Kansas City Royals rookie pitcher Daniel Lynch gave up three first-inning runs, and his club never mounted the rally to overcome that deficit.
The Royals fell, 4-1, to Cleveland in the third game of a four-game set at Progressive Field on Tuesday night in Cleveland. Lynch pitched six innings and allowed four runs, but those three early ones proved critical.
Royals slugger Hunter Dozier homered for the second time in two days, and Whit Merrifield collected two hits. Nicky Lopez extended his on-base streak to 32 consecutive games with a third-inning double.
Royals reliever Dylan Coleman made his major league debut in the seventh inning. A native of Potosi, Mo., Coleman came to the Royals last fall as the player to be named later from the San Diego Padres in last summer’s Trevor Rosenthal trade.
Coleman, a 6-foot-5, 230-pound former Missouri State standout, registered a fastball as high as 100 mph in one scoreless inning.
Cleveland starting pitcher Cal Quantrill, son of former major league pitcher Paul Quantrill, held the Royals to one run in 6 2/3 innings.
Cleveland turned back-to-back walks followed by a single to start the first inning into a three-run lead that put the Royals on their heels for the rest of the night.
After the first three batters reached, Lynch struck out cleanup hitter Franmil Reyes. However, the next batter, Yu Chang, lined a ball to left field. Royals left fielder Andrew Benintendi slipped out of his initial break and then had the ball deflect off of his glove for a three-run triple.
In the second inning, Lynch’s former college teammate, Ernie Clement, hit a one-out solo homer to give Cleveland a 4-0 advantage.
The lone run against Quantrill came on Dozier’s seventh-inning solo home run. The Royals threatened to turn it into a multi-run inning after a walk by Kyle Isbel and a single by Merrifield put two on with two outs.
With major league home run co-leader Salvador Perez on deck, Clement made a sliding stop on a grounder by Lopez and a throw to first to end the inning and strand a pair of runners.
The clubs are scheduled to wrap up the series on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 5:10 p.m. CT. The pitching matchup will feature Royals right-hander Carlos Hernández (6-2, 3.90 ERA) vs. Cleveland left-hander Logan Allen (1-7, 7.11).
