Whit Merrifield broke out of a season long slump with a three-hit night and his first home run since August 2021, leading the Kansas City Royals to an 8-2 win over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night in Arlington, Texas.
Bobby Witt Jr. had a fifth inning double and drove in Merrifield on a ground ball to third base in the seventh inning, with Kansas City putting the finishing touches on the win with a bases-clearing triple i the ninth inning by Emmanuel Rivera.
In the third inning, Merrifield hammered a first-pitch slider into the left field stands for his first homer in 255 at-bats, moving that swing, and a positive night as a whole, help charge up a season that saw the two-time AL hits leader enter the game hitting only .139.
The game saw both Kansas City and Texas use “openers”, a necessity after both teams dealt with multiple rainouts last weekend, bringing a string of doubleheaders to catch up on the schedule. Joel Payamps was the second of six Kansas City pitchers and picked up the victory. Kolby Allard, the second of six Texas pitchers, took the loss.
The Royals, prior to Thursday night’s series finale in Arlington, called up right-hander Jon Heasley, a native of nearby Plano, Texas, to start the game against the Rangers. Heasley had a 4.44 ERA in six starts with AAA Omaha, while holding opposing batters to a .198 average. Left-hander Kris Bubic was sent down to Omaha to make room for Heasley on the roster.
In St. Louis, Juan Yepez homered and Miles Mikolas pitched seven effective innings, leading the Cardinals to a 10-1 win on Wednesday night over the Baltimore Orioles.
MLB scores from Wednesday, May 11, 2022:
Philadelphia Phillies 4, Seattle Mariners 2
Atlanta Braves 5, Boston Red Sox 3
St. Louis Cardinals 10, Baltimore Orioles 1
New York Yankees 5, Toronto Blue Jays 3
Houston Astros 5, Minnesota Twins 1 (Suspended – 4th inning)
Cleveland Guardians at Chicago White Sox – PP – COVID-19
Tampa Bay Rays 4, Los Angeles Angels 2 (10)
Oakland Athletics 9, Detroit Tigers 0
Kansas City Royals 8, Texas Rangers 2
Cincinnati Reds 14, Milwaukee Brewers 11
Pittsburgh Pirates 5, Los Angeles Dodgers 3
Miami Marlins 11, Arizona Diamondbacks 3
San Francisco Giants 7, Colorado Rockies 1
Chicago Cubs 7, San Diego Padres 5
Washington Nationals 8, New York Mets 3
