KANSAS CITY -- Every time Daniel Lynch steps on the mound for the Royals, he walks off having learned something new -- even if the start didn’t go exactly how he wanted.
The young lefty allowed three runs in 4 2/3 innings in Tuesday’s 8-4 win over the Yankees, needing 100 pitches to grind through an outing that included four walks and six strikeouts.
Lynch emphasized the heat wasn’t an excuse, but he did learn what it’s like to pitch in 93-degree weather -- with a 100-degree heat index -- against a powerful New York lineup. From the first inning, he was breathing heavily and noticed a slippery ball because of the sweat and humidity.
“I knew I was going to have to grind a little bit when it was hot,” Lynch said. “I knew after that first inning, I wasn’t really feeling my best. … I’m not typically a big sweater, like I don’t sweat very much. But [on Tuesday], the ball was getting wet, but I mean, I can’t control the weather. I can’t tell them to turn the weather down. So you got to figure out a way to grind and make pitches. Everyone has to deal with it. I don’t want that to be an excuse, because it was hot.
“There are things that I can do to prepare a little bit better that I learned [Tuesday] that will be good moving forward.”
The positives were there for Lynch, though. It started in the first inning. After walking Giancarlo Stanton, Lynch caught a couple of corners against Aaron Judge before setting him up with a low, outside changeup. Then, in a 2-2 count, catcher Salvador Perez set up for a fastball inside, but Lynch left the four-seamer up and outside. Still, Judge swung away on the high heater and whiffed.
Against Joey Gallo, Lynch was aggressive with two outs and the lefty-on-lefty matchup, but he fell behind 3-0 on pitches away. Then, he threw five straight fastballs -- two went for called strikes three were fouled off -- before throwing a perfectly placed slider that locked up Gallo for the third out.
“They took some swings where I didn’t really want the pitch to be at, and they swung at, so I got kind of lucky,” Lynch said. “I didn’t feel my best, but I felt like I hung in there and gave us a chance. Felt like there was two sides there.”
Lynch had a well-executed second inning before facing trouble in the third and fourth, including a costly walk to Rougned Odor that set up Kyle Higashioka’s home run. But there were still plenty of things that showed promise for future starts. He got six whiffs on 12 swings against his slider and he finished with a 40% whiff rate. The biggest sign of maturation was that he kept the Royals in the game despite not having pinpoint command.
As starters like Lynch and Carlos Hernández, who allowed one run in 6 2/3 innings on Monday, establish themselves in the rotation, the Royals will send out a six-man rotation for the foreseeable future with the return of Brady Singer on Wednesday. Kansas City didn’t want to interrupt the roll the starters have been on, so they will have Hernández, Lynch, Singer, Mike Minor, Brad Keller and Kris Bubic in the rotation, if everyone stays healthy. The extra day of rest will benefit each pitcher, especially the young pitchers who are experiencing their first 162-game season after the shortened campaign last year.
“Guys like Mike Minor, it’s going to be a bit of an adjustment,” manager Mike Matheny said. “This is a guy that’s used to being on the mound as often as he can. But the younger guys, I think they understand we’re doing this for their sake, and we think it’s going to make them better in the long run.”
Day off for Santana
Carlos Santana was one of two Royals to have played in every game this season, joining Whit Merrifield, but that streak came to an end after 112 games. Santana got his first day out of the starting lineup on Wednesday against the Yankees to give him two in a row with Thursday’s off-day on deck.
The Royals first baseman is mired in an 0-for-12 drought and was just 5-for-32 on the last road trip, which spanned nine games.
“He’s really disciplined and regimented with what he’s doing away from the field and constantly having his body worked on,” Matheny said. “This guy is pretty impressive with how he goes about his daily life to prepare him to show up in the lineup every day. But everybody is going to go through those times where they just need a day. Today was one of those for Carlos.”