Royals' youth delivers at plate against Braves

KANSAS CITY -- It’s no secret that the Royals have these September games as an opportunity to see what pieces they’ll have going forward in this rebuild.

Three of those potential pieces -- first baseman Ryan O'Hearn, center fielder Bubba Starling and middle infielder Nicky Lopez -- were on display in a 9-6 victory over the Braves on Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium. Kansas City improved to 3-0 against Atlanta this season with a chance to sweep another two-game set against the National League East champions on Wednesday.

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"That's big,” manager Ned Yost said of that trio. “Those young guys are feeling good, finishing strong, hitting the ball well.”

O’Hearn, who had a double, a home run and four RBIs on the recent road trip, drove in two runs with a sacrifice fly and a scorching double to the right-center-field gap.

"He smoked both balls,” Yost said. “He's swinging the bat well, too. I want to see him keep doing that. He went through that stretch where you're struggling to put the ball in play. Next year, we talked about being able to compete. It's going to get real next year. You're not going to be able to come in here and hit .160. You're just not."

Starling had the most exciting moment during the Royals' five-run third inning. He smashed a two-run double to the left-center-field gap, went to third on the throw home and then scored when the throw from catcher Brian McCann back to third sailed into left field. Starling also doubled and scored in the seventh.

Lopez continues to heat up. He was 5-for-10 on the recent trip. He doubled in the second inning, delivered a sharp, two-out RBI single in the fifth, and doubled in a run in the seventh.

Lopez said he has been dealing with a sore hand the last few weeks, a result of getting jammed too many times.

“It was tough to grip a bat and try to get to that inside pitch,” Lopez said, “when in the back of your mind, you’re like, ‘I don’t want to get jammed again.’ So that stunk, but our training staff is unbelievable and they got me better.”

Lopez also is showing a bit more patience at the plate. He now has gone 35 straight plate appearances without a strikeout, the longest active streak in MLB.

“I’ve been focusing a little bit more,” Lopez said. “Seeing better pitches. Just enjoying the game. I kind of lost sight of that a little bit when I was struggling. I just went back to the basics, lowered my hands a tiny bit, but went back to the basics to have fun. I’m up here for a reason. I did stuff to get here. It was going back to that.”

Left-hander Danny Duffy started for the Royals and retired nine of the first 10 hitters he faced. He lost his command in the fifth and gave up a home run, a single, two walks and hit a batter.

Duffy left after five innings having given up five hits and three runs.

“The way Bubba, Ryan and Nicky swung the bats today was great,” Duffy said. “Nicky hustled his way into two doubles. That was awesome. It tells you where we are as a group. We’re going to try to finish strong.

“I’m proud of the way we have battled this last month. I’m going to cheer my teammates on these last four games and take some of that energy into Spring Training.”