Young logs 3 RBIs, fires Royals past Brewers
MILWAUKEE -- Chris Young produced on the mound and at the plate, firing seven scoreless innings and driving in three runs as the Royals rolled to a 7-2 win over the Brewers on Tuesday night to take both games of the Interleague set.
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Young, who entered Tuesday with a 2.49 ERA in four career starts against the Brewers at Miller Park, allowed just five hits and struck out three on the way to this sixth win in nine starts. The 6-foot-10 right-hander retired 18 of the first 21 batters he faced. He joined Washington's Jordan Zimmermann as the only pitchers to collect three RBIs in a game this season.
Video: KC@MIL: Young plates two with a single to center
"The last two times the fastball command was there," Young said. "That really helps. You go through periods where you are locked in."
Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain hit a two-run homer in the first inning off Matt Garza, his second of the series against the team that drafted him. He hit one homer with the Brewers.
Video: KC@MIL: Cain opens scoring with a two-run homer
Garza struggled for the first time since his five-inning relief appearance in Milwaukee's 17-inning win on May 31. He surrendered 13 hits and six earned runs over 6 2/3 innings. The two home runs allowed extended the Brewers' Major League lead to 80 on the season.
"They hit the ball all over the place," Garza said. "I hurt myself tonight and that's about it. There's no other way to say it, I [stunk] tonight."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Young the basher: Young hadn't had a hit since Sept. 23, 2012, until he chopped a two-run single into center field off Garza in the fourth inning. That opened the game up at 4-0. Young wasn't finished. He then reached out and blooped a single to right in the sixth that scored Omar Infante and the Royals led 5-0. Young became the first Royals pitcher to collect at least three RBIs in a game since Steve Busby did it against the Angels in 1972. More >
Video: KC@MIL: Young lines an RBI single to right
Yet manager Ned Yost pinch-hit Jarrod Dyson for Young in the eighth.
"When we pinch-hit for him in the eighth he said, "I don't see anyone else with two hits and three RBIs,'" Yost said. "I said, 'You got a point.' But Dyson was upset that C.Y. overtook him in RBIs so Dyson wanted to get an RBI on his own."
Dyson then tripled in a run.
Video: KC@MIL: Dyson lines an RBI triple to right-center
"Dyson came in and made Ned look good," Young joked. "I have no power in my bat."
Moose bomb: Mike Moustakas singled and scored in the first, singled in the second, and then rocked a line-drive homer to right in the seventh. That was his sixth homer of the season and it gave the Royals a 6-0 lead.
Video: KC@MIL: Moustakas hammers a solo homer
Denied: One of the few clear scoring opportunities the Brewers had came in the third inning after Gerardo Parra reached on a bunt single in front of a shifted defense that moved Garza to second with two out. Jonathan Lucroy followed with a deep drive that Cain snagged leaping into the right-center-field wall.
Video: KC@MIL: Cain makes a leaping catch, crashes into wall
On the board: The Brewers scraped their first run across in the eighth against Kelvin Herrera. Pinch-hitter Hernan Perez and Parra opened up the frame with back-to-back singles and Lucroy followed with another to score Perez. Scooter Gennett added a run in the ninth with a solo shot to right field off Luke Hochevar.
Video: KC@MIL: Lucroy lines an RBI single to right
ROYALS WIN CHALLENGE, AGAIN
In the first inning on Monday night, the Royals won a challenge that led to three runs. On Tuesday, Yost challenged an out call on Cain on a potential double-play ball in the third. The call was overturned and Cain was ruled safe at first. The Royals, though, this time didn't take advantage.
Video: KC@MIL: Force play overturned in 3rd inning
WHAT'S NEXT
Royals: Right-hander Joe Blanton will make the spot start on Wednesday at 7:10 p.m. CT for the opener of a two-game Interleague set at Kauffman Stadium. Blanton makes his first big-league start since July 22, 2013, when he pitched for the Angels. He has a 1.80 ERA this season.
Brewers: Mike Fiers gets the call for the opener in Kansas City on Wednesday. The right-hander has been better on the road this season, posting a 2-2 record with a 2.46 ERA in six starts away from Miller Park. He's never faced the Royals.
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