MLB

San Francisco Giants at Kansas City Royals

· Major League Baseball
San Francisco Giants
77-79, 36-42 Away
Final
2 - 0
Kansas City Royals
82-74, 45-36 Home

Snell strikes out 9 as the Giants beat the Royals 2-0 to complete a 3-game series sweep

Kansas City (82-72) moved into the second AL wild-card ahead of Detroit (82-74) because it holds the tiebreaker, winning the season series against the Tigers 7-6. Minnesota is a half-game back of Kansas City and the Tigers, pending the outcome of its second game of a doubleheader against Boston.

The Royals were shut out for the second straight game and lost their seventh straight, dropping all six games of their homestand.

“It couldn’t have been a worse homestand,” Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro said. “It’s really disappointing.”

Snell (5-3) allowed two singles and a walk and didn’t allow a runner past first base. In his last 14 starts, he is 5-0 with a 1.23 ERA and 114 strikeouts.

Working with an effective curveball, Snell held Royals’ batters to 1 for 13 when throwing a first-pitch strike. Opponents are hitting .121 this season when the 31-year-old left-hander gets ahead in the count.

“I was going to throw change-ups, but they were so on it,” Snell said. “So, I adjusted. (The curveball) was just there more today.”

With one out in the second, Grant McCray lined an RBI triple to right-center and scored on Brett Wisely’s two-out hit. McCray snapped an 0-for-13 skid with his first extra-base hit since Sept. 7.

“That was a huge hit for us because (Seth) Lugo looked like he was on his game,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said.

Lugo (16-9) retired the next 16 batters and finished with five strikeouts and two runs allowed through seven innings.

“His command was impeccable today,” Quatraro said. “His stuff was really good.”

With two out and runners at second and third, the Giants intentionally walked Bobby Witt Jr. to load the bases. Tyler Rogers induced a pop fly from Salvador Perez to end the threat.

“Witt’s numbers against righties are off the charts,” Melvin said. “But it’s still not an easy thing to do because Salvy’s really good.”

Ryan Walker struck out one in the ninth, earning his ninth save.

San Francisco completed its first series sweep of Kansas City and its first series sweep against an American League opponent since April 15-17, 2022, at Cleveland.

“It’s nice to get a sweep against a good team,” Melvin said. “We’re playing pretty good right now.”

The Royals have scored four runs in their last five games and have held a lead in just one of their last 50 innings.

“We’ve got to put ourselves in more opportunities,” Quatraro said. “There’s plenty of ways to score runs.”

Kansas City lost by shutout in consecutive games for the second time this season and the first time since June 22-23 at Texas.

“Every time we lose it’s hard,” Perez said. “We still have one more week. What happened at home, we’ll forget about that and try to win the next two series.”

UP NEXT

Giants: RHP Hayden Birdsong (4-5, 4.74 ERA) opposes Diamondbacks LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (3-3, 5.09) in Arizona on Monday.

Royals: LHP Cole Ragans (11-9, 3.24) opposes Nationals LHP Mitchell Parker (7-10, 4.44) in Washington on Tuesday.

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

Matchup Prediction

Royals: 56.2%
Giants: 43.8%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Massey popped out to third.
9th Inning Gurriel grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Melendez out at second.
9th Inning Renfroe struck out swinging.
9th Inning Melendez hit by pitch.
9th Inning Walker relieved Ty. Rogers
9th Inning Bailey struck out looking.

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/sf.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originSF 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 2
8 Ground Balls 6
8 Strikeouts 13
2 Runs Batted In 0
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
3 Hits 3
0 Stolen Bases 0
1 Walks 2
0 Catcher Interference 0
2 Runs 0
0 Ground Into Double Play 0
0 Sacrifice Flies 0
31 At Bats 30
0 Home Runs 0
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
5 Runners Left On Base 14
1 Triples 0
1 Game Winning RBIs 0
0 Intentional Walks 1
0 Doubles 0
15 Fly Balls 11
0 Caught Stealing 0
120 Pitches 138
0 Games Started 0
0 Pinch At Bats 2
0 Pinch Hits 0
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
0 Is Qualified In Steals 0
5 Total Bases 3
32 Plate Appearances 34
0.0 Projected Home Runs 0.0
1 Extra Base Hits 0
-0.5 Runs Created 0.0
.097 Batting Average .100
.000 Pinch Hit Average .000
.161 Slugging Percentage .100
.097 Secondary Average .067
.125 On Base Percentage .206
.286 OBP Pct + SLG Pct .306
0.5 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 0.5
-0.4 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 0.0
13.5 Batter Rating 3.0
0.0 At Bats Per Home Run 0.0
0.00 Stolen Base Percentage 0.00
3.75 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 4.06
.065 Isolated Power .000
0.13 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.15
.031 Walks Per Plate Appearance .059
.000 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average -.033
4.0 Runs Produced 0.0
1.0 Runs Ratio 0.0
0.2 Patience Ratio 0.2
0.1 Balls In Play Average 0.2
62.3 MLB Rating 56.0
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Kauffman Stadium

Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Attendance: 24,189 | Capacity:

2024 National League West Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Los Angeles 98 64 .605 - W5
San Diego 93 69 .574 5 L1
Arizona 89 73 .549 9 W1
San Francisco 80 82 .494 18 L1
Colorado 61 101 .377 37 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
Full Standings