Barlow strands 2 in 9th, Royals beat D-backs 5-4 for 6th win

By JACK THOMPSON
Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — Scott Barlow got Christian Walker to hit into a game-ending groundout with runners on second and third, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4 on Tuesday night for just their second win in 11 games.

Brady Singer (2-2) rebounded from three poor starts and the Royals tied their season high with 14 hits. Every starter except Franmil Reyes had at least one hit for the Royals. Kansas City is 6-18, including 5-6 on the road but just 1-12 at Kauffman Stadium.

Corbin Carroll was a home run shy of the cycle for Arizona and stole two bases.

After allowing 18 runs over 16 innings in his prior three outings, Singer gave up one run and five hits in six innings and lowered his ERA from 8.14 to 6.67.

“I don’t know if I’ve gotten through a first inning cleanly this year,” Singer said. “I wanted to set the tone early.

“The slider was the difference. (There was) a lot better late break to that pitch. The changeup was really productive too.”

“Really encouraging, obviously nice outing for him but also for the team,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said of Singer. “Those guys present a lot of challenges with their lineup, so I was really happy for him.”

Kansas City opened a 5-2 lead on Anthony Misiewicz’s run-scoring wild pitch in the eighth, but Arizona closed in the bottom half on Emmanuel Rivera’s two-run single off Aroldis Chapman. Rivera moved to second on Bobby Witt Jr.’s throwing error, but Barlow relieved and struck out Gabriel Moreno and Alek Thomas.

“He came in there in a huge spot and got those two strikeouts,” Matt Quatraro said.

Geraldo Perdomo doubled leading off the ninth and took third on a groundout. Carroll walked with two outs and stole second, and Barlow retired Walker for his third save.

Ryne Nelson (1-1) gave up four runs and 11 hits in five innings.

“He was in a little bit of a fistfight all day,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “He was battling the command of his (offspeed pitches); I thought he got into a good rhythm with his fastball.

“We had some opportunities and hit some balls hard, just had nothing to show for it.”

Edward Olivares hit an RBI single in the first and Nicky Lopez doubled the lead with a run-scoring single in the fourth. Walker had an RBI groundout in the bottom half, but Kansas City opened a 4-1 lead in the fifth when Michael Massey hit a run-scoring single and Reyes followed with a sacrifice fly.

Josh Rojas’ sacrifice fly cut Arizona’s deficit to 4-2 in the seventh.

MOVES

Rivera was called up because OF Jake McCarthy was optioned to Triple-A Reno by Arizona after Monday’s game. McCarthy was batting .143 in 22 games after hitting .283 with 23 stolen bases as a rookie last year. “Things just weren’t trending in a positive direction,” Lovullo said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: C MJ Melendez (lower back tightness) is “feeling better,” according to manager Matt Quatraro. Melendez left Sunday’s game against Toronto and sat out Monday. … Quatraro aid LHP Daniel Lynch (rotator cuff strain) had a good bullpen session in nearby Surprise and could make a rehab start in a week.

Diamondbacks: Walker (forearm) returned to the starting lineup after making a pinch hitting appearance Monday.

NEXT

Kansas City LHP Ryan Yarbrough (0-2, 7.62) makes his first start of the season against Arizona ace Zac Gallen (3-1, 2.59) in Wednesday’s series finale. ___

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