*Photo from AP News*
It was quite a game from a kid who hadn't gone the distance before. Ke'Bryan Hayes drove in a run, Johan Oviedo starred on the mound, and the Pittsburgh Pirates shut out the Kansas City Royals 5-0 on Monday in Kansas City.
The Pirates improved to 5-5 in their last 10 games and 59-73 on the season, 4th place in the NL Central. However, Oviedo was the big story, throwing his first complete game and shutout at the same time. It marked the 28th complete game in the majors this season.
Pirates manager Derek Shelton said after the game that "Going into the ninth, I didn't plan on pitching him, because he was at 97. I figured that was good. Endy Rodríguez made a pretty strong push. He kept saying, ‘Let’s go, he's fine.' I figured: young catcher feeling it. We were hitter by hitter, but it was good for Endy and good for Ovi."
Alfonso Rivas started the scoring in the second inning for the Pirates. With the bases loaded, he grounded out, scoring Endy Rodriguez to make it 1-0 Pirates. One inning later, in the 3rd, it was Hayes' turn to add a run. Hayes hit an RBI double to left field, scoring Ji-Hwan Bae as the Pirates lead doubled to 2-0.
It stayed 2-0 until the 7th inning. That was when Andrew McCutchen drove in Alika Williams with an RBI single to make it a 3-0 game. Joshua Palacios had an RBI single of his own later in the inning to make it 4-0. In the 8th, Jack Suwinski scored on an RBI double by Rivas, making it a 5-0 game in favor of the Pirates.
Oviedo pitched a dominant game, allowing two hits while walking two hitters and striking out 5 in his complete game shutout. He didn't allow a single Royals baserunner to advance past first base, helping the Pirates win their first game in Kansas City since August of 2015.
Shelton said of Oviedo's start that "He was on point the entire game. When he got behind he was able to execute. It’s not like he had to battle out of a bases-loaded jam or had a couple of high-stress innings. He did a good job when he needed to with two outs by putting the ball on the ground, and having the two quick innings really helped."
Zack Greinke got charged with two runs on 6 hits and two walks in 4 2/3 innings in his start for the Royals. Tucker Davidson pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings before Taylor Hearn allowed two runs in one inning. Jackson Kowar allowed one run in one inning before Carlos Hernandez pitched a scoreless 9th.
Royals outfielder MJ Melendez said of being shut out that "We just kind of came out flat today as a team. I think we could have hit him. I guess props to him for going all nine. But it was a battle with ourselves today, and we didn’t really play how we wanted to."
The series continues on Tuesday night with the second of 3 games. The Pirates aim for the series win as Colin Selby gets the start. The Royals try to even the series at a game apiece with Cole Ragans getting the start.
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