HOUSTON – Despite having found a niche as a left-handed bullpen arm for the bulk of the season, Daniel Lynch IV is making a case to be a starter long term.
Getting the best of a leading MVP candidate doesn’t hurt.
Making his eighth start since injuries prompted his move into the Royals’ rotation, Lynch threw five scoreless innings Wednesday night, allowing just two hits in propelling Kansas City to a 5-2 victory over the Houston Astros at Daikin Park.
Lynch, who threw 49 of his 72 pitches for strikes, walked one and struck out three in his third consecutive five-inning outing. He mixed his pitches superbly, throwing 24 changeups, 19 sinkers, 11 four-seamers, nine knuckle curves and nine sliders.
“I was really happy, particularly that I was able to command my four-seam fastball,” Lynch said. “And I felt like it was a good blend between the sinker and the four-seam. I was able to keep them off balance a little bit, and then just mixing in my off-speed stuff, that’s how I’ve had success in the past – just kind of been all over the place with my stuff, not throwing one pitch the majority of the time. Just trying to mix all five of them.”
Of particular note: Early in the game, Lynch twice retired American League MVP front-runner Yordan Alvarez with runners in scoring position.
After the torrid Jeremy Peña began his second consecutive three-hit night with a double to lead off the Houston first, Lynch struck out Alvarez swinging on a slider.
“Great hitter. Everyone’s aware of it,” Lynch said of Alvarez. “You’re not going to get him out by nibbling or trying to make perfect pitches. You’ve just got to go right after him and try to make your best pitches. I was able to do that there. You don’t want to give up a leadoff double, but to be able to fight out of that was big.”
Lynch didn’t allow another baserunner until Jorge Barrosa’s one-out walk in the third. Peña followed with a single, but Lynch got Alvarez to turn a 93.2-mph sinker into a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat.
“I’m going to throw my sinker and my slider to lefties,” Lynch said. “It’s kind of been my approach all season. I have a lot of confidence in it. Obviously, that’s one of, if not the best, hitters on the planet, but in this league you’ve got to go with your strengths, and I was able to get him to hit a ground ball.”
John Rave gave Lynch his first cushion with a two-run homer in the fourth, and the 6-foot-6 lefty finished his outing by retiring the Astros in order in the fourth and fifth.
Royals manager Matt Quatraro praised Lynch’s efficiency.
“It was a 19-pitch first, and he ended up in the low 70s after five innings,” Quatraro noted. “He attacked them, and they couldn’t square him up.”
Lynch, who posted a 1.96 ERA in 46 innings as a reliever this year, now has a 5.28 ERA in 30 2/3 innings as a starter, putting his overall ERA at 3.29.
Quatraro said he was slightly tempted to give Lynch a sixth inning for the first time this season. But Lynch was a little under the weather, so the manager decided a fresh bullpen was the best course of action, and five relievers covered the last four innings.
The Royals, who also got a solo homer from Michael Massey and RBI double from Carter Jensen, were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention when Cleveland won Tuesday afternoon. But Rave said his team is intent on finishing strong over its last 10 games.
“We might not be in the race, but we’re going to try to knock some people out on the way,” Rave said.
To that end, the Royals pushed the Astros back into a first-place tie in the AL West with Texas, which beat Boston.