KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A 442-foot home run by 6-foot-4, 235-pound slugger Jorge Soler complemented by a 2-foot bunt by 5-foot-11, 180-pound middle infielder Nicky Lopez flipped the game in the seventh inning and sent the Kansas City Royals into their off day victorious.
The Royals tacked on two insurance runs in the eighth inning and leaned on the bullpen duo of Greg Holland and Josh Staumont to close out the Milwaukee Brewers in the eighth and ninth on their way to their 20th victory of the season, a 6-4 win Wednesday night in front of an announced 8,950 at rain-soaked Kauffman Stadium.
The Royals (20-22) swept the two-game interleague set with the win, and they’ve now won three of their last four.
Soler’s fourth home run of the season — his first since May 11 — tied the score at the start of the inning and unceremoniously welcomed Brewers relief pitcher J.P. Feyereisen to the game after starting pitcher Corbin Burnes held the Royals to two runs.
Kelvin Gutierrez followed Soler’s homer with a single, and Michael A. Taylor walked to give the Royals two men on with no outs. Cam Gallagher’s sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third. Lopez’s deftly-executed squeeze bunt allowed Jarrod Dyson, who pinch ran for Gutierrez, to score from third base.
The Royals two runs in the eighth came courtesy of a Hanser Alberto RBI single to drive in Salvador Perez and a wild pitch that allowed Alberto to score from third.
Royals starting pitcher Brad Keller tossed 5 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on eight hits and one walk. He struck out four, and he left the game with the score tied and a runner on third.
