Singer sharp as Royals take series with 2-0 win over Toronto

Brady Singer tossed six shutout innings and the bullpen continued the scoreless day as the Royals took the series from Toronto with a 2-0 win on Sunday. The Royals improve to 9-5 on the year and have still not lost a series.

Singer was cruising early on, striking out four hitters in the first two innings. He kept hitters off balance all day, despite not using his change up (he threw jjust one all afternoon). He got ten swinging strikes, seven of them off his slider, and he averaged 94.5 mph on his fastball.

Singer would put up goose eggs for six innings, striking out six with three walks and just two hits allowed. He threw 55 of his 90 pitches for strikes.

Royals hitters had chances all afternoon against Jays starter Robbie Ray, but had trouble bringing them home. They loaded the bases in the first two innings, but left them stranded, then stranded two more in the third. They wasted a leadoff double in the fourth by Nicky Lopez, and it looked like they might rue the missed opportunities.

But as he has done many times already this season, Salvador Perez picked up the team and put them on his back. Carlos Santana led off the seventh with a single off Jays reliever T.J. Zeuch. Salvador followed him up with his fifth home run of the season, a 441-foot blast to make it 2-0.

The Royals would fail to capitalize on loading the bases that inning, but it ultimately wouldn’t matter. Kyle Zimmer, Josh Staumont, and Greg Holland combined for a scoreless seventh, eighth, and ninth to clinch the 2-0 win.

The defending American League champion Tampa Bay Rays come into town tomorrow night to wrap up the homestand and give the Royals what should be the biggest challenge they have faced in this early season. But right now, the Royals are playing good ball, overcoming their mistakes, and are a lot of fun to watch.