Brady Singer dominates, MJ Melendez hits first career home run in game 2. Game 1 happened also.

Game 1: Royals lose 3-0

...look, I’m not gonna talk about this one. It sucked. The Royals left a small army on base, and Ryan O’Hearn left eight (!!!) on his own. Carlos Santana pinch hit for Salvador Perez because Perez got hurt. And the above happened. It was bad. Let’s not think about it. Jon Heasley pitched again, and was ok. He keeps walking too many people this year, and that’s gonna come back to haunt him at some point.

Game 2: Royals win 2-1

Now this is what I’m talking about. The result of this game is rather immaterial. Coming into the season, the biggest question was simple: will any of the Class of 2018 take a step forward? It seemed like, well, no had been the answer to this point.

But tonight? Wheeew boy, tonight was sexy. Brady Singer threw a bunch of changeups (for him), at 17%. They were quite good.

And yes, you read that right: nine strikeouts. Singer was absolutely, truly, not-just-for-the-Royals flat-out dominant tonight. It was awesome. All three pitches were working for him, and he got a double-Pitching Ninja GIF night.

Brady Singer’s final line was fantastic: seven innings, no runs. Nine strikeouts, no walks, on 93 pitches. It was the most dominant a Royals pitcher has been all year.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Royals were mostly quiet. They didn’t get a lot of hits and they struck out too much and yada yada yada, you’ve heard it all at this point. But the Royals actually got a run from a man on third base, less than two outs situation thanks to Michael A. Taylor’s double down the line. Then, in the sixth inning, MJ Melendez acquiesced with a Sonic Slam—his first big league home run.

Melendez’s homer was clocked at over 101 MPH leaving the bat even though he looked like he was off balance during the swing. He is a strong young lad, that is for sure.

In the ninth inning, with the Royals only ahead by one run, Josh Staumont closed the door and the Royals were winners for the 13th time this season. Others of note: Bobby Witt Jr. had two doubles on the day, raising his wRC+ to 86. Whit Merrifield collected a pair of hits and a walk on the day. And, not to beat a dead horse, but Ryan O’Hearn and Carlos Santana came up to bat a combined 10 times. They didn’t get a single hit.

Tomorrow, the 13-22 Royals will face the White Sox once more with Zack Greinke on the mound.