Tampa Bay Rays at Kansas City Royals
· Major League Baseball4 - 8
Witt homers, triples and has 3 RBIs as Royals beat Rays 8-4 in 1 hour, 54 minutes
Witt and Drew Waters became the first Royals teammates to each triple and homer in the same game. In a game that sped by in 1 hour, 54 minutes, Brady Singer (6-8) won for the second time in seven starts since June 4.
“The slider was really good, had some good swing-and-miss on it, and on the changeup, too, when I needed it,” Singer said,
He needed 70 pitches through seven innings and led 7-0 before Isaac Paredes hit a solo homer and Francisco Mejía hit a three-run drive for the AL-best Rays (60-36).
“When you have a sinker that’s working like that and they put the ball on ground early, it provides a lot of confidence for him to be able to work quickly and be able to move through the game efficiently.” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said.
Singer allowed four runs and seven hits in a season-high eight innings as Kansas City improved to 27-67, the second-worst record in the major leagues and ahead of only Oakland.
“That’s vintage sinkerballer,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “You’re relying on the late movement to get the ball on the ground and that’s what happened. He just had some extra movement on it today that made it a little challenging for us.”
The early lead gave Singer confidence to attack hitters.
“It set me up to be able to stay in the zone more," he said. "I was definitely more aggressive with that lead. I was staying in the zone so much. Throwing so many strikes was helping me to get them to swing early.”
Zach Eflin (10-5) gave up a season-high five runs and seven hits over a season-low three innings, allowing hits to seven of his first 11 batters. The Rays had won three straight after a season-worst seven-game losing streak.
“I had a pretty bad bullpen going into the game,” Eflin said. “I didn’t feel like I was in sync. The sinker wasn’t working. I couldn’t figure out where the ball was going. I knew something was off going into the game. I didn’t set the tone like I should have.”
In a game that started one hour later because of rain, Royals All-Star catcher Salvador Perez left in the second inning after feeling left hamstring discomfort while scoring on Melendez’s double.
MJ Melendez hit a two-out RBI double in the first and the Royals opened a 5-0 lead in the second. Waters hit an RBI triple and scored on Nick Pratto’s single. Witt, who has an extra-base hit in six straight games, hit a two-run, two-out triple.
“Seeing the guys before me put together good at-bats gives you confidence,” Witt said. “Just trying to simplify as much as possible and just trying to put a good swing on the ball.”
Waters led off the fourth against Yonny Chirinos with a 465-foot home run to the upper level of the right-field fountains.
Witt led off the fifth with his 16th homer and Melendez hit a solo homer in the eighth off Chirinos.
TRANSACTIONS
Royals RHP Collin Snider was optioned to Omaha and RHP Max Castillo was recalled from the Triple-A team.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Royals RHP Josh Staumont, placed on the 60-day IL on Saturday, is expected to have thoracic outlet syndrome surgery and miss the rest of the season.
UP NEXT
Rays: LHP Shane McClanahan (11-1, 2.53) will return from a stint on the 15-day IL caused by a back injury to oppose Rangers RHP Dane Dunning (8-2, 2.84) in Texas on Monday.
Tigers: RHP Matt Manning (3-1, 3.72) takes on Royals RHP Jordan Lyles (1-11, 6.42) in Kansas City on Monday.
How can I watch Tampa Bay Rays vs. Kansas City Royals?
- TV Channel: Rays at Royals 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.tv.
- Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.
Matchup Prediction
Scoring Summary
9th Inning | Paredes lined out to center. | |
9th Inning | J. Lowe grounded out to second. | |
9th Inning | Raley grounded out to second. | |
9th Inning | Barlow relieved Singer | |
8th Inning | Waters struck out swinging. | |
8th Inning | Isbel stole second, Isbel safe at third on throwing error by catcher Mejía. |
Statistics
TB | KC | |
---|---|---|
1 | Games Played | 1 |
1 | Team Games Played | 1 |
1 | Hit By Pitch | 0 |
18 | Ground Balls | 14 |
4 | Strikeouts | 2 |
4 | Runs Batted In | 8 |
0 | Sacrifice Hit | 0 |
7 | Hits | 11 |
0 | Stolen Bases | 1 |
0 | Walks | 0 |
0 | Catcher Interference | 0 |
4 | Runs | 8 |
2 | Ground Into Double Play | 0 |
0 | Sacrifice Flies | 0 |
32 | At Bats | 34 |
2 | Home Runs | 3 |
0 | Grand Slam Home Runs | 0 |
5 | Runners Left On Base | 5 |
0 | Triples | 2 |
0 | Game Winning RBIs | 1 |
0 | Intentional Walks | 0 |
1 | Doubles | 1 |
10 | Fly Balls | 18 |
0 | Caught Stealing | 0 |
107 | Pitches | 101 |
0 | Games Started | 0 |
0 | Pinch At Bats | 1 |
0 | Pinch Hits | 0 |
0.0 | Player Rating | 0.0 |
1 | Is Qualified | 1 |
0 | Is Qualified In Steals | 1 |
14 | Total Bases | 25 |
33 | Plate Appearances | 34 |
324.0 | Projected Home Runs | 486.0 |
3 | Extra Base Hits | 6 |
2.8 | Runs Created | 8.0 |
.219 | Batting Average | .324 |
.000 | Pinch Hit Average | .000 |
.438 | Slugging Percentage | .735 |
.219 | Secondary Average | .441 |
.242 | On Base Percentage | .324 |
.680 | OBP Pct + SLG Pct | 1.059 |
1.8 | Ground To Fly Ball Ratio | 0.8 |
2.8 | Runs Created Per 27 Outs | 9.4 |
31.0 | Batter Rating | 60.0 |
16.0 | At Bats Per Home Run | 11.3 |
0.00 | Stolen Base Percentage | 1.00 |
3.24 | Pitches Per Plate Appearance | 2.97 |
.219 | Isolated Power | .412 |
0.00 | Walk To Strikeout Ratio | 0.00 |
.000 | Walks Per Plate Appearance | .000 |
.000 | Secondary Average Minus Batting Average | .118 |
8.0 | Runs Produced | 16.0 |
1.0 | Runs Ratio | 1.0 |
0.5 | Patience Ratio | 0.7 |
0.2 | Balls In Play Average | 0.3 |
81.0 | MLB Rating | 105.0 |
0.0 | Offensive Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
0.0 | Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
Game Information
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Attendance: 15,632 | Capacity:
2024 American League East Standings
TEAM | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
New York | 94 | 68 | .580 | - | W1 |
Baltimore | 91 | 71 | .562 | 3 | W3 |
Boston | 81 | 81 | .500 | 13 | W1 |
Tampa Bay | 80 | 82 | .494 | 14 | L1 |
Toronto | 74 | 88 | .457 | 20 | L3 |
2024 American League Central Standings
TEAM | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cleveland | 92 | 69 | .571 | - | L2 |
Kansas City | 86 | 76 | .531 | 6.5 | W1 |
Detroit | 86 | 76 | .531 | 6.5 | L2 |
Minnesota | 82 | 80 | .506 | 10.5 | L4 |
Chicago | 41 | 121 | .253 | 51.5 | W2 |