KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Had anyone asked Mitchell Parker this afternoon if he would’ve been satisfied with a performance tonight that included only five batters reaching base against him in 5 1/3 innings, the Nationals left-hander probably would’ve embraced that outcome in a heartbeat.
The Royals went just 2-for-17 against Parker in this ballgame. They drew three walks as well, but on paper that shouldn’t have been enough offense.
Alas, it was more than enough. Because on this night, all the home team needed to do was reach base to guarantee runs on the scoreboard, which is how Kansas City emerged with an 8-5 victory over the Nats despite totaling only six hits in the game.
Every single batter who reached against Parker eventually came around to score, making for an odd pitching line, but nevertheless a losing one.
The Nationals actually outhit the competition, totaling 10 base knocks. But they weren’t nearly as efficient, shut down for four innings by Royals starter Michael Wacha before making a late push the rest of the way once they were already trailing by a wide margin.
Because of that, Parker saw his record fall to 5-13 (the second-most losses in the majors this season) and his ERA rise to 5.55 (the second highest mark among all qualified major league starters this season) after a third consecutive rough outing, though this one had its own quirks to it.
For a guy whose first-inning issues have been well known, Parker got himself in trouble right from the get-go tonight, issuing a five-pitch walk to Royals leadoff hitter Maikel Garcia. That would prove costly, even though Parker didn’t give up another hit in the inning. Kansas City still managed to take a 1-0 lead when Garcia (running on the pitch) went first to third on Bobby Witt Jr.’s slow roller back to the mound, then scored on Vinnie Pasquantino’s sacrifice fly to left.
Parker wouldn’t give up a hit until there were two outs in the third. But that hit (an infield single by Witt) followed another walk of Garcia, which once again proved costly. Because moments later, Pasquantino ambushed a first-pitch fastball and crushed the ball down the right field line and into the first row of seats for a three-run homer and a 4-0 lead.
Those would actually be the only two hits and the only two walks allowed by Parker through five innings. The bottom six members of the Royals lineup went a combined 0-for-12 against him. He got some help from his defense, especially from center fielder Robert Hassell III, who robbed Randal Grichuk of a home run and also made a diving catch of Nick Loftin’s sinking liner.
But it didn’t matter how many batters reached against Parker or the Nationals bullpen. Reaching base was good enough to produce runs on the scoreboard tonight. That also applied to Konnor Pilkington, who replaced Parker with one out in the sixth and allowed one inherited runner to score, plus two more on Jonathan India’s home run to left.
The India blast left the Nats staring at a 7-2 hole. They tried to make an attempt at a comeback, having already scored one run in the fifth on Luis García Jr.’s RBI triple and in the sixth when Witt surprisingly dropped a popup in shallow center field that allowed CJ Abrams to score.
James Wood’s 118-mph RBI double to left – the hardest-hit ball of his career – drove home Hassell with two outs in the seventh. Wood then scored on Abrams’ RBI single to right, bringing the Nationals to within 7-4.
But that’s as close as they would get, with the Royals scoring a tack-on run off Orlando Ribalta in the seventh before finally stranding a runner on base for the first time all night.