Less pressure awaits White Sox, Royals for season's second game

Less pressure awaits White Sox, Royals for season's second game

There's so much attention on opening day in Major League Baseball, the game itself sometimes gets overshadowed. That makes a strong effort in that setting even more impressive. Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Brad Keller pitched seven shutout innings to lead the Royals to a 5-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday.

"(Opening day) is a big deal to our players," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "And it's a lot of extra stress on the starting pitcher. To do it for the first time in your career at his age (23) with his experience (MLB debut in 2018), to put forth the effort and the performance he put forth today is unbelievable.

"We kind of expected that from him because we expect him to be a legit No. 1 for us for years to come. It's a tough draw. He handled it beautifully.

Now, normalcy sets in for both teams. Following an off-day on Friday, Jakob Junis will grab the ball for the Royals on Saturday, while Reynaldo Lopez will take the mound for the White Sox.

Junis was 9-12 with a 4.37 ERA for the Royals last year. He won his last three and four of his last five after suffering through an eight-game losing streak.

Lopez was 7-10 with a 3.91 ERA last year for the White Sox. But he won three of his last four decisions, and he did not give up more than two earned runs in his last seven starts. He's ready for his 2019 debut.

"I'm probably more confident this year, based off the results that I got last year," Lopez said through an interpreter. "But at the same time, I'm eager and hungry this year to do more, to do better, to keep improving.

"I think I did a pretty good job with my curveball in spring training. I feel more comfortable. I was able to command it better and to throw it for a strike. I feel very comfortable with that pitch right now and I think that will be one of my key pitches for this year."

The key for Lopez is to keep the Royals off the bases. Kansas City is built on speed and defense. When the Royals have runners on, it can be difficult for the pitcher to focus on the batter.

"That's who we are," Yost said. "And you didn't see it today. You saw some of it, you didn't see what you're going to see this year."

What was seen Thursday was a pair of triples by Royals shortstop Adalberto Mondesi, just the second time a Royals player did that on opening day. The Royals also stole two bases -- both by Whit Merrifield -- who led the majors in stolen bases last season. They'll look to keep up that pace on Saturday.

"It's kind of a flash of what we can do," Merrifield said. "Anytime Mondi hits the ball in the gap here, it's going to be a triple. You saw that today.

"This was just a little bit of what we expect from the top of the lineup. Guys like myself and Mondi drive balls in the gap and (get) on and find ways to score runs. We did enough today to win."

Both clubs get to take a breath and regroup Friday. Then the real regular season gets started.

--Field Level Media