which was mishandled by De La Cruz into a fielder’s choice with no outs. Then, two outs later, resident whipping boy Adam Frazier came through with a clutch single to bring home the Royals’ third run of the night.

The fun didn’t stop there, either, because the bullpen came up clutch all night long. First out of the gate with two outs and a runner at second in the sixth inning was Kris Bubic to face the left-handed Friedl. He struck him out, then got two more outs in the seventh before he was removed for James McArthur when the Reds went to their bench for a right-handed pinch hitter. Stuart Fairchild. The Reds then countered again with the left-handed Jake Fraley, but McArthur, who seemed to have regained his strikeout ability while pitching in recent lower-leverage outings, struck out the lefty anyway. McArthur then got two more outs in the eighth before giving way to Sam Long to face De La Cruz.

It was a terrific, savvy move by Quatraro who has been unfairly maligned for his bullpen choices this season. De La Cruz is a switch-hitter, but noticeably worse from the right side and Sam Long has reverse splits. De La Cruz, as had every other first batter against the bullpen tonight, struck out.

After the Royals blew it open in the top of the ninth - don’t worry, we’ll get there - Carlos Hernández was tasked with closing the game out. He gave up a leadoff double but then started just absolutely challenging Reds hitters with 100+ MPH heat and struck out each of the next three batters to finish the game.

OK, so now let’s talk about the top of the ninth, because that was a fun inning. Frazier led off and managed to get just enough of his bat on the ball for a single into right. He was pulled for pinch-runner Dairon Blanco who never got a chance to steal a base because Freddy Fermin yanked a double down the left-field line to score him from first. Isbel and Massey each made outs but that brought Bobby Witt Jr. to the plate with three hits and a chance to hit for the cycle if he could manage a triple.

Unfortunately, the Reds decided they’d rather take their chances with Vinnie.

And Vinnie took that personally.

McArthur had a 30% Called Strike + Whiff rate and Hernández had a 42% CSW rate. If McArthur is back to his old self and the Royals managed to unlock something in Hernández during his most recent demotion, the bullpen might have just swung from a weakness into a strength because there has been no indication that Sam Long, Kris Bubic, or Lucas Erceg have missed a beat. Of course, those are big ifs. But for one night, at least, it all seems possible.

If you are the kind of person who looks for clouds in silver linings you can check out the fifth inning of this one. Paul DeJong led off with a single up the middle before Frazier sacrifice bunted him to second. Freddy Fermin then singled into left and DeJong went to third. With runners at first and third and nobody out, Kyle Isbel squared around and attempted a bunt. It successfully moved Fermin to second but left DeJong at third when it went right back to the pitcher. Massey popped out to end the scoring threat. There are very few circumstances in which two sacrifice bunts are going to be an effective way to score in an inning, and after four batters the only two outs Martinez had gotten were gifted to him by KC. Just utterly abysmal execution against a pitcher they had on the ropes. Fortunately, they finished him off in the next inning.

The Twins and Red Sox are each winning their games at the time of writing, but the Guardians are losing, so the Royals may gain ground on the division, at least. Either way, their magic number now stands at 39. The Royals are now 2-2 on the road trip. They have an opportunity to win their first post-All Star Break series against a team not from Chicago or Detroit tomorrow evening. Their work will be cut out for them as Michael Wacha will face off against lefty Nick Lodolo. The game will start at 5:30 Royals time.