Tomoyuki Sugano stifles Royals as Rockies halt 4-game skid

Tomoyuki Sugano pitched strongly into the seventh inning, Kyle Karros had two hits in his return and the Colorado Rockies beat the Kansas City Royals 3-1 in Denver on Friday night.

Sugano, who won his seventh straight decision, got two outs in the seventh before giving way to Antonio Senzatela. Sugano (11-4) allowed one run on five hits, struck out two and walked none in 6 2/3 innings.

Jordan Romano picked up his ninth save for Colorado, which snapped a four-game skid. The victory was the Rockies' 43rd of the season, matching last year's total in just 110 games.

Carter Jensen homered and Salvador Perez had two hits for Kansas City, which has lost three of its last four games.

The game's first pitch was delayed one hour as a strong storm blew through downtown Denver, dumping heavy rain and hail on Coors Field.

Colorado grabbed the lead against starter Michael Wacha in the first inning. With one out, Mickey Moniak doubled to the right field corner. After Wacha fanned Hunter Goodman, TJ Rumfield singled to make it 1-0.

After Karros singled, Wacha retired the next eight batters -- including striking out the side in the third -- but the Rockies padded their lead in the fourth.

Karros, who missed two games with left biceps inflammation, singled with one out, moved to second on Tyler Freeman's groundout and scored when second baseman Michael Massey threw wildly to first on Troy Johnston's grounder. Brenton Doyle, activated from the injured list before the game, doubled in his first appearance since May 19 to give Colorado a 3-0 lead.

Wacha (5-8) didn't give up a hit the rest of his outing and allowed just one baserunner to reach via a Josh Rojas error. Wacha gave up three runs (one earned), struck out seven and didn't walk a batter in six innings.

Sugano was in control through five innings, allowing just two hits, and got the first two outs in the sixth before Jensen hit his 15th home run of the season to get Kansas City on the board.

--Field Level Media