Kris Medlen sharp as Royals shut out Indians, 2-0

CLEVELAND A bass drum thumped inside this half-empty ballpark as Royals reliever Ryan Madson prepared for the final out of Tuesday’s seventh inning. The night featured a series of oddities, from an accidental fireworks display to a foul ball connecting with the skull of a fan to an actual quality start from a Royals pitcher, but now Madson was tasked with protecting Kansas City’s chance for only their third victory in their last 11 games.

Madson was up to the task. He struck out both batters he faced, stranded both runners left aboard by starter Kris Medlen and silenced the drum. The Royals collected a 2-0 decision over the Indians 2-0 on Tuesday night in Cleveland, and Medlen delivered an impressive exhibition in his bid for the playoff rotation.

Pitching into the seventh inning for the first time in 718 days, back before his second Tommy John surgery, Medlen provided 6 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball. He became the first Royals starter to last that long without allowing a run since Johnny Cueto pitched a shutout against Aug. 10 against the Detroit Tigers.

The offense was not explosive. A Cleveland mistake let Mike Moustakas scored a second-inning run. Alex Rios hit his second homer of this trip. Otherwise, the group stayed quiet. Indians starter Josh Tomlin pitched all nine innings.

With the victory, the Royals (85-59) pumped the brakes on their recent skid. The team has not won two games in a row since Sept. 2 and 3.

As the losses mounted, the players refused to show signs of strain. Several referenced the size of their lead in the division after Monday’s defeat. Yet, away from the public eye, Yost said, “they’re edgy.”

As Yost spoke inside the visiting manager’s office, a roar radiated from the clubhouse, where a few players were vying in Nintendo. The noise made Yost smile.

“They’re loose,” he said. “But when we get out for B.P., they’re edgy. They’re edgy in a good way, but they maintain their looseness. They’re not all sitting around, pouting.”

Indeed, the Nintendo battle between Eric Hosmer and Moustakas captivated a sizable chunk of the roster. The commotion caused a reporter to peek around a clubhouse pillar at the scene.

“Oh, here comes a story,” backup catcher Drew Butera said.

“ ‘The Royals were playing Nintendo,’ ” former starter Jeremy Guthrie said.

The media criticism delighted the group as much as the video game. Less amused was pitching coach Dave Eiland. He conducted a series of meetings before the game in addition to his usual slate of bullpen sessions and pre-game preparation with that day’s starting pitcher.

About two and a half hours before first pitch, Eiland gathered the entire pitching staff inside the weight room. The group entered Tuesday with a 6.46 ERA in September. Eiland intended for a 10-minute meeting. The discussion lasted closer to 30. One key concept was accountability, he said.

“I see some pitchers going out there, starters and relievers, and it looks like they’ve got the weight of the world on their shoulders,” Eiland told The Star. “I reminded them how good they are. That we’re still a good pitching staff, and we’re going to get out of this thing.

“But the only way to get out of it is to keep working. We’ve got to prepare, and we’ve got to prepare properly. We can’t assume. We’ve got to prepare properly.”

Medlen did his part on Tuesday. He flooded the lower portion of the strike zone with fastballs, changeups and curveballs. Through the first four innings, he gave up two hits. He recorded 11 of 12 outs on groundballs.

The Royals led by two when Medlen took the mound for the fifth. The team benefited from a mistake by Indians catcher Yan Gomes in the second. Gomes lost a foul pop-up by Moustakas. Moustakas had begun to walk back to the dugout, only to hear the baseball fall behind him.

Granted a second change, Moustakas laced a double to the center-field wall. The ball sizzled past the outstretched glove of outfielder Abraham Almonte.

Facing Salvador Perez, Tomlin threw an 0-1 curveball in the dirt. Perez swung anyway, whiffing on a wild pitch. For some reason, Tomlin threw Perez a strike next. Perez punched the cutter into center for an RBI single.

Hilarity ensued in the fifth inning. Rios bashed a solo shot just inside the left-field pole. As he rounded the bases, a fireworks erupted around the stadium. The pyrotechnical display typically greets homers hit by the home team. In this case, human error intervened.

The sparse crowd howled their displeasure. High above the field, seated in a chair overlooking the diamond, the fireworks operated put his head in his hands. He hid his face inside a hat until the boos subsided.

In order for Cleveland to produce fireworks of their own, they needed to lift the baseball in the air. Medlen did not allow that occur until the fifth inning. Six of the last seven outs he procured came through the air. But the Indians still never scored.

(c)2015 The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.)

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