By MATT PIKE
Park Hill graduate and Kansas City native Carter Jensen made his major league debut in front of his hometown crowd, pinch hitting for Randal Grichuk in the ninth inning, as the Kansas City Royals fell to the Los Angeles Angels 5-1 on Tuesday evening at Kauffman Stadium.
Jensen, the clubs number two prospect, was a surprise call up to start September after hitting .288 at Triple A Omaha with 14 home runs and 39 RBIs. On the season overall, after starting the year with Double A Northwest Arkansas, Jensen was batting .290 with 20 home runs and 76 RBI’s. In his lone at bat on Tuesday, Jensen struck out to end the game.
The Royals did take the lead first before falling behind, scoring their lone run in the third inning. Bobby Witt Jr tripled with one out and scored on a sacrifice fly by Vinnie Pasquantino. Kansas City held that lead until the sixth inning when the Angels Jo Adell hit a two run home run, scoring Luis Rengifo, to take the 2-1 lead.
In the seventh inning Los Angeles extended it’s lead with doubles from Chris Taylor and Oswald Peraza. Taylor’s double led off the inning, and with one out Taylor scored on the double from Peraza, before Peraza scored later on a wild pitch after advancing to third base on a flyout by Bryce Teodosio. With the three run lead, the Angels added their final run in the ninth inning, a sacrifice fly by Teodosio scoring Taylor after he opened the ninth with a single.
Michael Lorenzen took the loss on the mound, falling to 5-9 on the season, pitching six innings and giving up two runs on four hits with one walk and five strikeouts. At the plate, Witt Jr was 1-for-3 with the triple. Grichuk was 1-for-2 with a walk, while Nick Loftin and Kyle Isbel were both 1-for-3 as the Royals had just four hits on the evening.
Kansas City and Los Angeles continue their series tomorrow. Ryan Bergert (2-1, 2.67 ERA) is set to make the start for the Royals, coming off his first win since joining Kansas City, while the Angels starter is currently listed as TBD. First pitch is at 6:40pm, with pregame coverage beginning at 6 on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM).
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