Pablo López strong in return after three months on injured list but Twins lose to Royals 2-1

KANSAS CITY, MO. – A case can be made that the Twins’ season was ruined by Pablo López’s shoulder injury in early June. Which made López’s return to the mound Friday a cause for celebration in more ways than one.

López pitched six solid innings against the Royals, giving up two runs — both of them scoring on a Maikel Garcia home run — and striking out four at Kauffman Stadium. He eventually was charged with a 2-1 loss, the Twins’ fifth in a row, but the lift he gave to his team was unmistakable.

“Emotionally, getting Pablo López back is pretty huge, and you almost feel like a new ball club in some ways,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Really, really nice return — just a quality outing for him. Used all his pitches, did some different things with his fastball when he wanted it. That’s who he is and he came out and reminded us all of all the great things that he does. We’re a different team when he’s out there and pitching for us.”

Perhaps just his presence will be enough. On the day that López suffered the injury against the Athletics in West Sacramento, Calif., Twins pitchers had a combined ERA of 3.32. Since that day, the pitching staff has allowed more than two runs more per game, a 5.46 ERA that is the worst in the American League.

“It’s hard to argue with the results and the way it played out after he got hurt. What we dealt with once he went down, it was more than I was expecting,” Baldelli said. “We struggled to pitch as a team. Was that all related to him getting hurt? I don’t know. It’s hard to imagine that would all be because Pablo got hurt. All that being said, I like it when he’s in the rotation. And everybody likes it when he’s in the rotation. We feel like a complete team when he’s there.”

And López felt like a complete pitchers, too. Well, eventually.

“I would be lying if I told you I wasn’t having a lot of heart-beating-fast moments in that first inning. It felt like those 15 seconds between pitchers were more like six seconds,” López said. “Everything got fast, but I knew that I was going to have to find ways to slow things down, and then just do what I’m supposed to do when I’m on a big-league mound — just execute, compete against what’s in front of me, and let my natural abilities take over. Not overthinking.”

Garcia, whose home run came on a sweeper that López left in the middle of the strike zone, led off the sixth with a single to right, and he moved to second base when shortstop Brooks Lee dropped a toss from second baseman Luke Keaschall, who had fielded Salvador Perez’s ground ball. But the two-on, no-outs challenge got a lot easier when catcher Jhonny Pereda, making his Twins debut, picked Garcia off second base with a perfect throw.

“What a great play. You shouldn’t be afraid to whip that ball around every once in awhile. It’s something he does well,” Baldelli said. “He’s very comfortable making throws. That was a big play. That resolved that inning for us, by coming up with a big play and a good throw.”

From there, López struck out Adam Frazier, ended the inning with a popup by Michael Massey, and walked to the dugout, where he received congratulations from his teammates.

“That just shows Pablo’s composure and his ability to work through things,” Baldelli said. “He really did the job and made some really good pitches. He was fired up being out there still in that spot and being able to work through it. That’s like the emotion of being back — it finally hit him in that moment and he kind of felt like himself again.”

It was fitting that Pereda was catching, since he also caught López’s final two rehab starts for St. Paul. He was summoned to Kansas City early Friday morning and made his Twins debut hours later.

BOXSCORE: Kansas City 2, Twins 1

MLB standings

In addition to the pickoff throw, Pereda made a nice impression at the plate, too. He followed Lee’s double in the fifth inning, which ended Royals starter Michael Wacha’s streak of nine consecutive outs, with a double of his own into the right-field corner, driving home the Twins’ run. Two innings later he drew a walk.

But Pereda’s new teammates did little at the plate over the first seven innings, managing only two other hits off Wacha, and going scoreless against five Kansas City relievers. The Twins left a runner on base in each of the final five innings.