MLB

Kansas City Royals at Pittsburgh Pirates

· Major League Baseball
Kansas City Royals
82-67, 37-37 Away
Final
5 - 1
Pittsburgh Pirates
70-78, 37-40 Home

Bobby Witt Jr. passes 100 RBIs for the season as the Royals beat the Pirates 5-1

Witt also hit a sacrifice fly in the fifth and a run-scoring double in the sixth. He went 2 for 3 to raise his MLB-leading batting average to .333. He also has 31 homers and 102 RBI.

“It’s hard to set personal goals because you never know what might happen during the season,” Witt said. “So, I just take it day by day, play the game and let things happen on their own. But 100 RBI does mean a lot. I’m happy to be able to do that.”

Michael Wacha (13-7) gave up one run in five innings to improve to 9-1 with a 2.68 ERA in 13 starts since the beginning of July. He allowed four hits, walked three and struck out eight.

“The first two innings were really efficient then in the third inning they started working some walks and long counts, working some good ABs and really made me work,” Wacha said. “I wish I could have gone a little deeper, but the bullpen came in and did a great job.”

John Schreiber, Sam Long, James McArthur, Kris Bubic and Lucas Erceg combined for four innings of five-hit ball for Kansas City.

The Royals won for the seventh time in nine games since a seven-game losing streak as they try to reach the postseason for the first time since winning the World Series in 2015. The Royals also assured themselves of their first winning season since 2015 by raising their record to 82-67.

“It really doesn’t mean that much to me,” manager Matt Quatraro said of having a winning record after going 56-106 last season. “Our guys have set the bar much higher than that. They’ve wanted to win the division since the first day of spring training and we might need 90-some wins to do that.”

Kansas City began the day with a 2½-game lead over Minnesota for the second AL wild card. The Royals trailed first-place Cleveland by three games in the AL Central.

The Royals had five stolen bases, three by Maikol Garcia and two by Kyle Isbel.

Mitch Keller (11-10) lost for the fifth time in his last six decisions, allowing four runs — three earned — and four hits with six strikeouts and one walk. The Pirates made three errors behind Keller.

“We gave up a couple runs that were situations he couldn’t control,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “I didn’t think he had his best stuff, but I thought he was able to grind through it and continue to get outs.”

After Witt staked the Royals to the early 1-0 lead, the Royals scored twice in the fifth. Adam Frazier tripled past diving center field Oneil Cruz and scored on Garcia’s double before Witt hit a sacrifice fly.

The Pirates scored their lone run in the fifth on an RBI single by Cruz. They are 14-24 since Aug. 4.

Kansas City’s Michael Massey doubled and scored on third baseman Jared Triolo’s error in the fifth. Witt’s RBI double in the sixth that was misplayed by Cruz made it 5-1.

Bryan Reynolds and Triolo each had two hits for the Pirates.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: RHP Chris Stratton (right forearm flexor strain) was placed on the 15-day injured list and LHP Angel Zerpa was recalled from Triple-A Omaha. Stratton will undergo imaging Monday when the Royals return home from their road trip.

UP NEXT

The series concludes Sunday with Royals RHP Brady Singer (9-10, 3.42 ERA) facing rookie RHP Jared Jones (6-7, 3.82 ERA). Singer is 1-4 with a 5.17 ERA in his last seven starts.

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

Matchup Prediction

Pirates: 48.3%
Royals: 51.7%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

9th Inning N. Gonzales grounded out to shortstop.
9th Inning McCutchen doubled to right.
9th Inning Cruz struck out looking.
9th Inning Reynolds struck out swinging.
9th Inning Erceg relieved Bubic
9th Inning Perez grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, Witt Jr. out at second.

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/kc.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originKC https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/pit.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originPIT
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
1 Hit By Pitch 0
11 Ground Balls 7
8 Strikeouts 13
4 Runs Batted In 1
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
7 Hits 9
6 Stolen Bases 0
4 Walks 5
0 Catcher Interference 0
5 Runs 1
2 Ground Into Double Play 0
1 Sacrifice Flies 0
33 At Bats 36
1 Home Runs 0
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
20 Runners Left On Base 26
1 Triples 0
1 Game Winning RBIs 0
1 Intentional Walks 0
4 Doubles 1
15 Fly Balls 16
0 Caught Stealing 0
144 Pitches 165
0 Games Started 0
2 Pinch At Bats 1
0 Pinch Hits 0
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
1 Is Qualified In Steals 0
16 Total Bases 10
39 Plate Appearances 41
162.0 Projected Home Runs 0.0
6 Extra Base Hits 1
5.8 Runs Created 3.9
.212 Batting Average .250
.000 Pinch Hit Average .000
.485 Slugging Percentage .278
.576 Secondary Average .167
.308 On Base Percentage .341
.793 OBP Pct + SLG Pct .619
0.7 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 0.4
5.4 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 3.9
44.5 Batter Rating 15.0
33.0 At Bats Per Home Run 0.0
1.00 Stolen Base Percentage 0.00
3.69 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 4.02
.273 Isolated Power .028
0.50 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.38
.103 Walks Per Plate Appearance .122
.364 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average -.083
9.0 Runs Produced 2.0
0.8 Runs Ratio 1.0
0.6 Patience Ratio 0.4
0.3 Balls In Play Average 0.4
85.5 MLB Rating 71.3
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

PNC Park

Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 15,439 | Capacity:

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

2024 National League Central Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Milwaukee 93 69 .574 - L1
St. Louis 83 79 .512 10 W1
Chicago 83 79 .512 10 L1
Cincinnati 77 85 .475 16 W1
Pittsburgh 76 86 .469 17 L1
Full Standings