Lynch strikes out 6 in spot start but Royals lose lead, fall in extras

KANSAS CITY – Thirty-four pitches in the first inning isn’t the ideal way to start an outing. But 40 pitches in the next four?

Daniel Lynch IV couldn’t have scripted it better. The lefty starter did everything the Royals asked for in his spot start on Sunday afternoon, authoring five shutout innings in his 2024 season debut with Kansas City.

Unfortunately for the Royals, the rest of Sunday’s game didn’t go as scripted. Their two best relievers gave up three runs in the final three innings and missed offensive opportunities loomed large in their 3-2 loss in 10 innings to the Rangers at Kauffman Stadium, dropping the series to defending World Series champions following an hour and 22 minute rain delay.

Up by two in the eighth inning, reliever John Schreiber allowed just the second run scored against him all year to cut the Royals’ lead in half. And in the bottom of the frame, the Royals didn’t capitalize on pinch-runner Dairon Blanco’s two stolen bases, which put a runner on third with less than two outs.

Salvador Perez -- whose 30 RBIs lead the American League -- struck out swinging, and Michael Massey fouled out to left field. The Royals left eight on base and were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position on Sunday.

“A lot will be made of the last couple innings, but we didn’t do a lot to expand in the middle innings,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “... I’ll take my chances every day of the week with Salvy up and Blanco on second or third. Just didn’t get it done today, but he’s driven in a lot of runs for us.”

Quatraro continued: “It doesn’t fluster me or whatever. It’s baseball. Very few people go through a year getting every save or every hold, coming up with every RBI. Sometimes you’re going to lose. Today is one of those days.”

In the ninth, Rangers catcher Jonah Heim hit a game-tying home run on a first-pitch hanging slider from Royals closer James McArthur, and McArthur allowed the go-ahead run to score in the 10th for his second blown save of the year in nine opportunities.

“Never want to let the team down, especially late in the game like that,” McArthur said. “Really frustrating for me.”

The Royals were cruising toward another tight win because of Lynch’s efforts and settling in after a rocky first inning. After issuing a two-out walk to Heim in the first, pitching coach Brian Sweeney came to the mound to give Lynch a rest.

Lynch responding by retiring 13 of the final 14 batters he faced, needing just 40 pitches over the next four innings and finishing his day with six strikeouts.

“I’ve had good outings in the big leagues, I’ve had bad outings in the big leagues,” Lynch said. “I want to keep having good, consistent ones. This was an opportunity to go and pitch well. I didn’t really feel like I needed to prove anything. I just wanted to go out there and pitch well because I know I can. Take the things I’ve been working on to keep moving forward.”

In need of a starter on Sunday with Alec Marsh (right elbow contusion) still on the 15-day injured list and making his rehab start with Triple-A Omaha – he tossed four scoreless innings with six strikeouts – the Royals called up Lynch for his season debut. The 27-year-old didn’t win a rotation job out of Spring Training this year, but the Royals knew they would need to lean on him throughout the season.

He showed that reliability Sunday.

A big focus for Lynch in Triple-A was getting his slider back as a more traditional breaking ball instead of having cutter tendencies. The improvement showed Sunday when the Rangers didn’t put that pitch in play, swung six times on it and whiffed four.

“Made an adjustment on the grip, and I think it’s going to give me the best chance to locate it well and get the movement I want,” Lynch said. “I think it opens it up as a weapon, and it doesn’t make it so I have to be so perfect with it.”

Lynch might not make another start in the big leagues soon, as Marsh is expected back when this turn in the rotation comes up again this week. But Lynch did show he can be counted on, and there’s value in that.

“We’re going to need a lot of guys to get through the whole year,” Quatraro said. “Depth is really important. … [Lynch] put us in a really good position to win. He did exactly everything he could control. That’s all you can ask for.”