Rangers Sweep Royals

By Levi Weaver, The Sports Xchange

ARLINGTON, Texas — Joey Gallo and Robinson Chirinos hit home runs, Yu Darvish struck out eight in eight innings, and Matt Bush got his first save as the Texas Rangers defeated the Kansas City Royals 5-2 on Sunday.
Gallo smashed a 439-foot home run to left-center field to make the score 4-2 in the sixth, and Chirinos added a solo homer in the eighth.
The Royals were on the board first. With one out in the third inning, Mike Moustakas hit an 0-1 pitch over the right-field wall for a solo home run. Two pitches later, rookie center fielder Jorge Bonifacio connected for his first major league home run, a 421-foot shot to left field.
“It was a fastball away and I recognized that pitch,” Bonifacio said later. “I went for it. Off the bat, it felt like I got that one. In my second game to hit a homer and my first base hit. I’m not going to forget this day.”
Texas clawed back for one run in the bottom of the third. With two outs and Shin-Soo Choo on second base, Elvis Andrus splashed a ball to right-center field to drive in a run and cut the lead in half.
In the bottom of the fourth, Texas claimed the lead without putting a ball in play.
Ryan Rua walked to lead off the inning and promptly stole second base. Gallo was hit by a pitch, and so was Chirinos. The latter was initially called a foul ball, but with Texas down a run with two runners on and no outs, manager Jeff Banister challenged the call. It was overturned, and Chirinos was awarded first base.
Jurickson Profar then walked on four pitches to tie the score and end Jason Hammel’s afternoon after three innings plus four batters. It was the shortest start of the season for a Kansas City starter.
With Hammel out of the game, Scott Alexander came on and ended the inning on three pitches, the last of which induced a double play. But the escape came a batter too late for Kansas City. The preceding batter, Carlos Gomez, hit a groundout that brought home a run and gave Texas its first lead of the afternoon at 3-2.
Gallo and Chirinos, each of whom hit two home runs on Saturday, both added insurance runs late in the game.
“It was a 3-2 game,” Gallo said of his sixth-inning blast. “Obviously that’s huge and Chirinos adding on in the eighth is huge. We felt the way Darvish was pitching, one run was going to be good enough. But obviously it’s nice to put an extra run on the board.”
Darvish (2-2) allowed two third-inning runs in eight innings. He gave up five hits, walked one and struck out eight Royals before giving way to Bush, who worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his first save
“(Darvish) was extremely sharp,” Banister said after the game. “I think after the third (inning), he faced the minimum. He seemed to get stronger as the game went on.”
Banister’s quotes were in keeping with everyone else’s opinions, including Darvish:
“Yes, I felt as strong as I’ve felt since coming back from Tommy John surgery,” the right-hander said. “We ran over it individually, and each hitter has a tendency. So we went with what we had on the scouting board.”
Royals manager Ned Yost chimed in.
“He was really good,” Yost said. “He had everything going for him. He managed his pitch count well, which allowed him to go deep into the game. After the third inning when we hit the two home runs, he kind of settled in after that.”
Hammel yielded three runs, four hits and three walks with five strikeouts. He expressed disappointment in his outing when he spoke to the media afterward.
“I’ve got to trust the stuff and let it work,” Hammel lamented. “For whatever reason, I shifted into trying to make the perfect pitch and overthrowing, and I really got myself and us into trouble.
“We should have won that ballgame. The guys came out early and put on some runs against Darvish, who doesn’t give them up. So that one’s on me.”