Amed Rosario racks up 5 RBI in 7-2 rout of Royals

Zach Plesac pitched a gem and Amed Rosario singlehandedly outscored the Royals as the Cleveland Guardians opened their six-game road trip with a 7-2 win over Kansas City.

Amed Rosario came into the game red hot at the plate, slashing .343/.371/.509 with eight doubles, two triples, two home runs, and a 136 wRC+ in the month of August. He showed no signs of slowing down against the Royals. In the first inning, Rosario lined an opposite field shot into right field where it missed the outstretched glove of Edward Olivares and caromed off the wall, giving him ample amount of time to touch ‘em all for an inside-the-park home run.

Rosario was the straw that stirred the drink for the Guardians, collecting his third hit of the night in the fifth inning with two outs and runners on first and third. Both came around to score on his RBI single to left-center, extending Cleveland’s lead to 3-0. Presented with yet another opportunity to put runs on the board in the sixth inning, he homered to straightaway center field to plate two more runs, making it a 5-0 game and giving Rosario his fifth four-hit game of the season. He finished the night with five hits after reaching on an infield single in the ninth.

Bobby Bradley made it a team effort in the eighth inning with a two-run homer off Wade Davis.

Rosario may have been responsible for five of the seven runs from the Guardians’ side of the score, but the Royals’ goose egg — at least until Alex Young ruined the shutout by allowing a pair of runs in the ninth inning — came courtesy of Zach Plesac. He made his best start of the season, only allowing two hits and no walks over seven scoreless innings. Our own Merritt Rohlfing wrote last week that Plesac needs to lean less on his four-seam fastball. The right-hander did not heed his advice, throwing his fastball 54% of the time Tuesday night. But he commanded the strike zone with it, recording seven strikeouts, six of which were swinging.

Plesac improved to 6-0 in his career against the Royals.

Also, the Zimmer brothers threw hands at home plate and it was adorable: