On the Camden Yards mound Wednesday evening, Royals reliever Kevin McCarthy went down easy.
He didn’t have much time to waste. Orioles designated hitter Mark Trumbo's bat had connected with a mistake — a 93 mph fastball left up and over the plate. Trumbo sent the pitch screaming up the middle of the field.
McCarthy droppped to the ground, his glove up in self-defense, as the ball ripped into center field at 107 mph. The two-out single scored two runs and gave the Orioles an eighth-inning lead in the Royals’ 5-3 loss.
A day after clobbering the Orioles with a barrage of 20 hits in a 15-7 win, the Royals were limited by Orioles starting pitcher Andrew Cashner to three runs and six hits, two by Lucas Duda — a two-out, two-run homer to the opposite field that gave the Royals a third-inning lead and an RBI single in the sixth.