Mahle allowed three hits while working into the seventh, Adam Duvall hit a ninth-inning grand slam and the Cincinnati Reds beat the skidding Royals 7-0 on Wednesday night.
Mahle (5-6) allowed only one runner to touch second base in 6 1/3 innings, matching his career longest start. He is 2-0 in June, allowing two earned runs and 14 hits in 16 1/3 innings.
”I was able to make big pitches, get weak contact and guys were able to make plays behind me, and I was able to hold them off long enough for us to score some runs,” Mahle said.
The Royals have lost nine of 10 and have dropped 23 of 33 home games. They have scored 11 runs in their last eight games and 23 in 12 June games. They have scored one run in the past 25 innings.
”We’ve got to be better than that,” losing pitcher Jason Hammel said. ”This losing is getting old.”
Kansas City is hitting .147 this month with runners in scoring position, including 1 for 25 in the past six games.
Duvall greeted rookie reliever Jason Adam with his second grand slam in two weeks Justin Layne Jersey , driving a 2-2 pitch over the left-center wall.
”He threw me a couple of curveballs earlier in that at-bat, but I knew he liked his heater,” Duvall said. ”That’s what I was looking for there. It’s a good feeling to come in here and win two.”
Hammel (2-7) allowed three runs on seven hits over 7 1/3 innings. The Royals committed three errors, including two in the seventh helping the Reds score two runs.
”I know guys are not trying to kick the ball, not try to misplay it, but at this level those things affect the outcome,” Hammel said. ”That’s the game in a nutshell.”
Alex Gordon, a five-time American League Gold Glove winner, made two defensive gems in the sixth inning. Curt Casali singled off the left-field bullpen fence and tried to stretch it into a double. Gordon threw him out from the warning track for his fifth outfield assist this season and the 85th of his career.
”The first thing that went through my mind, is no wonder he’s a gold, platinum glove winner,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. ”He’s just so fantastic out there.”
Salvador Perez and Hunter Dozier grounded into double plays to end the first two Royals innings.
Mahle retired 12 of the next 13 batters he faced after Gordon walked in the second inning.
The Royals didn’t have a runner touch second base until Whit Merrifield doubled with two out in the sixth.
STREAKING REDS
Scooter Gennett had two singles, extending his hitting streak to 10 games. … Jose Peraza has reached base in 15 consecutive games. … Reliever Jared Hughes, who pitched a scoreless inning, has not allowed a run in 15 straight appearances.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Royals: 1B Lucas Duda (right foot plantar fasciitis) is doing on-the-field activity. Yost said he is hopeful Duda will go out on a minor league rehab assignment this weekend.
UP NEXT
Reds: They are off Thursday before RHP Matt Harvey will start Friday in Pittsburgh.
Royals: After an off-day Thursday, the Royals will open a three-game home series Friday with the Houston Astros. RHP Jakob Junis will be the KC starter for the opener.
SAN FRANCISCO — Right-hander Jack Flaherty returns to the scene of his major league debut last September when he closes out a four-game series for the St. Louis Cardinals against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday afternoon.
Flaherty (3-4, 3.19 ERA) will attempt not only to give the Cardinals a 3-1 win in the four-game series but to reward manager Mike Matheny with his fifth series win in seven return visits to San Francisco Zach Gentry Jersey , where he played the final two years of his career.
Matheny has never lost a series as a manager in San Francisco, winning four and tying the other two. He is assured of at least a tie in this one as well, with the Cardinals having posted 11-2 and 3-2 wins sandwiching a 3-2 loss on Friday night.
Flaherty was just 21 years old when he debuted for the Cardinals last Sept. 1 in an 11-6 win in San Francisco.
He did not get credit for the win, going only four innings, during which he was roughed up for five runs and eight hits. He’s thus 0-0 with an 11.25 ERA against the Giants.
Brandon Crawford doubled and homered against Flaherty, and Hunter Pence lashed a two-run triple.
The California native will be seeking to snap a two-game losing streak. He has allowed eight runs and 10 hits in 10 innings in losses to Cleveland and Arizona.
Flaherty will be backed by a Cardinals defense that has been superb against the Giants, having committed just one error in the three games. That lone miscue was an errant throw by backup catcher Francisco Pena on a steal attempt.
“That’s kind of the initiative we have going on right now: bolstering our defense,” Matheny noted Saturday. “Let’s play a cleaner defensive game. And then hope that we get contributions offensively. Let’s figure out ways to make sure we’re catching the ball to help reinforce the great starts that we’ve been getting.”
Luke Weaver, John Gant and Carlos Martinez have provided that pitching in San Francisco. The Giants have totaled just seven runs in the series Joey Bosa Jersey , extending to six games their streak of scoring three or fewer.
Martinez even contributed an RBI double to Saturday’s win.
The Giants have hit a cumulative .167 in their last six games, five of which they’ve lost.
San Francisco will be counting on ace Madison Bumgarner (1-3, 2.58) to contribute both on the mound and at the plate in the series finale.
The Giants have supported their pitching leader with just 14 runs in his six starts. He hasn’t helped his own cause; the slugger with 17 career homers has gone 0-for-14 so far this season.
The left-hander has pitched brilliantly in his last three starts, allowing just three runs (two of which were earned) and 12 hits in 21 innings.
Bumgarner often has not been at his best against the Cardinals in his career, going 3-5 with a 4.38 ERA in eight starts. He hasn’t beaten St. Louis since 2014.
One player who has never figured out Bumgarner is Kolten Wong, who has been the big hitter in the series with six hits, including a double and a triple, and two RBIs.
He’s 0-for-9 with two strikeouts in his career against Bumgarner.
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