The Royals fell behind in the first inning and a punchless offense never allowed them to catch up.
In the end, Kansas City dropped the first game of the best-of-five American League Division Series at home to the Houston Astros, 5-2.
“It’s a five-game series,” said Royals manager Ned Yost. “It’s not a death-sentence to lose Game 1.”
Royals starter Yordano Ventura surrendered two runs in the first inning and another one in the second, leaving the Royals to enter a 49-minute rain delay down 3-1. Ventura did not return after the showers.
Meanwhile, Astros starter Collin McHugh looked sharp both before and after the delay in his six strong innings, largely shutting down all but one Royal: designated hitter Kendrys Morales who scored and knocked in the only Kansas City runs with two solo homeruns.
The 40,146 fans didn’t have much to cheer, but were plenty loud whenever Royals reliever Chris Young notched one of his seven strikeouts over four innings in relief of Ventura.
“Never lose faith,” said fan Evan Reardon of Lawrence. “We saw what happened last year. We’re going home sad tonight, tomorrow night we’re going home happy.”
Though the sell-out crowd left Kauffman Stadium unhappy, Royals fans need not dwell on the loss for long. The Royals and Astros square off again on Friday afternoon at 2:45.
Jeremy Bernfeld is the editor of Harvest Public Media, based at KCUR 89.3. Find him on Twitter @JeremyHPM.
