KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Heath Fillmyer used a hockey mentality to get a baseball milestone Wednesday night.
Fillmyer allowed three singles over seven innings for his first major league win, Adalberto Mondesi and Drew Butera each drove in three, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago Cubs 9-0.
Anthony Rizzo drilled Fillmyer (1-1) with a line drive on the left heel on his third pitch, but Fillmyer stuck around and didn’t allow another hit until David Bote and Tommy La Stella singled with one out in the seventh inning.
“Did I see it?” Fillmyer said. “I felt it. It felt like a hockey puck off the boot. Coming up, I played a lot of hockey. I knew I had to walk it off a little bit. It shook right off and felt pretty good after that. I didn’t try to think about it to let it bother me.”
Royals manager Ned Yost let the right-hander stay in to face left-handed Kyle Schwarber with two out and two on in the seventh, even though lefty Tim Hill was warming in the bullpen. Fillmyer got Schwarber to pop up.
“Normally a young pitcher in the seventh inning, you don’t want to put them in a position to lose the game,” Yost said. “I made my mind up he was going to pitch through it. This is his first big league win if he’s going to get in trouble, he’s either going to win it or lose it himself in the seventh inning.”
Mondesi belted a 2-0 pitch from Jose Quintana for a three-run homer in the seventh. It was Mondesi’s fourth home run and his first since July 15, a span of 42 at-bats.
Butera hit a two-run, two-out double with the bases loaded in the second inning and added a sacrifice fly during a four-run eighth.
Jorge Bonifacio, who entered hitting .103 in his past 16 games, Brett Phillips and Hunter Dozier each had two hits and a walk and combined to score seven runs. Bonifacio had an RBI double in the eighth, while Phillips contributed an RBI triple.
Quintana (10-8) dropped to 3-10 in 25 starts against the Royals. He was removed after Mondesi’s homer, giving up five runs on six hits and two walks.
“Quintana pitched well up until the seventh there when he gave up those runs,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “Two walks got him in trouble. Butera gets it down the line. Other than that, you like to believe you’re going to score more than zero runs and we didn’t.”
The Royals snapped a six-game losing streak.
DARVISH UPDATE
Cubs RHP Yu Darvish threw a 33-pitch bullpen with his velocity reaching 93 mph.
“He looked loose and free to me,” Maddon said. “I thought it was a really good day, no negatives.”
Darvish, who the Cubs signed to a six-year $126 million contract in February, has missed 69 games. He last pitched on May 20. Maddon said he anticipates Darvish will throw one more bullpen, and if he has no setback, would go on a minor league rehab assignment.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cubs: IF-OF Ben Zobrist (sore hip) was out of the lineup after leaving Tuesday’s game in fifth inning. “Just a little bit sore, just precautionary,” Zobrist. “Let’s rest it and get back to it. It should be no problem at all Friday.”
Royals: RHP Ian Kennedy (left oblique strain) said he felt no discomfort the day after throwing a 25-pitch bullpen. He is scheduled to throw a 30-35 pitch bullpen Friday while mixing in more offspeed pitches.
UP NEXT
Cubs: After a day off, RHP Kyle Hendricks will start Friday against the Nationals at Wrigley Field.
Royals: Continue interleague play with a series beginning Friday against St. Louis. RHP Burch Smith will start the opener.
Photo credit – Colin E. Braley / Associated Press / Kansas City, MO
