Kansas City Royals had one chance against Brewers ace Corbin Burnes. Here’s what went wrong

The Kansas City Royals suffered the same fate as many teams do when Milwaukee Brewers ace Corbin Burnes is on the mound. Burnes, who won the 2021 NL Cy Young Award, was dominant in front of 24,900 fans at American Family Field on Friday.

Burnes shut down the Royals’ red-hot offense for six innings. He allowed two hits and recorded seven strikeouts as the Brewers cruised to a 5-1 victory. Burnes utilized his cutter to get ahead of the Royals lineup. He worked in his off-speed pitches to generate 43 swings and 14 whiffs on the night.

“The cutter is pretty explosive. He did a good job, at least from my vantage point, of locating,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “He was either on the corner, just off, just in or whatever it was. Our guys, I thought, did a pretty decent job of trying to force him back into the zone but he was ahead. We worked a few walks but just didn’t capitalize when we had our guys on.”

The Royals’ lone run came in the seventh inning. Backup catcher Freddy Fermin hit his third home run this season over the left-field wall. The Royals have now homered in 11 consecutive games.

“I was focused on my plan to get a good pitch and I made a good swing,” Fermin said.

Fermin continues to showcase his power in recent games. Quatraro said it’s a welcome sight to see how far the ball travels off his bat.

“When he’s hit them, he’s hit them a long way,” Quatraro said.

Royals southpaw Josh Taylor drew the start as an opener on Friday. He worked a scoreless inning before giving way to reliever Max Castillo out of the bullpen. Castillo allowed two earned runs in 4 1/3 innings of work. He issued three walks and recorded four strikeouts in long relief.

“I just tried to make my pitches, make the outs and find weak contact,” Castillo said. “That was my goal today and I think I found it.”

The Royals fell to 12-28 this season. The loss snapped a two-game winning streak that began during the previous home stand.

Royals squander early scoring chance against Corbin Burnes

The Royals didn’t have many opportunities against Burnes on Friday night. Burnes was effective in his first trip through the lineup. He allowed one hit before the Royals put together a scoring opportunity in the third inning.

After getting Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. to strike out and designated hitter Vinnie Pasquantino to fly out early in the frame, Burnes ran into some trouble. He walked Royals outfielders Edward Olivares and MJ Melendez in consecutive at-bats.

It drew a mound visit from the Brewers staff. Burnes settled down and got Royals second baseman Maikel Garcia to strike out to end the threat.

“He is going to force you to beat him every time,” Quatraro said. “We hit some balls well, but they were at guys and we couldn’t drive the guys in.”

The Brewers took advantage in the bottom of the third. Brewers second baseman Owen Miller hit a solo home run into the left-field seats. The homer traveled 404 feet and registered a 102.8 mph exit velocity.

Mad Max: Royals reliever Castillo dances out of trouble

The Brewers had Royals reliever Max Castillo on the proverbial ropes. After loading the bases in the fifth inning, the Brewers sent third baseman Brian Anderson to the plate. Anderson collected a single earlier in the game and was looking to do more damage.

Anderson saw an 87.2 mph changeup in the pitch sequence. He was out ahead and laced a rocket into foul territory. Castillo battled back with his slider next. It proved to be effective as he induced a 1-2-3 double play to prevent further damage.

“I just (told myself) you have to execute this pitch,” Castillo said. “That’s what I did.”

What’s next: The Royals continue their weekend series against the Brewers. Zack Greinke will take the mound on Saturday night, facing Brewers right-hander Adrian Houser. Jordan Lyles is set to close the series on Sunday.