Houston Astros vs Kansas City Royals Match Player Stats On Jun 07, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Jun 7, 2017

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Cheslor Cuthbert and Alcides Escobar combined to drive in five runs as the Kansas City Royals held off the Houston Astros 7-5 on Wednesday night.

Cuthbert, Escobar, Ramon Torres and Salvador Perez had two hits apiece for Kansas City.

The Astros scored three runs (two unearned) in the eighth inning to cut into the Royals' five-run advantage.

Kansas City left-hander Scott Alexander, who was just activated off the disabled list, gave up three hits and one run while retiring only two batters in the eighth.

Escobar committed an error with the bases loaded to allow two unearned runs to score.

Kelvin Herrera worked around a Brian McCann single in the ninth to pick up his 13th save. McCann had four of the Astros' 11 hits, including a home run.

With Dallas Keuchel a game-time scratch, the Astros replaced him with Dayan Diaz, who was just called up from the minors. The Astros announced Keuchel, who is 9-0 with a major-league-best 1.67 ERA, had an illness after he went out to warm up.

The Royals got two runs in the second inning. Perez singled and scored from first on a Cuthbert double to left. Escobar added a RBI single.

Lorenzo Cain homered to straightaway center in the third to finish Diaz's first big league start. Diaz allowed three runs and four hits and struck out three in 2 2/3 innings.

Left-hander Tony Sipp relieved Diaz and yielded two runs in the fourth. Perez led off the inning with a double and scored on Escobar's two-out single. Torres doubled down the right field line to score Escobar. It was Torres' first big league hit and RBI in his second at-bat.

The Royals pushed their lead to 7-2 in the fifth with Cuthbert's two-out, opposite-field single, scoring Jorge Bonifacio and Cain.

Royals starter Jason Vargas (8-3) was removed after 89 pitches and five innings. He allowed two runs and six hits, including a McCann home run in the second.

Vargas walked one, hit a batter and struck out five. His ERA went from 2.08 to 2.18.

McCann's fourth-inning single scored Carlos Beltran with the other Astros run off Vargas.

NOTES: The Royals promoted INF Ramon Torres, who was hitting .327 with Triple-A Omaha, and started him at second base in his big league debut. They also activated LHP Scott Alexander from the disabled list after he recovered from a right hamstring strain. ... The Royals optioned RHP Kevin McCarthy and OF Billy Burns to the Storm Chasers. ... The Astros recalled RHP Dayan Diaz from Triple-A Fresno and optioned LHP Reymin Guduan to the Pacific Coast League affiliate. ... Astros RHP Lance McCullers and Royals RHP Jason Hammel are the Thursday probables for the finale of a four-game series.