*Photo from Dodger Blue*
Seth Lugo had a strong start on the mound, MJ Melendez hit a grand slam, and the Kansas City Royals defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 7-2 victory Saturday night in Los Angeles.
Melendez has had a year of struggles at the plate, but worked a 12 pitch at bat against Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen, hitting that 12th pitch into the outfield seats to catapult the Royals into the win column. It was a necessary win for the Royals, who had lost 5 of their last 6 games entering Saturday.
Vinnie Pasquantino, Royals first baseman, said of Melendez's slam that "I know that’s something he's been looking for and we’ve been looking for from him. It was awesome to see him just be able to battle. At the end of the day, even if he lost that at-bat, it still would have been incredible. The fact that we were able to put up four runs with one swing after 12 pitches is incredible."
Nick Loftin got the Royals on the board in the top of the 4th inning, grounding out to second base as Pasquantino was able to score on the play. In the bottom of the 4th, Gavin Lux got the Dodgers the lead, hitting a two run single to right center field to make it 2-1. In the 6th, Melendez gave the Royals a 5-2 lead with his grand slam.
The Royals continued to tack on later in the game. In the 7th inning, Bobby Witt Jr extended the Royals lead to 6-2 with a single to left field that scored Garrett Hampson. Later in the inning, Maikel Garcia crossed the plate on a Nelson Velazquez sac fly that made it a 7-2 game. The Royals kept the Dodgers quiet at the plate to seal the win.
Starting on the mound for the Royals was Lugo, who allowed two runs on 6 hits and a walk over 6 innings, becoming the first AL pitcher to 10 wins. John Schreiber worked 2/3 of an inning before Sam Long handled the next 1 1/3 innings. Nick Anderson closed out the win with a scoreless inning.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto lasted just two innings in his start for the Dodgers before exiting due to triceps tightness. Michael Grove allowed a run in two innings in relief before Yohan Ramirez pitched a scoreless inning. Treinen allowed 4 runs in 2/3 of an inning while Anthony Banda gave up two in 2 1/3 innings. Ryan Yarbrough pitched a scoreless 9th inning.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of the Yamamoto injury that "I was surprised. He’s been obviously very durable throughout his entire professional career. I think we’ve been very good as far as managing usage and the days. Yes, I was very surprised. Again, if we knew he was going to go two innings, he wouldn’t have started tonight."
The series wraps up Sunday afternoon. With both teams having won a game, the series win is up for grabs as Brady Singer gets the start for the Royals against Tyler Glasnow of the Dodgers.
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