The Kansas City Royals dropped their fourth straight game on this road trip last night, falling to the Angels 1-0 in a brutal pitching duel. It’s easy to point fingers at the offense after a goose egg like that, but honestly, this was all about Angels pitcher Reid Detmers. When he brings his A-game, there’s just not much any lineup can do, and baby, he was absolutely dialed in on Friday night.
Detmers Dominates as Royals Offense Stalls Out
Detmers was flashing some serious brilliance out there. The guy racked up 11 strikeouts over 8 scoreless innings, needing only 92 pitches to do it. Think about that: no walks, just those two measly singles. That’s pure dominance. After Detmers was done dealing, Angels closer Ben Joyce stepped in, unleashing a fastball that screams over 104 MPH, and he finished the job with a pair of strikeouts. The Royals offense, for all their efforts, just could not get anything going against that kind of heat and precision.
On the Royals’ side, Michael Massey and Jac Caglianone were the only two players to even get a hit, both singles, in an otherwise silent night for the bats. Caglianone, though, really tried to spark something. He nearly launched a home run in the first inning that, according to Baseball Savant, was barreled and the third-hardest hit ball of the game, a blast that would’ve been a homer in 6 out of 30 parks. His single in the fourth was hit at an astounding 105.5 MPH, the hardest-hit ball for either team all night. And when he stole second moments later, it was the first and *only* time a Royal got past first base all evening. That’s how locked down Detmers had them. Cags looked a little silly striking out in the seventh, sure, but he barely got a chance to make a difference with the lack of offense, missing out on a fourth at-bat entirely.
Dobnak Deals, But Pearson’s Control Costs KC the Game
Randy Dobnak deserves a shout-out for his performance, too. He was on the mound for 5.2 scoreless innings, figuring out pretty quickly that his sweeper wasn’t working and pivoted to a healthy dose of changeups. The Angels just couldn’t touch them, and he punched out six while allowing 4 hits and 2 walks. Dobnak Time continues, even with the loss. Craig Kimbrel came in to escape the sixth with two runners on and pulled it off when Josh Lowe’s deep flyball died just short of the track. Tyler Tolbert also made a fantastic play in the seventh to help Kimbrel.
But then came Nate Pearson in the eighth. Unfortunately, those control issues that have plagued him popped up again. He walked Wade Meckler to start the inning, Jose Siri pinch-ran and promptly stole second, and then a 102.6 MPH groundball off Nolan Schanuel’s bat deflected off Caglianone’s glove into right field. Just like that, the winning run was across the plate. Pearson recovered to get a strikeout and a groundout, but the damage was done. This 1-0 loss snapped a five-game streak where the Royals had gotten the better of the Angels, making this defeat sting even more as they push through this road trip. They can’t let this turn into a losing spiral.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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