Ventura, Royals unable to overcome tumultuous start against Rangers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- There were no cramps to blame, no ejections to point to. For Yordano Ventura on Saturday, it was simply ineffectiveness that did him in during Kansas City's 4-2 loss to Texas.

Ventura lasted just three innings, allowing four runs on six hits and two walks. Despite exiting twice due to injury and twice more after getting tossed, Ventura's latest start was his shortest of his season.

"Thirty-pitch first inning, you're thinking, 'OK, come in and regroup,'" Royals manager Ned Yost said. "And he went back out the second inning and didn't regroup and didn't regroup in the third. Some days are like that."

It came on the heels of an impressive string of outings for the 24-year-old Dominican right-hander. Ventura had clawed his way through seven innings in each of his previous four starts, twice holding the opponent to one or fewer runs.

Yost pointed to Ventura's new status as the team's ace as a potential stumbling block on his way to complete consistency.

"He's got a lot of weight on his shoulders of being the No. 1 guy," Yost said. "He needs to let that go a little bit and get back to being himself and focusing on command."

Ventura shut out the Reds and outdueled Johnny Cueto. He worked around the Cardinals to deliver a decent performance. Most recently, Chris Coghlan was the only thing holding Ventura from completely silencing the Cubs.

But Saturday brought none of that.

Four straight hits and a sacrifice fly netted two runs for Texas in the first inning, when Ventura labored through 35 pitches to record the three outs. The Rangers' four first-inning hits were more than Kansas City managed the entire night before off Chi Chi Gonzalez.

Ventura escaped the inning when Lorenzo Cain chased down Leonys Martin's ball in the right-center field gap to save two more potential runs.

The second inning didn't bestow such fortune on Ventura and the Royals. Ventura hit Carlos Corporan on the sixth pitch of the at-bat and then allowed Hanser Alberto to double to left. Two batters later, Shin-Soo Choo drove them in with a double to left-center.

The first time through the order, six Rangers reached base. Four scored.

Ventura again leaned on his defense to dodge more damage in the second. Christian Colon and Alcides Escobar turned a nifty inning-ending double play, highlighted by Escobar's barehanded catch and throw.

"He was a little wild at first," Christian Colon translated for Ventura. "He felt like he settled down a little bit. It was just one of those days where it wasn't working."

Ventura finished the third inning after a walk and two strikeouts, but his day was finished after just nine outs and only 78 pitches. Joe Blanton relieved him and went the next 3 1/3 innings without allowing a run.

In past starts, like against the Reds and his first time facing the Rangers, Ventura had rebounded from a rough beginning of the game to rebound and get the club deep into the game. But Ventura's high pitch count and wandering control made that an impossibility Saturday afternoon.

"You're borderline getting into dangerous situations when you get that type of workload in three innings," Yost said. "That's a lot of pitches."

You can follow Matthew DeFranks on Twitter at @MDeFranks or email him at matthew.defranks@gmail.com.