MLB

Houston Astros at Kansas City Royals

· Major League Baseball
Houston Astros
4-10, 2-5 Away
Final
3 - 13
Kansas City Royals
9-4, 8-2 Home

How sweep it is: Royals use 9-run first to cruise past Astros 13-3, extend win streak to 7 games

Vinnie Pasquantino, who came into Wednesday's game hitting .108 with no RBI, was 3-for-5 with three RBI and now is hitting .222 with eight RBI.

“To go from zero to eight in two days is pretty good,” Pasquantino said. “Hopefully we keep it up. If I could stay at this pace, we’d be in a really good spot.

"It feels good to be a part of the winning.”

The Royals completed a perfect seven-game homestand against the White Sox and Astros. It's just the third time in franchise history they've played at least seven games on a homestand without a loss. The other two: seven games in 1988 and eight games in 1985, the year they won their first World Series.

“It’s a great feeling,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “I’m really happy for those guys. They’ve put in a ton of work. And to get off to that kind of start and sustain it for a full week is really challenging and really rewarding.”

Brady Singer (2-0) allowed one run and five hits in five innings.

Hunter Brown (0-2) got only two outs, but allowed nine runs and 11 hits.

“For the most part, I was generally over the middle of the dish,” Brown said. “I’m definitely not happy about it. I gotta look into it deeper. I've got to sit down with the staff and see what I can do.”

The Royals sent 15 men to the plate in the first inning, tying a club record with 11 hits in the inning (also set in 1986 and 2006). It was the second straight game they've batted around in an inning, sending 11 men to the plate in a seven-run inning Wednesday night.

“As a team we're just coming into the clubhouse each and every day having that feeling of, ‘We’re gonna win,’" Witt said.

The feeling was more demure in the other clubhouse.

“We’ve been tested early, and this team has been tested before,” Houston manager Joe Espada said. “This is going to make us better. It’s hard to swallow those losses, but (I have) faith in that group in there. We’ll figure it out. When things are just not going your way, that’s the stuff that happens.”

Maikel Garcia (two singles), Witt (a single and a homer) and Pasquantino (two singles) each had two hits and two RBI in the first inning. Everyone in the starting lineup had at least one hit in the inning except Kyle Isbel.

The Astros had baserunners in nearly every inning, but got only a solo home run in the fourth from Yainer Diaz and a pair of runs in the sixth, snapping a 19 1/3-inning scoreless streak by the Royals bullpen.

TRAINING ROOM

Astros: RHP Justin Verlander is scheduled for another rehab start this weekend prior to his potential return to the rotation. He's been on the injured list with a right shoulder issue. ... Manager Joe Espada said LHP Framber Valdez averted the worst-case scenario with elbow soreness that put him on the IL on Monday. “The soreness is pretty much all gone,” Espada said. “Now it’s time to let him play catch in the next few days and get him built up.”

UP NEXT

Astros: return to Houston for a six-game homestand against Texas and Atlanta. RHP J.P. Franco (0-1, 4.78 ERA) will take the mound Friday against RHP Dane Dunning (1-1, 4.15 ERA) for Texas.

Royals: go on a six-game road trip to New York and Chicago. RHP Michael Wacha (1-0, 2.25 ERA) will start Friday against the Mets' RHP Luis Severino (0-1, 3.60 ERA).

How can I watch Houston Astros vs. Kansas City Royals?
  • TV Channel: Astros at Royals 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on ESPN+.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Royals: 52.7%
Astros: 47.3%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Peña fouled out to first.
9th Inning Singleton doubled to right.
9th Inning Diaz grounded out to catcher.
9th Inning Bregman grounded out to shortstop.
9th Inning Lyles relieved Sauer
9th Inning Melendez at first base.

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/hou.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originHOU https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/kc.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originKC
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
0 Hit By Pitch 1
13 Ground Balls 18
6 Strikeouts 4
3 Runs Batted In 13
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
11 Hits 16
0 Stolen Bases 1
5 Walks 2
0 Catcher Interference 0
3 Runs 13
1 Ground Into Double Play 1
0 Sacrifice Flies 0
38 At Bats 39
1 Home Runs 2
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
26 Runners Left On Base 13
0 Triples 0
0 Game Winning RBIs 1
0 Intentional Walks 0
3 Doubles 2
19 Fly Balls 17
0 Caught Stealing 0
167 Pitches 154
0 Games Started 0
1 Pinch At Bats 1
0 Pinch Hits 0
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
0 Is Qualified In Steals 1
17 Total Bases 24
43 Plate Appearances 42
162.0 Projected Home Runs 324.0
4 Extra Base Hits 4
6.2 Runs Created 9.8
.289 Batting Average .410
.000 Pinch Hit Average .000
.447 Slugging Percentage .615
.289 Secondary Average .282
.372 On Base Percentage .452
.819 OBP Pct + SLG Pct 1.068
0.7 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 1.1
6.0 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 11.0
32.0 Batter Rating 79.0
38.0 At Bats Per Home Run 19.5
0.00 Stolen Base Percentage 1.00
3.88 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 3.67
.158 Isolated Power .205
0.83 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.50
.116 Walks Per Plate Appearance .048
.000 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average -.128
6.0 Runs Produced 26.0
1.0 Runs Ratio 1.0
0.5 Patience Ratio 0.7
0.3 Balls In Play Average 0.4
86.0 MLB Rating 119.3
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Kauffman Stadium

Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Attendance: 10,280 | Capacity:

2024 American League West Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Houston 88 73 .547 - W2
Seattle 85 77 .525 3.5 W4
Texas 78 84 .481 10.5 W3
Oakland 69 93 .426 19.5 L3
Los Angeles 63 99 .389 25.5 L6

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
Full Standings