Daniel Lynch sets tone as Kansas City Royals youngsters put club on winning path

The first six and a half innings on Sunday certainly looked like one of those games Kansas City Royals followers could be dreaming about — that sweet, restful dream of a child on Christmas Eve, nothing but joy and glee ahead.

That was before the dream took a nightmarish turn in the seventh inning and a six-run lead turned into a one-run deficit, then reigning face of the franchise Salvador Perez had to swoop in to save the day as the Royals rallied for an 8-7 win over the Rockies at Coors Field.

The dramatic ending prompted manager Mike Matheny to call it the “best win of the season,” in no small part because of the stellar starting performance of second-year pitcher Daniel Lynch.

“It did start with Daniel,” Matheny said. “Daniel set the temp and the tone for this game. He’s a special young pitcher.”

In the portion of the game that was filled with wonder, excitement and anticipation for the Royals, the “kids” on their roster were largely the driving force. Rookies Emmanuel Rivera and Bobby Witt Jr. were offensive catalysts, while rookie catcher MJ Melendez and Lynch worked in concert to squelch any hint of offense for the Rockies.

All of those youngsters showed off bits of the sort of the talent that makes them look like pieces of a potential core for the future.

Lynch pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings and allowed three hits. He walked four and struck out four in a no decision. Two of his walks came at the very end of his 94-pitch outing.

Royals pitchers had given up a combined 20 runs to Rockies hitters in the previous two games, but Lynch was more than up to the task of pitching in the notoriously hitter-friendly environment that is Coors Field and pitching at high altitude for the first time in his career.

“I try to look at things like that as a challenge because if you into thinking ‘this is a really hard place to pitch,’ I like to think of it as that much more satisfying when you do pitch well,” Lynch said. “That’s how I tried to frame it as a really tough challenge, and I was definitely pleased with the result.”

Rivera, who has logged just 25 at-bats this season, enjoyed a breakout game with his second major-league home run, a double and three RBIs.

Rivera, a third baseman, is 6 for 18 (.333) with four runs scored, six RBIs and two walks in his past seven games, including a pinch-hit three-run triple Wednesday night in Texas.

“We’re a team and everybody has to be ready and mentally prepared to face whatever comes with it,” Rivera said in Spanish with assistant strength and conditioning coach/Latin American coordinator Luis Perez interpreting.

Witt started his fifth game at shortstop, all five came on the nine-game road trip, and hit a home run in back-to-back games for the first time in his major-league career. Witt also walked twice.

“It was a great team win,” Witt said. “Everyone pretty much did their job, and it was a lot of fun to be a part of. I was happy I was able to do something to help.”

Melendez, who walked a scored a run, started at catcher with Perez serving as designated hitter. He and Lynch seemed in sync while stifling the Rockies’ offense.

Melendez had thrown just one of his first nine attempted base stealers from behind the plate this season and committed a throwing error in that same span. But in the fifth inning, he uncorked a perfect throw to second base to cut down Connor Joe.

According to Bally Sports Kansas City’s Dave Holtzman, Melendez’s 1.87-second pop time was tied for the fastest by a Royals catcher in the last three seasons and his 83.7-mph throw was the second-fastest during that same span.

“I’ve thrown to MJ a lot,” Lynch said. “But I felt like today he looked even better than the last time. He’s a guy that wants to learn and a guy that wants to keep getting better every time out, and I appreciate that about him.

“I think it was just a matter of time with Rivy and Bobby. There’s a little bit of a learning curve like there is for all of us. I’m not surprised I’m not surprised at any of that.”