The Kansas City Royals will look continue slugging when they seek a second consecutive victory in an interleague series against the visiting Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.
Alex Gordon hit a pair of home runs, his seventh and eighth of the season, and drove in three run in Kansas City’s 5-1 win Friday. Gordon posted his 1,500th career hit and his fifth career multi-homer game.
“It’s always special to be able to play this game a long time and to be able to put up numbers like that,” Gordon said. “I’m just very humbled and very lucky.”
In addition, Kansas City’s Jorge Soler smashed his 10th homer of the season.
The Royals will try to maintain their positive momentum when they hand the ball to Brad Keller (2-3, 3.99 ERA).
In the right-hander’s last start, Sunday at Detroit, he gave up six hits and two runs in 5 1/3 innings during a no-decision in a game the Royals lost 5-2. Keller struck out six and walked five. He struggled with his command in allowing a double and two walks in the sixth inning before being lifted.
“I felt a little bit more in control early on and I just got out of whack in the sixth inning,” Keller told reporters. “Got behind some guys and walked them. Better command early on, I just gotta finish stronger.”
Keller, who is set to start against the Phillies for the first time in his career, can take solace in the fact that the Royals’ bullpen continues to shine.
The bullpen tossed four scoreless, hitless innings on Friday with eight strikeouts. Jake Diekman, a former Phillie, turned in his eighth straight scoreless outing, and Scott Barlow became the first Royal in franchise history to strike out six in two or fewer innings.
The Phillies, who won the final two games of a three-game series at St. Louis earlier this week, looked flat following an off day. They fell to 3-3 in interleague play this season.
Though Philadelphia finished the game 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, there was a bright spot: Bryce Harper reached base safely all four plate appearances with a single and three walks.
After Jake Arrieta allowed four runs and three homers in five-plus innings Friday, the Phillies will look for a stronger start from Zach Eflin.
The right-hander is 4-3 with a 3.00 ERA through seven starts this season. He has lasted at least seven innings in each of his past two outings, yielding a total of one run. This also will be Eflin’s first career start against the Royals.
Last Sunday, Eflin was solid against the Washington Nationals as he went seven innings and gave up four hits and one run while striking out five and walking two in a 7-1 victory.
“It’s locating pitches on a consistent basis, having a game plan, reading hitters, going in and out, up and down,” said Eflin, who tossed a complete game April 28 in a 5-1 win over the Miami Marlins. “I’ve come a long way from someone who chucked the ball up there.”
In the start against Washington, Eflin was the recipient of plenty of offensive punch, and he was more than appreciative.
“You look at our lineup, it’s deadly,” Eflin said. “It’s a lot of fun to be able to pitch behind that.”