*Photo from the Taiwan News*
The return of Edward Olivares to the lineup did not go unnoticed. Olivares clubbed two homers, Carlos Santana drove in a run, and the Kansas City Royals defeated the Oakland Athletics with a 3-1 victory on Friday in Kansas City.
With the win, the Royals have picked up their 6th win in their last 10 games, and they were aided this time around by the return of Olivares, activated off the 10 Day IL prior to the game. He hit two home runs in his first two plate appearances, and it was enough to get the Royals a win.
Royals manager Mike Matheny said of Olivares that "We talk about dangerous hitters, and a lot of these young hitters we have, when they walk up there, it looks like damage is about to happen. He’s just been in a good place, before he got hurt and to come back that quick and have the timing right and make an impact like that today, it’s special."
Olivares got the Royals started, giving them a 1-0 lead in the 3rd inning, hitting his first home run of the season, a solo shot to left field. One inning later, in the 4th inning, the Athletics got on the board thanks to Seth Brown, who hit a single into center field, scoring Tony Kemp and tying the game by a 1-1 score.
In the 5th inning, the Royals retook the lead, with Olivares hitting his second solo home run of the night, this one also going to left field, making it a 2-1 Royals lead. In the 6th inning, Hunter Dozier came around to score when Santana singled into left field, making it a 3-1 lead for the Royals.
Matheny continued on about Olivares, saying that "What I’ve seen develop into is really seeing him staying with a good approach against everything. He’s just got the mix of the power, and mostly the hand-eye and the bat speed that allows him to cover balls on the inside part of the plate and keep them fair."
Getting the start and the loss for the Athletics was Cole Irvin, who fell to 2-5 on the season. Irvin lasted 5 1/3 innings, allowing 3 runs on 7 hits. Domingo Acevedo came on and threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings in relief, with Austin Pruitt adding another shutout inning.
For the Royals, Zack Greinke got the start and picked up his first win of the season. Greinke lasted 6 sharp innings, allowing one run on 3 hits while striking out 4 hitters. After that, 3 different relivers shut down the A's, with Dylan Coleman, Jose Cuas, and Scott Barlow finishing the game, with Barlow getting the save, his 9th of the season.
Oakland shortstop Elivs Andrus said of Greinke that "He’s a very smart pitcher, especially with the way he can locate that cutter inside and outside. That’s when it gets tough. He was throwing 90-92 a couple of times. He’s super smart, man. You gotta go out there and try to stay in the middle. When he’s hitting those corners, it becomes really tough to get good contact. But he's been doing it his whole career."
Up next, the Royals and Athletics continue their series on Saturday afternoon. Getting the start for the Royals is Brad Keller, while rookie Jared Koenig starts for Oakland.
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