Heading into Thursday night’s matchup, both fanbases were in for a pitcher’s duel. Carlos Hernandez was 5-1 going into the game and looking to improve on an impressive season while John Means was looking to build momentum for 2022 as he finishes out his stellar 2021 campaign.
Nicky Lopez would hit a solo home run in the top of the 1st inning to give the Royals an early lead, his 2nd home run of the year. The home run by Lopez would be the only run of the game until the 8th inning, as Kansas City clung to a 1-0 lead. Hernandez pitched 6 innings of shutout ball while giving up just three hits and three walks. Means would pitch into the 8th inning until Nicky Lopez knocked in a run to extend the Royals lead to 2-0 and knock Means out of the game. Kansas City would add three runs in the top of the 8th to put the game out of reach. Andrew Benintendi would later drive in a run of his own to make it a 3-0 ballgame. Carlos Santana grounded out in the 8th inning to give the Royals a 4-0 lead and Brian Dozier added a 2-run home run to extend the lead to 6-0, 6-0 would be the final score.
Hernandez would get the win for the Royals as he improves to 6-1 on the season and lowers his ERA to 3.29. John Means takes the loss despite the stellar pitching performance, Means drops to 5-7 with the loss and lowers his ERA to 3.42
Next, up for the Orioles, they welcome Toronto into town for a four-game series including a doubleheader on Saturday.
