Hearn pitches 1-hit ball for 5 innings, Texas beats Royals

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Taylor Hearn allowed only one hit in five scoreless innings, Brad Miller homered and the Texas Rangers defeated the Kansas City Royals 3-1 on Thursday night.

The Royals’ first hit literally was off Hearn. Michael A. Taylor sent a liner up the middle off the pitcher’s leg that continued to the left of second base and into left field with two out in the second inning.

Hearn (2-2) walked three and struck out five.

Joe Barlow pitched a scoreless ninth, retiring Whit Merrifield on a grounder with two runners on base, for his sixth save in six opportunities.

Jonathan Heasley (0-1) allowed four hits and four runs in 3 1/3 innings in his first major league appearance this season.

Hearn had not pitched in 11 days, while he was briefly out of the rotation and available to come out of the bullpen.

“I was trying to come in consistent,” Hearn said. “You can try to prepare for games but it's different when you get in there your first time seeing a lot of batters. It felt a little weird.”

Hearn threw 64 pitches and said he could have gone longer.

Manager Chris Woodward thought Hearn had thrown enough.

“We weren't sure how he was going to respond after being out for so long," Woodward said. "He was really honest, but you could tell he was a little bit fatigued.”

Miller led off the bottom of the first inning with an infield hit against a shift and later scored on a two-out, popup single by Kole Calhoun over third baseman Emmanuel Rivera's head in short left field.

Miller hit a home run, his fifth, off the right field foul pole in the seventh. The homer was reviewed, and the home run call was confirmed.

Miller popped out with the bases loaded in the fourth inning of a 1-0 game.

“He was kicking himself,” Woodward...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Hearn-pitches-1-hit-ball-for-5-innings-Texas-17169816.php