Daniel Lynch IV shuts Astros out over five in win

Lynch gave up seven hits, walked three and struck out two. He fell to 6-6 with the loss. Lynch held the Astros scoreless over five innings in his last start, but was a disaster against the White Sox Tuesday. He allowed three home runs in a nine-run blowout. Lynch will take a 4.13 ERA into his next start against the Guardians at home on Sunday.

Lynch was just good enough here against a Diamondbacks’ lineup that has truly forgotten how to hit. They had plenty of chances, but went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position in their seventh consecutive nine-inning game scoring three runs or fewer. As for Lynch, he kept his sinker down which forced just enough ground balls to get through five innings despite struggling to command any of his secondary stuff. He’s scheduled to face the Astros on the road next time out.

Lynch gave up seven hits, walked one and struck out none. He fell to 4-5 in 52 appearances (six starts) this season. Lynch recorded at least one strikeouts in his previous five starts this year, but there’s not enough fantasy upside here to go anywhere near him at this point. Lynch is lined up to face the Diamondbacks at home next week.

Lynch tossed a scoreless first inning, then gave up a two-run homer to Angel Martínez in the second. Lynch would go on to pitch into the fourth, departing with one out at 70 pitches while collecting three strikeouts. The 29-year-old left-hander will take a 3.06 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and a 46/19 K/BB ratio across 61 2/3 innings into a start against the Blue Jays in Kansas City on Friday.

Lynch struck out two and walked one as he built up to 59 pitches. This was his fourth start since joining the rotation. He pitched into the fifth after totaling four innings last time out. The 29-year-old began his career as a starter but performed better after shifting to the bullpen in recent years. For most of 2026, he was the team’s best reliever but only got one save. Perhaps that’s because a return to the rotation was the plan all along. He’s set to pitch on the road against the Guardians next time out.

Lynch gave up two hits, walked two and struck out one. He’s made three starts since the Royals moved him into the rotation, but is yet to reach 50 pitches thrown. Lynch threw 45 pitches against the Athletics on Tuesday. He’s unlikely to have fantasy value in these abbreviated starts. Lynch is lined up to face the Tigers at home on Sunday.

All three runs came off long balls allowed by Lynch; a solo shot by Mookie Betts and a two-run blast by SHohei Ohtani. The southpaw gave up just one other hit and struck out three, but it’s another unimpressive start for the 29-year-old. It’d be a mistake to trust him as a streamer for a scheduled start against the A’s next week.

Lynch pitched a scoreless first inning, but after retiring the first two batters he faced in the second inning, he would allow the next four batters he faced to reach base and was credited with allowing four earned runs when all was said and done. Lynch would see two of those runs come across to score on an RBI double by Pete Crow-Armstrong, with the other two coming across to score after Seiya Suzuki singled off Jose Cuas. This was Lynch’s first start of the season and just his sixth start since 2024. If he gets another turn, he would be scheduled to start on Wednesday on the road against the Dodgers, which may not go much better than what we saw today.

MLB.com’s Anne Rogers reports that this is part of a larger chance the Royals are giving Lynch to earn a spot in the rotation. The left-hander was a starter in the minors, but his own injuries and other free agent signings have pushed him to the bullpen, where he has a 1.96 ERA in 46 innings. He has a career 18.5 percent strikeout rate and has thrown more than one inning just tiwce since May 15th, so we wouldn’t get your hopes up for much fantasy value in his first few starts.

We assumed Erceg would be down today after throwing 32 pitches and giving up three runs with a five-run lead in Sunday’s game. The Royals had other ideas. To be fair, Erceg didn’t give up one hard-hit ball today, Two of the singles actually left the bat at less than 40 mph, and the lone extra-base hit, a double from Jazz Chisholm Jr., might have been handled by a better first baseman than Salvador Perez (he’d just replaced Vinnie Pasquantino after Pasquantino was removed for a pinch-runner). With any luck, this probably would have been a clean inning for Erceg. Still, Erceg just isn’t a very good reliever at the moment, what with his 18/13 K/BB in 21 1/3 innings. Daniel Lynch IV, who worked a scoreless eighth today, might be asked to take over in the ninth for now.