Cincinnati Reds Shut Out By Royals, 3-0

May 19, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals second baseman

Omar Infante

(14) makes the tag on Cincinnati Reds third baseman

Todd Frazier

(21) at second base in the third inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

. 0. 61. 3. 7

W: Ventura (3-3, 4.56)

L: Cueto (3-4, 3.03)

SV: Davis, W (7)

Not even the Cincinnati Reds’ ace, Johnny Cueto, was enough to power the Reds past the American League Champion Kansas City Royals. The Reds were able to do little against Royals starter, Yordano Ventura, only getting four hits, one walk and no extra base hits. The Royals on the other hand roughed up Cueto, getting nine hits with three extra base hits.

The Reds’ only scoring opportunity came in the third inning when Jay Bruce and Devin Mesoraco started off with back-to-back singles with no outs. Billy Hamilton, who batted ninth tonight, laid down a fantastic bunt to advance the runners and almost reached first off of it. But with two runners in scoring position and one out the Reds were unable to drive any runs in, as Zack Cozart grounded out and Brayan Pena struck out to end the inning.

The Reds’ only other runner in scoring position was Mesoraco who singled with two outs in the fifth inning, then advanced to second base on a wild pitch from Ventura. But again the Reds failed to bring a runner in and dropped the series opener to the Royals, 3-0.

Up Next: The Reds will play the second of this two-game series against the Royals when Jason Marquis (3-3, 6.63 ERA) faces Jeremy Guthrie (3-2, 5.44 ERA) at 8:10 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

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