KANSAS CITY, Mo. —
Michael Lorenzen pitched seven shutout innings, MJ Melendez homered and the Kansas City Royals beat the Angels 3-0 on Wednesday for their sixth win in seven games.
The Royals spoiled the season debut of Johnny Cueto (0-1), a 17-year veteran who helped Kansas City win the 2015 World Series.
Cueto hadn’t pitched in the majors since Sept. 27 last year with the Marlins. He signed a minor league contract with the Angels in July, and was called up from triple-A Salt Lake earlier Wednesday. He gave up three runs, eight hits and two walks in 6 1/3 innings and left the mound to an ovation from the Kansas City crowd.
Lorenzen (7-6) gave up four hits, two walks, a hit batter and struck out five. He only allowed two runners to reach scoring position.
John Schreiber pitched a scoreless eighth inning and Lucas Erceg worked a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his sixth save and fourth with the Royals.
The Royals (71-56) remained tied with the Minnesota Twins for the second wild-card spot and moved to within 2½ games of AL Central-leading Cleveland with their first home series win in a month.
The Royals put together a two-out rally in the second to grab a 2-0 lead. Hunter Renfroe and Adam Frazier singled, Maikel Garcia walked and Kyle Isbel hit a two-run double to the right-center gap.
Melendez smacked a two-out solo home run off the right-field foul pole in the sixth for a 3-0 lead.
Bobby Witt Jr. doubled in the second inning to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. That’s Witt’s fifth hitting streak of 10 or more games this season.
The Angels optioned right-handed pitcher Hans Crouse to Salt Lake City to make room for Cueto. They also released right-hander Jose Cisneros to add Cueto to the 40-man roster.