SAN DIEGO — Kansas City Royals rookie Eric Skoglund learned a valuable lesson in his last start, just the second of his big-league career: Pitching from behind is no way to succeed.
“Up here, you have to get ahead in the count,” he said. “You have to throw first-pitch strikes.”
He didn’t do it often enough Sunday against the Indians. The lanky left-hander gave up two two-run doubles in a rain-shortened outing in which he faced just 11 batters and lasted two innings.
“I made some mistakes on pitches up that you won’t get away with up here,” Skoglund said.