Astros Stomp Yordano Ventura in Victory over the Kansas City Royals

The Houston Astros came into Monday night’s game against Kansas City riding a six-game losing streak, and proceeded to stomp the Royals 9-2 at Kauffman Stadium.

Starter Yordano Ventura gave up 5 runs through the top of the 2nd, and it didn’t get any better in any of the 7 following innings. The Astros looked like a team that was so sick of getting whipped, they decided to spread the misery to someone else.

Let’s hope the Royals can push the Astros back down into the dumps for the other two games of the series.

The loss dropped Kansas City 2 games under .500 at 24-26. The Royals remain 5.5 games behind Detroit in the A.L Central.

On the Mound

Monday was just not Yordano Ventura’s day.  Ventura only lasted 2.2 innings, allowing 7 hits, 3 walks, 5 earned runs along with 3 strikeouts. He struggled with his command and finally had to groove pitches to get them over the plate. The Astros smacked him around like it was batting practice.

The loss dropped Ventura to 2-5 on the year, and ballooned his ERA to 3.45 from 2.80.

Mike Mariot relieved Ventura in the 3rd, and really wasn’t much better. In his 3.1 IP, he surrendered 6 hits, 1 walk, and 3 earned runs along with 2 strikeouts.

Louis Coleman finished up the final 3 innings, giving up a solo home run to Royals’ Monday night nemesis George Springer in the 8th.

At the Plate

Lorenzo Cain hit four singles to go 4-4, with 1 RBI on the night, raising his season average to .327.

Alex Gordon went 2-3, with 1 run scored.

Overall, the Royals had 10 hits, 1 walk, 2 doubles, and only managed to score 1 run. It was yet another “Royals” night at the plate.

This and That

Along with his 4 hits, George Springer robbed Eric Hosmer of an extra-base hit in the bottom of the  7th inning by making a running catch that carried him into the RF bullpen’s chain link fence. He followed up his outstanding defensive play by slamming a home run off Louis Coleman to lead off the Astro 8th inning.

Houston came into the game 19-32 on a 6-game losing streak.

KC Kingdom Player of the Game

The clear choice is CF Lorenzo Cain for his 4-4 night along with a stolen base. Cain has been the best player in the Royals lineup for the first 50 games of the season.

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• Billy Butler – 2
• Lorenzo Cain
• Johnny Giavotella
• Wade Davis
• Norichika Aoki
• Salvador Perez – 2
• Jeremy Guthrie  – 2
• Jason Vargas – 5
• Alex Gordon – 5
• Bruce Chen
• James Shields – 5
• Yordano Ventura – 3
• Mike Moustakas
• Danny Duffy – 3
• Omar Infante
• Mike Moustakas – 3
• Alcidese Escobar – 3
• Eric Hosmer – 6
• Michael Mariot
• Casey Coleman
• Danny Valencia

The Astros

George Springer had one heck of a night. The Astros right fielder went a perfect 4-4 with a single, 2 doubles, 1 home run, 1 walk, 5 runs scored, and 3 RBI’s. Along with wearing out the Royals at the plate, he also robbed Eric Hosmer of at least a double in the field. It doesn’t get much better than this for any MLB player.

Up Next

The Royals will send Jeremy Guthrie (2-3, 4.39 ERA) to the mound for the 2nd game of the series, while the Astros counter with Collin McHugh (2-3, 3.32 ERA). Game time is 7:10 CST at Kauffman Stadium.

Box

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/27/2014.

2B: M Gonzalez (3, off Y Ventura); G Springer 2 (6, 1 off M Mariot, 1 off Y Ventura); A Presley (3, off M Mariot).
HR: G Springer (8, off L Coleman, 8th inn, 0 on, 0 outs to Deep LF-CF).
SF: M Dominguez (3, off Y Ventura).
TB: G Springer 9; M Gonzalez 5; A Presley 4; D Fowler 2; J Castro 2; J Altuve.
GIDP: J Castro 2 (7).
RBI: G Springer 3 (25); J Castro 2 (25); M Dominguez (21); M Gonzalez (3); D Fowler (14).
2-out RBI: G Springer 2; M Gonzalez; D Fowler.
Team LOB: 10.
With RISP: 4 for 14.
Fielding
DP: 1. M Gonzalez-J Altuve-M Krauss.

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/27/2014.

2B: O Infante (4, off S Feldman); B Butler (9, off S Feldman).
HBP: A Gordon (3, by S Feldman).
TB: L Cain 4; A Gordon 2; B Butler 2; O Infante 2; P Ciriaco; A Escobar.
GIDP: S Perez (10).
RBI: L Cain (15).
2-out RBI: L Cain.
Team LOB: 9.
With RISP: 2 for 11.
Fielding
DP: 2. M Mariot-O Infante-A Escobar-E Hosmer; O Infante-A Escobar-E Hosmer.
Baserunning
SB: L Cain (6, 2nd base off S Feldman/J Castro).

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/27/2014.

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/27/2014.

Balks: M Mariot (1).
WP: None.
HBP: S Feldman (6; A Gordon).
IBB: None.
Pickoffs: None.