Yovani Gallardo exits after two innings (Orioles lose 4-2)

KANSAS CITY - The Toronto Blue Jays went just 1-for-23 to end last night's game against Orioles pitchers. The Kansas City Royals went 3-for-3, including a homer, to start tonight's game against Yovani Gallardo.

Gallardo, who began tonight 1-0 with a ERA of 5.63, allowed three runs and four hits in the last of the first as Kansas City went ahead 3-0.

Before tonight, Gallardo had an ERA of 12.00 and a batting average against of .462 in the first inning this year. Then the Royals went 4-for-7 against him.

Alcides Escobar led off with an infield single. Then Mike Moustakas smoked a two-run homer to center on a first-pitch changeup. It was his sixth homer and traveled 426 feet. The Royals were not done. Lorenzo Cain singled and advanced to second on a groundout. He scored the third run on a Kendrys Morales double. The Royals hit several balls hard as Gallardo was not fooling anyone to start his outing tonight.

Meanwhile, the Orioles went down quickly in the first two innings against right-hander Chris Young (0-3, 7.90 ERA). Adam Jones singled with two outs in the first, but Chris Davis struck out to end a 14-pitch inning. Then Mark Trumbo, J.J. Hardy and Jonathan Schoop were retired on just seven pitches in the top of the second.

Kansas City then added to its lead in the second. Moustakas came through again with a two-out RBI double to left. It scored Escobar, who had walked with two outs and no one on. Moustakas was 4-for-8 in his previous two games and drove in three runs in his first two at-bats tonight. He has eight RBIs for the season.

The Orioles are going to need a rally to win at Kauffman Stadium tonight.

Update: Gallardo's night was a short one. T.J. McFarland took the mound to pitch in the third inning. No word yet on whether there is any physical issue with Gallardo or he just got a quick hook.

But this ties for the shortest start of his career. He also went just two innings on April 27, 2012 for Milwaukee against St. Louis.

Gallardo's velocity has been down in his early starts and plenty of fans have taken notice. Maybe they were onto something. He has an ERA of 7.00 after his first four O's starts.

McFarland pitched a scoreless third and Kansas City holds a 4-0 lead in the fourth.

Update II: The Orioles pulled to within 4-1 in the top of the fourth. Trumbo doubled with two outs and Hardy's single to center scored the O's first run.

Update III: Even the "K" and it's spacious outfield can't hold Manny Machado at bat right now. He led off the sixth with a homer, his sixth of the season, to bring the Orioles within 4-2.

Machado, who began the day leading the AL in slugging at .780, has homered three times in the last five games. He now has 13 extra-base hits (seven doubles, six homers) over 15 games.

Update IV: That was quite an outstanding long relief job by McFarland tonight. He throws five scoreless allowing just three hits on 66 pitches. Strong outing that kept his team in the game. Vance Worley came on to pitch the last of the eighth with the O's still down 4-2.

Update V: Wade Davis pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to get his seventh save and Kansas City takes the series opener 4-2 as the Orioles fall to 10-5. The Orioles have scored just 16 runs the last five games. Kansas City is now 11-5 and 7-2 at home. Machado's homer extended his hitting streak to 15 games, a new career high. The O's are 4-9 at Kauffman Stadium since 2013.