KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ The bullpen had wobbled, wasting another night of brilliant starting pitching. So the Royals relied on their greatest offensive weapon: The solo home run.
In the bottom of the eighth inning Saturday night, Mike Moustakas cranked his fifth homer of the season, depositing another baseball onto the porch in right field. The moment sent a jolt through Kauffman Stadium and delivered a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
The Royals engineered their third straight victory and moved to 5-6 on the year. The formula followed a familiar pattern. A Royals starting pitcher was efficient and effective. The bullpen was suspect ... until Joakim Soria took over. The offense relied on the solo homer.
Designated hitter Brandon Moss broke a 1-1 tie with his second homer in the fourth inning. Moustakas muscled up against Angels left-hander Jose Alvarez in the bottom of the eighth. And just like that, the Royals can complete a three-game sweep on Sunday afternoon.
For 10 games, the Royals' veteran-laded rotation had been the most reliable in the American League, posting a collective 2.70 ERA, keeping the club in games, rescuing a team that had been beset by a sluggish offense and combustible bullpen. On Saturday, the baton was passed to the most inexperienced member of the unit, right-hander Nathan Karns. For six innings, Karns continued the suffocating starting pitching, allowing just one run and four hits.
He struck out three and walked two. He retired 12 straight from the second to the sixth innings. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the top of the sixth.
With three men on and the Royals' lead at 2-1, Karns battled with Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons, who whacked a 2-1 offering into the left-field corner. Alex Gordon gave chase and made a running catch at the warning track. Back on the infield grass, Karns popped his glove twice and stared intently at catcher Salvador Perez, pointing his finger toward home plate as the top of the sixth inning came to a close.
Karns' last stand offered a momentary reprieve. The bullpen couldn't hold things together in the top of the seventh. Royals manager Ned Yost opted to remove Karns after 85 pitches, rather than risk overexposure with another trip through the Angels' lineup.
Left-hander Mike Minor entered and yielded a single, a deep fly ball and a walk. Yost turned to Soria, who recorded a strikeout before allowing a game-trying RBI single through the right side by Ben Revere.
The score knotted at 2-2, the Royals elected to intentionally walk Mike Trout and face Albert Pujols with the bases loaded. The moment underscored the dominance of Trout and the current version of Pujols. Soria held the line by freezing Pujols on a 3-2 fastball and working another scoreless inning in the eighth.
For the second straight night, the Angels opened the game with a run in the top of the first, striking with two singles and an RBI ground-out by Pujols. Yet once again, the Royals erased the deficit in the bottom half of the inning. Gordon led off with a walk. Lorenzo Cain sent a one-out single into center field. Eric Hosmer lashed an RBI single to left field, scoring Gordon from second base.
The Royals nearly opened a wide cushion when Perez hooked a ball deep into the left-field corner. The baseball kept spinning, hooking foul into the seats. Perez struck out as Angels starter Matt Shoemaker settled in.
In his career, the right-handed Shoemaker had logged an 11.34 ERA against the Royals in four starts. The number did not include a no-decision in Game 2 of the 2014 American League Division Series, when Shoemaker held the Royals to a run in six innings.
On Saturday, he was closer to that postseason form, surviving 51/3 innings and leaving with the Royals leading 2-1. After the early traffic in the first inning, his second mistake came on a 2-1 splitter that hung in the strike zone against Moss. The baseball was launched 392 feet into the Angels' bullpen in right field. Moss had collected his third hit of this young season.
For a while, it was the decisive run. By the end, the difference came from the bat of Moustakas.
