With three consecutive wins going on, the Royals entered Sunday with a chance to sweep the division-leading Minnesota Twins. Fueled by a dark start from Brady Singer, Kansas City defeated the Twins, 4-2.
At the top of the first, Singer was helped by seven-time Gold Glove winner Alex Gordon. On a sinking line of Nelson Cruz’s bats riders, Gordon dived first and took extra bases away from the 40-year-old slugger.
Similar to Saturday night, Kansas City is not wasting any time jumping on a Twins starter. Jager Dozier, who was reinstated from the injured list this morning, pounded a 1-1 fastball behind midfield to place two runs.
Back on the mound, Singer continued to cruise by sitting through the first seven hitters. But a dangerous play almost cost him an early exit. With one out in the top of the third, Byron Buxton hit a 101 mph ground ball back to the mound and Singer tried to snag it with his bare hand. The ball ricocheted to Adalberto Mondesi on shortstop, but Buxton reached on an infield single. Although Singer remained in the game, his command was not as sharp. The first ball he threw to the ricochet was wild to first base on a pick-off attempt. The error allowed Buxton to move on to third. Max Kepler doubled his lead one bat later and the Twins tied the game on an RBI groundout.
Kansas City fought back quickly in the bottom half of the inning. After a lead-off single from Whit Merrifield, the Royals put up a hit and ran with Jorge Soler on that record. Soler, who last night had two home runs over 430 feet, did not need much to get the ball through the infield. His single was clocked at a whopping 59-mph. Salvador Perez rode Merrifield home on a sacrificial flight to give the Royals a 3-2 lead.
Singer ran into the top of the fifth in heavy trouble with his pitch count up. With two outs and two on, Mike Matheny chose to keep Singer in the game with Greg Holland warming-up in the bullpen. The decision paid off when Singer got Eddie Rosario to fly out to finish the inning. Singer’s last line was five innings, five hits, two deserved runs and four strikeouts.
After Holland worked a clean frame in the top of the sixth, Maikel Franco put a charge in one and chased José Berríos out of the game. The rough distance on the solo shot was 414 feet.
Flame-throwing Josh Staumont returned to the mound in the seventh after leaving Friday’s game with back-to-backs. The right-hander recorded three strikeouts in two scoreless innings. His ERA is down to 1.17 in 7 2⁄3 innings with 14 strikeouts.
Scott Barlow slammed the door in the ninth, kicking four goalless innings out of the bullpen.
Sunday’s win makes it the fourth straight out for Kansas City and it shot the overall record to 7-10. After the first off-day of the season on Monday, the Royals will travel to Cincinnati for a set of two games with the Reds. Kris Bubic will get the ball in Game 1 on Tuesday. First pitch will be CDT at 17:40.
