[ad_1]
About six weeks after joining the Royals, right-hander Jorge Lopez almost inscribed his name in the history book.
Lopez, which was acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers as part of Mike Moustakas trade, had a perfect match in the ninth inning of Saturday's game before losing the 4-1 win against the Twins in Minneapolis.
Twins right base player Max Kepler opened the ninth with a walk. Robbie Grossman then lined a ball on Lopez's glove for a single in the center. Wily Peralta then won the last three outings, including a sacrifice flight for the only race in Minnesota.
In a season that could be the worst in terms of victories and defeats for the Royals, Lopez provided a brief respite as fans were stuck to their television on Saturday night, usually dominated by college football.
"I did not have my best stuff, but they were there behind me and it was great to watch them," Lopez told the Fox Sports Kansas City team.
Goldberg was incredulous and replied, "It was not your best thing?"
"Well," said Lopez, "I did not feel my best stuff, you know, but as a pitcher, you know, you keep attacking the batters and trying to do everything you can do .
Lopez, 25, was indeed helped by his defense, especially in the fourth inning, when right-wing defender Jorge Bonifacio returned to the wall and launched an online attack at the bat of Jorge Polanco. In the sixth inning, Ehire Adrianza hit a ball to the left field left by Alex Gordon.
"The one that really caught my eye and I started to think" it could be one of those nights, "was in the sixth inning when that ball hit the hole that Gordon did the game "said manager Ned Yost. on FSKC after the match. "(Brian center field player) Goodwin never saw the ball, Gordy saw the ball, looked at Goodwin and looked back and could not find the ball. So, it was like I'm just going to run and hope to find him and he did and did the catch.
"When he said that to me, I said to myself, 'OK, it could be one of those nights.'
The Royals shortstop, Adalberto Mondesi, made some great plays, one in seventh and eighth, to keep the match perfect.
Yost told FSKC that he had never succeeded in a match where there was a non-hitter for his team and that he felt very badly in the dugout. Receiver Salvador Perez, however, kept his usual jovial manners.
"Salvy was smiling and easygoing and I asked Salvy," how did you feel so easygoing and calm, "he told FSKC." It was just his own natural self until the eighth round and he looked up and saw no shots. "
This was not the case with second baseman Whit Merrifield.
"I'm always aware of this very early because I've always wanted to play one," Merrifield told FSKC. Merrifield added that no one was talking about the perfect game in the dugout.
At first, it did not seem like Lopez would make his manager so nervous. Lopez needed 19 shots to finish the first run as all three of the Twins hit three balls.
But Lopez regained his pace after that and withdrew the first 24 twins that he faced. Lopez's effort was historic in a sense: it was the first time a Royals starter had a perfect match in the ninth inning.
"I did not know it," Lopez told FSKC. "It's an honor God has put in this situation now." This is for my family, Puerto Rico and for the Royals.
Lopez was trying to pitch the fifth player without a story in the Royals' history. Steve Busby made it in 1973 (in Detroit) and in 1974 (in Milwaukee), Jim Colborn did not hit the Rangers at Royals Stadium in 1977, and Bret Saberhagen pitched a goalless draw against White Sox in Kansas City in 1991.
Royals third-baseman Hunter Dozier of RBI, in the sixth round of Saturday's match, broke a draw without a mark. A round later, Merrifield had a RBI single, Mondesi doubled home and Gordon's singles scored 4-0.
At that time, there were only zeros on the board for the Twins. Unfortunately for Lopez, it was not like that, but it's a night he probably will not forget.
[ad_2]
Source link
