Royals pick up first win in slugfest against the Blue Jays

On Monday night, the Royals finally got a notch in the win column via an excellent offense powered by four extra base hits—each by a different batter. Meanwhile, Brady Singer wasn’t quite his normal dominant self but nevertheless made his way through a tricky Blue Jays lineup. At the end of the night, the Royals gave Matt Quatraro his first win as a big league manager, 9-5 over Toronto.

Contrasting the first few games of the year, the Royals struck gold right off the bat in the bottom of the first inning. MJ Melendez led off with a double and scored on a single by Bobby Witt Jr., their first two hits of this young season.

Kansas City would add a second run off the bat of a Michael Massey single and a third run off the bat of a Kyle Isbel single. The Royals would strike again in the fourth inning, a four-run explostion that began with consecutive singles from Hunter Dozier and Jackie Bradley Jr. Nicky Lopez then tripled to score both on a beautiful line drive to the right-center gap.

The Royals added another two runs off a double from Vinnie Pasquantino and another single by Witt, who tried to advance to third base on the throw from the outfield. He did not make it, but hey, props for trying.

On the pitching side of things, Singer cruised through the first four innings without much stress. In the one instance in which he found himself with runners on the corners and two outs, Singer was able to strike out Cavan Biggio to squeeze out of it. But Singer did encounter some issues in the fifth after a leadoff walk from Brandon Belt and a Matt Chapman double. After Biggio walked, the bases were loaded with no outs. Thankfully, Singer’s sinker worked against Kevin Kiermaier, who hit into a double play, and George Springer’s groundout resulted in only one total run scoring.

Singer only managed to pitch those five innings and strike out three. But he was effective when it counted, and after not getting much run in the World Baseball Classic, it’ll probably take some time for him to fully stretch out.

Though Kansas City didn’t need it, they added a few insurance runs in the sixth inning thanks to Melendez’s first home run of the season—a true beauty, and the hardest ball he’s hit in his career. The fountain splash scored Lopez and gave the Royals a 9-1 lead.

Ryan Yarbrough, Dylan Coleman, and Taylor Clarke did give up four runs in 4.1 innings, which is not ideal. The Royals bullpen has given up nine runs in their last two games, which is something to keep an eye on as the season goes on. But the Royals had a big enough lead, and sometimes you’re just gonna give up garbage time runs.

Tomorrow, the Royals face the Blue Jays again on Dollar Dog Night. Both teams stand at 1-3.