Orioles blast two grand slams in 10-run eighth to sink Royals 14-8
BALTIMORE -- The Royals have added their name to an exclusive: Most grand slams allowed in one inning (2).
Kansas City yielded two slams in the eighth inning Friday night and lost to the Baltimore Orioles 14-8, their eighth defeat in 11 games.
The Royals led 6-4 before becoming the seventh team in the modern era to yield two grand slams in the same inning, according to STATS.
After Nolan Reimold connected with the bases loaded off Kelvin Herrera (4-3), Manny Machado followed with a solo shot off Franklin Morales. Adam Jones singled before Morales hit Chris Davis in the back with a pitch.
Davis slammed down his bat, breaking it in two, as Baltimore manager Buck Showalter sprinted out of the dugout.
No one else emerged from either dugout during the potentially volatile situation, although Davis glared at Morales while taking his base.
"We hit a grand slam, another home run, a couple rockets," Davis said. "It just didn't look right, regardless of whether it was on purpose or not."
Showalter thought it was, and was ejected for arguing that point.
Royals manager Ned Yost insisted that Morales was not throwing at Davis.
"You're going to react like that because it does hurt," Yost said. "But that pitch wasn't on purpose. There was a lot of hullabaloo after that. But it wasn't on purpose."
Morales lasted one more batter before being replaced by Joba Chamberlain, who yielded a grand slam to Steve Clevenger. Clevenger entered the game earlier in the inning as a pinch hitter.
"It went awry quick, for sure, yeah," Yost said.
Baltimore improved to 3-62 when trailing after seven innings. Kansas City is now 63-3 when leading after seven.
Lorenzo Cain hit two solo homers and Alex Rios also connected with the bases empty for the Royals, who have lost six of seven.
"You go through stretches like this," Cain said. "We can't let it worry us. We understand we're a good ballclub. We've just got to find a way to bounce back."
Said Yost: "They'll work it out. They don't need a speech. I'm surprised we haven't gone through a week like this yet. We haven't. All year long."
The Orioles' three-game winning streak comes on the heels of a stretch in which they lost 15 of 18.
Mychal Givens (2-0) got the win despite giving up two runs in the ninth. Fellow rookie Dariel Alvarez hit his first big league homer for Baltimore.
It was the Royals' first visit to Baltimore since last October, when they opened the AL Championship Series with two straight wins at Camden Yards and completed the four-game sweep at home.
While first-place Kansas City appears poised for a return trip to the postseason, the defending AL East champion Orioles started play Friday trailing six teams for the league's final wild-card spot. Baltimore must win 13 of its last 22 games just to finish .500.
The Royals' early 3-0 lead dwindled to 4-3 before Rios led off the seventh with a drive off Brad Brach -- his first home run since July 17. Davis countered in the bottom half with a run-scoring single to increase his RBI total to 105.
Salvador Perez restored the two-run cushion with an RBI single in the eighth, setting the stage for Baltimore's grand comeback.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Royals: Reliever Wade Davis was unavailable because of shoulder stiffness.
Orioles: Jones returned to the Baltimore lineup after missing two games with a sore right shoulder. He struck out three times. ... Catcher Matt Wieters remained sidelined with a sore left wrist but hopes to return Saturday.
UP NEXT
Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura (10-8, 4.34 ERA) and RHP Johnny Cueto traded places in the rotation. Ventura will start Saturday afternoon and Cueto under the lights Sunday because he prefers to pitch at night, Yost said.
Orioles: Chris Tillman (9-11, 5.15) owns a lifetime ERA of 6.17 against the Royals. The right-hander gave up four runs over six innings in a loss to the Royals on Aug. 27.
