KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ After the way Kansas City Royals pitcher Brad Keller stifled batters in the first game of the doubleheader, Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer certainly had something to shoot for when he stepped on the mound Wednesday night.
Bauer, like Keller, turned in a dominant performance that started with more than four no-hit innings. Of course, Bauer's dominance came at the Royals' expense as they dropped the second game 5-0 at Kauffman Stadium.
Bauer (3-0) pitched all seven innings and allowed just one hit, walked three and struck out nine.
Adalberto Mondesi had the lone hit for the Royals (10-15). The Royals will have a day off on Thursday before they welcome the Minnesota Twins for a weekend series starting on Friday night.
"We just had trouble putting anything together," Royals manager Mike Matheny said.
Royals starting pitcher Matt Harvey, who made his first appearance of the season and his Royals' debut, allowed three runs on four hits and two walks. He threw 54 pitches. All three runs scored via home runs in his third and final inning.
Harvey, a former All-Star Game starter while with the New York Mets, has battled physical ailments in recent years, signed a minor-league contract in late July after being without a team for the first time in his career.
He struck out four and looked sharp through his first two innings. His fastball reached 95 miles per hour. In the third inning and the second time through the lineup, the Reds (10-12) jumped on Harvey early in the count.
"I was, I guess pleasantly surprised with how I was able to for the most part attack the zone," Harvey said. "I threw some good pitches. Obviously, I threw two really bad ones that probably cost us the game.
"It was kind of a surreal moment of a lot of different nerves that I haven't felt in a very long time. It was definitely exciting to be out there."
Harvey gave up three hits and three runs with two outs in the inning. Nick Castellanos hit a 1-0 fastball for a two-out single to right field. Then Jesse Winker smashed a first-pitch curveball down and in over the right-field wall. Eugenio Suarez capped the scoring when he clubbed an 0-1 slider over the center field wall to make it back-to-back homers in the span of three pitches.
By the time he walked the following batter, Mike Moustakas, the Royals had right-hander Jesse Hahn warming up in the bullpen. Harvey got an inning-ending fly ball to make it through the third.
In the fourth inning, the Royals gave the ball to Hahn, who was Harvey's high school teammate in Connecticut. Harvey's father, Ed, was their coach at Fisk High School. Hahn and Harvey also pitched against each other when Harvey was at the University of North Carolina and Hahn at Virginia Tech.
"That's something special," Hahn said. "We don't know if it's ever happened before, but that's something that I know some guys back home are going to be pretty pumped about it. I know both our fathers were watching the game. I know they're fired up right now."
Hahn began the season on the bereavement/family medical emergency list following the death of his mother. Upon rejoining the team he remained on the restricted list and resumed baseball activities at the alternate training site, T-Bones Stadium, while he remained on the restricted list.
Hahn's wife, Jessica, gave birth to the couple's first child, a son named Hudson on Aug. 15. The Royals reinstated Hahn from the paternity list and designated him as the 29th man on the active roster for Wednesday's doubleheader.
"It's kind of been a whirlwind for me," Hahn said. "I had some things outside the field that I try to keep outside the ballpark right now. I think for me just being around the guys again and just being on the field and getting back in that routine, being at T-Bones for two weeks and being able to build up there really helped me out a lot. I'm back in the swing of things and I'm just happy to be here right now."
Hahn tossed a scoreless frame without allowing a hit though he hit one batter with a pitch, but the Reds added a run on a Nick Castellanos solo homer in the fifth off right-hander Greg Holland.
Curt Casali hit a solo homer in the sixth to finish off the scoring for the night. His blast came off of left-handed reliever Gabe Speier. The Royals optioned Speier to the alternate site after the game.
