KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals hadn’t mustered much for the better part of six innings, but they scratched out a run with two outs in the sixth and suddenly the floodgates opened.
The Royals scored seven runs in a three-inning span to earn their third consecutive win, a 7-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels in front of an announced 16,616 in the first game of a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium on Monday night.
The Royals pitching staff recorded their sixth shutout of the season.
Royals center fielder Michael A. Taylor went 2 for 4 and drove in three runs, all with two outs, while left fielder Andrew Benintendi went 3 for 5 with a stolen base, a bunt single and two runs scored.
Rookie designated hitter Vinnie Pasquantino (2 for 4, walk) also had two hits for the Royals (39-57) as did second baseman Whit Merrifield, who became the 16th Royals player to score 500 runs in his career.
Royals starting pitcher Zack Greinke pitched five scoreless innings and held the Angels to four hits and one walk. He struck out five. He did not factor into the decision. The score remained 0-0 when he left the game.
In the third inning, Greinke struck out Brandon Marsh to start the frame and then struck out the next batter, Andrew Velazquez.
The Marsh strikeout gave Greinke 2,855 career strikeouts and tied him with Jim Bunning for 20th place on MLB’s all-time leaderboard. The Velazquez strikeout gave Greinke sole possession of 20th place.
