KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ The pitch count piled up, one by one, and still, the Royals bullpen remained motionless. Reliever Joakim Soria hit 27 pitches and then 28. As he crossed the 30-pitch threshold, the bullpen mound beyond the left-field wall remained empty. The dugout phone was still on the hook.
It was the top of the seventh inning on Saturday night, and Soria toed the rubber, working up a sweat as he dug in for the 35th pitch of his night. He had thrown a scoreless sixth inning and came back out for the seventh, allowing an RBI single and two base runners. There were two outs in the inning. The deficit had grown from two to three. And still, Royals manager Ned Yost rode with Soria.
The end result was predictable and puzzling. Soria delivered a 92-mph fastball to Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre. The baseball was pummelled into the night sky for a three-run homer. The three-run blast served as the finishing blow in a 7-4 loss to the Texas Rangers.
On a Saturday night in late July, the Royals fell to 48-48 on the season as the series was knotted at one game apiece. As Kansas City searched for any sign of traction or momentum, a season of frustration from Soria was compounded by the stubbornness of his manager. On a humid night in Kansas City, Soria, a struggling reliever, was asked to go two innings with the Royals still trailing just 3-1. He faltered as his pitch count kept growing, exiting with another disappointing decision.
Soria allowed four runs while issuing two walks in two innings. The performance ensured a three-run ninth-inning rally changed nothing but the final score.
In some ways, of course, the blame could be rested at the feet of the Kansas City offense, which managed just one run against left-handed starter Cole Hamels until coming alive in the ninth inning against the Texas bullpen. In some ways, that didn't matter.
Here are the Royals, back at .500 as the trade deadline approaches, still treading water as the calendar pushes toward August.
Royals starter Yordano Ventura allowed three runs over five innings before leaving with a rib contusion, sustained on a comebacker in the fifth inning. The offense managed a run in the first inning before going silent until the ninth inning.
Trailing 7-1 entering the inning, the Royals scored three runs and loaded the bases for Salvador Perez with two outs. The game ended on a soft chopper to shortstop.
Ventura had sailed through the first three innings, retiring nine consecutive White Sox batters on 40 pitches. He struck out the side in the first inning, finishing off two hitters with curveballs. He struck out another in the second before working a clean third.
In his previous two outings, Ventura had lasted seven innings and he appeared poised to go deep into a game once more. But he would tire in the middle innings. Ventura ran into trouble during a 33-pitch fourth inning. He absorbed another cluster of body shots _ both literally and figuratively _ in the top of the fifth.
The stumbles began with a four-pitch walk to designated hitter Jurickson Profar in the fourth. Moments later, rookie right fielder Nomar Mazara followed with a 413-foot homer to center field.
Ventura had unspooled a changeup on an 0-1 count. The pitch stayed in the middle of the zone. Mazara, a presumptive contender for American League rookie of the year, did not miss, crushing his 12th homer of the season.
Ventura would load the bases with two outs, allowing a double to Adrian Beltre before issuing two more walks. He escaped major damage by coaxing an inning-ending grounder from Robinson Chirinos.
One inning later, Mazara would surface again, driving an RBI double into the right-center gap. This time, Mazara jumped an 0-2 fastball that crossed the plate just above the belt. The pitch was clocked at 98 mph. Mazara pulled it into the gap, stretching the lead to 3-1.
The score would remain static until the seventh, when Soria came out for his second inning of work. Moments later, the meltdown was complete.
