SAN DIEGO -- All Aroldis Chapman could do was chuckle as he walked off the mound. After walking three batters, the bases-loaded, 96 mph pitch he threw to the backstop had just bounced perfectly back to catcher Salvador Perez to get the out at home.
A jam escaped in the weirdest of ways sums up a series the Royals won in San Diego after Wednesday’s 4-3 victory over the Padres at Petco Park.
But a win, however wonky, is a win.
“Especially after going to Milwaukee and getting swept, I think it’d be really easy to fall asleep and just kind of not lock in for the rest of the series,” Vinnie Pasquantino said. “That was a really resilient job to lock in for these three games, especially after losing night one.”
Here are three takeaways from the Royals’ first rubber-match win of the season:
1. Pasquantino homers out of slump
Pasquantino is perhaps the Royals’ most consistent hitter, so any slump is noticeable. He entered the sixth inning Wednesday just 2-for-25 in the last seven games and first two at-bats of Wednesday’s matchup against Padres starter Yu Darvish.
But after Bobby Witt Jr. walked to lead off the sixth, Darvish hung a slider to Pasquantino, who launched it over the right-field wall. It put the Royals up two and catapulted Kansas City to a big inning. MJ Melendez and Maikel Garcia hit back-to-back doubles that gave the Royals their fourth run -- one that proved to be crucial later on.
“I try not to think about numbers too much,” Pasquantino said. “But when the numbers were what they were in the past few games, it kind of starts to wear on you. So being able to break through, not necessarily to get the hit but to put the team up, that’s what I’ve been looking for.”
Pasquantino is an important part of the Royals’ core moving forward. To see him handle ups and downs with an even-keeled attitude shows the Royals more about what kind of hitter and leader he can be in the future.
“Even if the numbers aren’t there, I still feel solid about the at-bats I’ve had the past few days,” Pasquantino said. “The results weren’t there, so obviously something’s going on. There’s a little bit more deep diving in times like that.”
2. Bullpen is “battle-tested”
The Royals threw a bullpen game against a Padres lineup looking to break out of their offensive slump, but key pitches put the Royals on top. Carlos Hernández was electric in two scoreless innings to open the game for Mike Mayers, who worked around four walks in his first two innings before giving up a game-tying homer in the fifth.
Like Tuesday’s win, the Royals turned to Chapman in the seventh, Taylor Clarke in the eighth and Scott Barlow in the ninth for his sixth save of the season. It wasn’t as smooth as Tuesday; Chapman couldn’t find the zone and was offered a break when the fastball he sailed turned into an out at home.
“Getting out of it is exactly what we did in the seventh,” manager Matt Quatraro said.
But as the Royals search for starting depth, the bullpen has picked up the pieces. Over the last 11 games, relievers have allowed 15 runs in 51 1/3 innings for a 2.63 ERA (including Hernández’s start Wednesday).
Clarke hasn’t allowed a run in 7 1/3 innings, and Barlow hasn’t allowed a run in 10 2/3 innings.
“Battle tested, coming back from the first day,” Clarke said. “We just kind of passed the torch and everybody is just trying to do their job. It speaks a lot to the guys we have in the bullpen, the pitching staff in general, to be resilient and whoever’s in the box, just make pitches no matter what.”
3. As luck would have it
There are several things the Royals must clean up to use this series as a momentum-builder. Kansas City pitchers issued nine walks Wednesday. Sloppy defense nearly handed the Padres the game.
After Josh Taylor struck out Soto to end the fifth, the lefty reliever walked Matt Carpenter to lead off the sixth, forgot to cover first base on Rougned Odor’s single and then recorded a run-scoring balk.
Then, Witt and second baseman Michael Massey didn’t communicate on Xander Bogaerts' single up the middle. The miscue cut the Padres deficit to one with two outs.
“We know that’s something that’s not sustainable,” Quatraro said. “Eventually, that’s going to break. You keep putting guys on base for free, you’re going to give up runs.”