Kansas City Royals at Houston Astros

HOUSTON – Despite having found a niche as a left-handed bullpen arm for the bulk of the season, Daniel Lynch IV is making a case to be a starter long term.​ Getting the best of a leading MVP candidate doesn’t hurt. Making his eighth start since injuries prompted his move into the Royals’ rotation, Lynch threw five scoreless innings Wednesday night, allowing just two hits in propelling Kansas City to a 5-2 victory over the Houston Astros at Daikin Park. Lynch, who threw 49 of his 72 pitches for strikes, walked one and struck out three in his third consecutive five-inning outing. He mixed his pitches superbly, throwing 24 changeups, 19 sinkers, 11 four-seamers, nine knuckle curves and nine sliders. “I was really happy, particularly that I was able to command my four-seam fastball,” Lynch said. “And I felt like it was a good blend between the sinker and the four-seam. I was able to keep them off balance a little bit, and then just mixing in my off-speed stuff, that’s how I’ve had success in the past – just kind of been all over the place with my stuff, not throwing one pitch the majority of the time. Just trying to mix all five of them.” Of particular note: Early in the game, Lynch twice retired American League MVP front-runner Yordan Alvarez with runners in scoring position. After the torrid Jeremy Peña began his second consecutive three-hit night with a double to lead off the Houston first, Lynch struck out Alvarez swinging on a slider.  “Great hitter. Everyone’s aware of it,” Lynch said of Alvarez. “You’re not going to get him out by nibbling or trying to make perfect pitches. You’ve just got to go right after him and try to make your best pitches. I was able to do that there. You don’t want to give up a leadoff double, but to be able to fight out of that was big.” Lynch didn’t allow another baserunner until Jorge Barrosa’s one-out walk in the third. Peña followed with a single, but Lynch got Alvarez to turn a 93.2-mph sinker into a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat.