Royals starting pitcher Ryan Yarbrough was walked off the field after taking a line drive to his face.
With two outs in the fifth inning, Yarbrough took a line drive off the bat of Ryan Noda. The 106-mile-an-hour line drive came right back at Yarbrough to hit him on the side of the face. The ball then rolled all the way back to Perez at home plate. Yarbrough collapsed on the mound but was able to walk off the field under his own power.
Royals Manager Matt Quatraro gave an update on how he’s doing and what the reaction in the dugout was.
“It was scary,” Quatraro said. “The dugout went silent. you get a pit in your stomach. I can’t think of a worst thing to see on the field. Luckily, when we went out there on the field he was talking and was aware of what was going on and what had happened.”
Yarbrough will go under further testing to make sure there are no other complications.
Other than that Yarbrough had a good game. He was able to get through the A’s without getting into long innings. The only run he allowed was partially based on some good baserunning by Oakland.
In the top of the fourth inning, Rooker was hit by a pitch and stole second base. Rooker was then able to score on a ball hit back up the middle of the field. The ball was stopped with Michael Massy diving to his right but he was unable to come up with the ball. Rooker continued to run the bases aggressively and was able to score.
Quatraro said today’s start was the kind of pitcher that Yabrough is
“A lot of strikes, a lot of soft contact,” Quatraro said. “You see all the weak popups frustrating guys with being able to spin the ball and sneaking a fastball in locations, that’s him in a nutshell.”
The bullpen picked up right where Yarbrough left off. They did not allow a hit until the top of the ninth. That hit came off of Scott Balrow but was a harmless single.
Kansas City’s offense continues its hot steaks. Since the start of this homestand, the Royal’s offense has been able to get it done. Over the last six games, they are averaging almost seven runs per game. A major contributor to that has been their power. The Royals have homered in six consecutive games. They have 12 this month, the most in all of the American League.
This time the offense was led by Salvador Perez. He finished the game with three hits, three runs including a home run. His home run came in the bottom of the first inning. Perez smashed a ball to deep left field, for his seventh home run of the year. The ball traveled 462 feet over the left field fountains. That is the longest home run in his career and was his 101 home run in Kauffman Stadium. That is the second most homerun in Kauffman passing Mike Sweeny.
The Royals continue their homestand by taking on the White Sox Monday night. First pitch is at 6:40.
