Mahle allowed three hits while working into the seventh, Adam Duvall hit a ninth-inning grand slam and the Cincinnati Reds beat the skidding Royals 7-0 on Wednesday night.
Mahle (5-6) allowed only one runner to touch second base in 6 1/3 innings, matching his career longest start. He is 2-0 in June, allowing two earned runs and 14 hits in 16 1/3 innings.
”I was able to make big pitches, get weak contact and guys were able to make plays behind me, and I was able to hold them off long enough for us to score some runs,” Mahle said.
The Royals have lost nine of 10 and have dropped 23 of 33 home games. They have scored 11 runs in their last eight games and 23 in 12 June games. They have scored one run in the past 25 innings.
”We’ve got to be better than that,” losing pitcher Jason Hammel said. ”This losing is getting old.”
Kansas City is hitting .147 this month with runners in scoring position, including 1 for 25 in the past six games.
Duvall greeted rookie reliever Jason Adam with his second grand slam in two weeks, driving a 2-2 pitch over the left-center wall.
”He threw me a couple of curveballs earlier in that at-bat, but I knew he liked his heater,” Duvall said. ”That’s what I was looking for there. It’s a good feeling to come in here and win two.”
Hammel (2-7) allowed three runs on seven hits over 7 1/3 innings. The Royals committed three errors Cheap Isaiah Wynn Jersey , including two in the seventh helping the Reds score two runs.
”I know guys are not trying to kick the ball, not try to misplay it, but at this level those things affect the outcome,” Hammel said. ”That’s the game in a nutshell.”
Alex Gordon, a five-time American League Gold Glove winner, made two defensive gems in the sixth inning. Curt Casali singled off the left-field bullpen fence and tried to stretch it into a double. Gordon threw him out from the warning track for his fifth outfield assist this season and the 85th of his career.
Two pitches later, Gordon made a diving head-first catch of Billy Hamilton’s liner to rob him of a hit.
”The first thing that went through my mind, is no wonder he’s a gold, platinum glove winner,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. ”He’s just so fantastic out there.”
Salvador Perez and Hunter Dozier grounded into double plays to end the first two Royals innings.
Mahle retired 12 of the next 13 batters he faced after Gordon walked in the second inning.
The Royals didn’t have a runner touch second base until Whit Merrifield doubled with two out in the sixth.
STREAKING REDS
Scooter Gennett had two singles, extending his hitting streak to 10 games. … Jose Peraza has reached base in 15 consecutive games. … Reliever Jared Hughes, who pitched a scoreless inning Taven Bryan Youth Jersey , has not allowed a run in 15 straight appearances.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Royals: 1B Lucas Duda (right foot plantar fasciitis) is doing on-the-field activity. Yost said he is hopeful Duda will go out on a minor league rehab assignment this weekend.
UP NEXT
Reds: They are off Thursday before RHP Matt Harvey will start Friday in Pittsburgh.
Royals: After an off-day Thursday, the Royals will open a three-game home series Friday with the Houston Astros. RHP Jakob Junis will be the KC starter for the opener.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays were a wobbly 34-40 on June 20, but have pitched their way back to .500 mostly without true starting pitchers.
On Saturday, five relievers combined to outduel Justin Verlander in a 5-2 victory, and as the series wraps up Sunday, the Rays are on even footing with the pitching-dominant Houston Astros on the mound.
“It’s pretty remarkable what they’ve strung together here as of late, and today was no different,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said after Saturday’s win.
The Rays turn to their best starter of the first half in Blake Snell, who looks to be a first-time All-Star with a 10-4 record and a 2.31 ERA.
Snell has taken only one loss in his last eight starts, and was superb against the Astros on June 19, throwing seven innings and holding a potent lineup to one run and three hits in a 2-1 victory. He managed to survive seven walks Josh Rosen Youth Jersey , including three in one scoreless inning, getting key double plays to work his way out of predicaments.
In his last seven starts, Snell has a 1.27 ERA. He is 1-1 with a 5.21 ERA in four career starts against Houston.
The Rays, who have been above .500 for only three days all season, face a stiff challenge Sunday in Astros right-hander Charlie Morton.
Morton (10-1, 2.54) hopes to continue a career resurrection since coming to Houston. Before arriving, he was 46-71 in his career. Since joining the Astros, he’s 24-8 in two seasons with a career-low ERA this year and a career-best strikeout rate of 11.5 per nine innings.
Morton is 3-0 in his last four games, with three earned runs allowed in his last 19 innings and none in his last two starts. He faced the Rays on June 20 and dominated, throwing six innings and holding Tampa Bay to two hits and one unearned run. He was even better in his last start, holding Toronto scoreless in seven innings while striking out 13, one off his season and career high.
Houston manager A.J. Hinch doesn’t like playing at Tropicanaa Field Jason Witten Cowboys Jersey , and his team’s bats have been stifled in all three games, including Thursday’s 1-0 victory. The Astros have lost eight games this season with Verlander starting, and in six of those losses, they’ve scored a total of five runs.
“I hate the results at this ballpark, if you look back at what we’ve done,” Hinch said. “Those are facts. It is what it is. We have another game (Sunday). We need to figure it out before then.”
Astros standout Alex Bregman said the stadium has given Houston problems, but some of the credit should go to Rays pitchers, who have given them fits this weekend.
“I don’t know if it’s the ballpark. I think they just have a good staff,” Bregman said. “They have been playing really good ball as of late.”
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