Royals Rout Nationals Behind Jensen’s Perfect Night

The Kansas City Royals showed up to Nationals Park on Wednesday with their lumber ready and their patience exhausted. What followed was a clinic in how to dismantle a pitcher who had no business being on the mound, as Zack Littell got shelled for four runs in just five innings while watching the Royals feast on fastballs like it was an all-you-can-eat special.

Carter Jensen was the headliner, turning in one of those performances that makes you wonder why he isn’t a household name already. The guy went 4-for-4 at the plate, a near-perfect night that started with a leadoff homer in the first inning and never let up. When a player puts together that kind of hitting display, it usually means one of two things: either the opposing pitcher is completely lost, or the hitter has entered the zone. In Littell’s case, it was decidedly both.

But Jensen wasn’t the only Royals bat coming alive on this Wednesday evening. The offense came firing in waves, and by the time the smoke cleared after just three innings, Kansas City had built a 4-0 lead through pure power. John Rave launched his first home run of the season in the second inning, then Lane Thomas and Michael Massey went back-to-back in the third like a couple of kids taking turns at the arcade. This wasn’t baseball as much as it was target practice.

Luinder Avila, the Royals’ starter, deserves credit for keeping Washington’s bats relatively quiet. The guy pitched 5.2 innings of solid work, allowing just three hits and one run while striking out five. That’s the kind of pitching performance that usually wins games, and in this case, it did. Avila didn’t need to be overpowering because his offense had already put the game away before the first inning was finished.

The Nationals scratched out a couple of runs in the sixth inning to make the final score look slightly less embarrassing, with CJ Abrams and Dylan Crews contributing RBIs. Crews even had a moment where he thought he’d done something noteworthy, and the Nationals felt compelled to challenge the play. The replay confirmed what everyone already knew: they were still getting demolished, and a challenge wasn’t going to change that fundamental reality.

What made this performance particularly damning for Washington is that it wasn’t the Royals’ ace taking them down. This was Luinder Avila doing competent work while the offense did the heavy lifting. There’s no shame in losing to elite pitching on a bad night. There absolutely is shame, however, in getting completely outmuscled by a team that simply wanted it more and executed better.

Royals’ Power Display Puts Away Nationals Early

Four home runs in the first three innings tells you everything you need to know about how this Wednesday night at Nationals Park was going to play out. Jensen, Rave, Thomas, and Massey all contributed to what amounted to a sustained assault on Littell’s pitching. By the time the middle innings arrived, the game was already decided. It was merely a matter of how long the Nationals would stick around trying to make it respectable.

Avila Solid But Secondary to Offensive Explosion

Avila’s five strikeouts and minimal walks proved that he knew what he was doing out there, but let’s be honest, he could have been replaced by a moderately talented pitching machine and the Royals likely would have won this game anyway. The Nationals simply couldn’t put together any offensive rhythm against a pitcher who wasn’t even spectacular. That’s what happens when your own pitcher gets shredded early and often.