Marsh 'set the tone' for Royals in first career win as a starter

BALTIMORE -- Alec Marsh notched his first career win as a starter, subduing the vaunted Orioles bats over a career-high seven innings of two-hit ball as Kansas City evened the series with a 4-1 victory on a chilly and wet night at Camden Yards.

"It was good,” Marsh said. “I was excited. I feel I do a lot better in cold and rainy because I grew up in Wisconsin. I was just really excited for this one, sitting around for five, six days watching everyone do their thing and pitch. It was definitely a lot of nerves and excitement before the game. I just wanted to get out there. I thought it went really good, as good as it could go. The stuff was really good.”

Marsh was in the zone all night, allowing only two doubles on 76 pitches, 54 for strikes.

"Good fastball, curveball had a lot of depth on it,” said Orioles right fielder Ryan O’Hearn. “It was just one of those nights. I feel like we had a lot of balls hit hard right at guys. Sometimes, it happens that way."

It was the Royals' first win in six tries in Baltimore dating back to the first game of a doubleheader on May 8, 2022. The Royals held the Orioles to three hits. Will Smith notched his first save of the season with a clean ninth inning.

"It was outstanding," manager Matt Quatraro said of Marsh’s start. "I mean, that's adverse conditions to pitch in against a really good lineup and he did nothing but attack right from the get go. They hit some balls hard that we were fortunate enough to be in the right spot and made some nice plays. But, overall, I think he set the tone.”

Maikel Garcia went 2-for-4 with a double, a triple, a walk and three RBIs to highlight the offense early. His two-run double capped a three-run rally in the second inning off Orioles starter Cole Irvin. He has three extra-base hits in the series. Garcia’s RBI triple made it 4-1 in the fourth.

"[Irvin] mixed the changeup and the fastball,” Garcia said. “So he comes with the fastball again, I just tried to hit the ball hard and [I was] glad to hit that triple."

Nick Loftin went 2-for-2 with two runs scored, including a key RBI single that started the rally, a night after the Royals struggled to get runners home from scoring position.

"It's baseball,” Loftin said. “It's a game of failure but it's also a game of opportunity. I was able to make the most of my opportunity today. Very thankful I was able to come through early in the game and keep the bats rolling for the boys. We came out with a good win."

In his season debut as the fifth starter, Marsh mixed his pitches well. He fired his four-seam fastball and two sweepers to strike out leadoff hitter Gunnar Henderson, setting the tone. Marsh dispatched the first six batters faced before allowing back-to-back doubles to Jordan Westburg and Colton Cowser in the third. Marsh wriggled out of trouble with his 88.5 mph changeup that Adley Rutschman lined to Loftin to end the frame.

“For me personally I wanted to go out there and win,” Marsh said. “Regardless of who it is, it's good playoff team, good roster, for sure, but I want us to go to the playoffs too. Just going out there and taking anybody on and trying to get outs is what I'm here to do and I thought we did that tonight."