KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kevin Gausman was happy that his first start with the Chicago Cubs did not come against his former team.
The Kansas City Royals sure wish it had.
Gausman, who was acquired from the Blue Jays in a trade last weekend, could have been in line to start the Cubs' makeup game against Toronto on Thursday. Instead, the two-time All-Star made his debut for them on Friday night, and he delivered exactly what they had envisioned, throwing seven sharp innings and leading Chicago to a 6-4 victory over the Royals.
“Listen, it's been a lot," said Gausman, who allowed two runs on four hits and walked one while striking out four. “It was my youngest daughter's birthday yesterday, so you know, not just baseball. It's a lot going on. So that's why I say that it was just nice to get out there and just focus on trying to get outs.”
Gausman had actually struggled the last couple of months with the Blue Jays, going 1-5 with a 5.17 ERA in his final seven starts. But he seemed to turn it around in his last start for them, allowing one run while pitching into the sixth against St. Louis last Saturday.
There were a couple of early hiccups against Kansas City — he walked Carter Jensen to begin the game, and Isaac Collins drove him in later in the first inning. But otherwise, Gausman seemed to pick up right where he left off against the Cardinals.
Between the hit by Collins and Jensen's two-out homer in the fifth, Gausman retired 12 of the 13 batters that he faced.
“I mean, he pitched great,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “He probably wasn't quite in rhythm in the first inning, but you could see he got a little better in the second, got a little better in the third, and then it was kind of on cruise control. Just a bunch of good pitches that he was kind of feeling with each pitch.”
The only real scare that Gausman had all night was on Salvador Perez's first-inning liner off his ankle. But the 35-year-old postseason ace quickly shook it off, and it may have actually played a role in settling him down.
“I was just kind of waiting for it to like, stiffen up, and it never did,” Gausman said. “So that's kind of what you're worried about is, if you kind of lose mobility in the ankle. But you know, kind of got lucky. Hit me like, half on my shoe.”
Caleb Thielbar entered in relief of Gausman and allowed a pair of runs in the eighth before Trent Thornton escaped that jam, getting Nick Loftin to fly out with the tying run on first base. Jacob Webb breezed through the ninth for his seventh save.
The fact that Gausman went so deep in the game was big for the Cubs, given they may have to protect Clay Holmes when he makes his own debut for them on Saturday night. The right-hander, who was acquired in a trade with the Mets, will be making his first start since May 15, when he fractured his right fibula on a sharp liner by the Yankees’ Spencer Jones.
“This is a guy that you can't throw something at him that he hasn't seen,” Counsell said of Gausman, “and so guys like that are prepared for anything. And you know, that doesn't take away from the emotion of getting traded, or you know, seeing your old team come to town right away. But it teaches you how to process it and move forward.”
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