The Royals had an unexpected bullpen game Friday night against the Twins when starting pitcher Brady Singer was removed from the game after he was hit in the foot by a line drive. The six remaining innings of the game were left to three Royals relievers, but it was Ervin Santana who made the biggest impression.
“He was built up for four, and we needed to get Wade [Davis] on the mound. That’s impressive physically,” manager Mike Matheny said. “And I would say it’s equally, if not more so, impressive how he’s emotionally handling this and wanting to contribute, wanting and getting built up to come and help and show what he can do.”
Santana took over in the fourth after Tyler Zuber allowed three earned runs in the third to an aggressive Twins offense. Among the 16 batters Santana faced, only one was able to push a run across in his four innings of work.
“It was trying to minimize the damage. I know they’re very aggressive, and they hit a lot of home runs,” Santana said. “So, I just try to keep the ball in the park and then keep the ball down, and anything can happen. And it was a good thing I did throw four innings today. It was good. I saved the bullpen.”
Kansas City is in the midst of playing 10 games in 10 days, and a bullpen game out the gate was not in the plans. But moving forward, a taxed bullpen shouldn’t be a concern, as Santana impressively took the bulk of the innings after not pitching in 10 days.
“For me the key was, don’t think about how many days I’ve gone without throwing,” Santana said. “Just go out there and throw strikes. Get the ball down for the most part.”
The veteran is settling into his new role as a reliever. Friday’s game was his third appearance this season and the most he’s been used in an outing. He finished the night with over a 50% strike rate and two strikeouts.
While Santana hasn’t seen a lot of playing time thus far, he’s ready to go every game if his name is called.
“[Trying] to stay sharp mentally and then not get into a negative spot in his mind. Both of those combined are very impressive,” Matheny said. “He comes out making really good pitches, and really just the one mark against him. I was extremely impressed, as I’ve been all season long. We’ve talked about pros — this guy’s a pro. He comes in every day with a great attitude, ready to do whatever we need him to do, and today we needed him to step up and he stepped up big.”
Be the first to comment