Royals catcher Cam Gallagher bunting his way into the club record book
The Tigers better be alert for the bunt on Sunday, especially if Cam Gallagher is at the plate with a runner on base.
Gallagher, the Royals’ backup catcher, will get his fourth start of the season on Sunday against the Tigers at Comerica Park. He enters the day having bunted for a pair of RBI singles in 29 at-bats, the most recent having come on Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Rays at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
Gallagher became the first catcher in Royals history with multiple RBI bunt singles in his career as well as the first catcher in the majors with multiple bunt singles in the same season since 2003 (San Francisco’s Yorvit Torrealba).
Gallagher, who is batting .138, has not faced Tigers starting pitcher Spencer Turnbull (2-2, 2.53) in the majors.
Two of three: The Royals will try for their first series win since having swept a three-game series from the Cleveland Indians in Kansas City on April 12-14. They’re coming off a four-game split with the Tampa Bay Rays last week in Kansas City.
Sunday’s game marks just the second rubber match for the Royals this season. The other came last Sunday against the Los Angeles Angels, a game which the Royals lost 7-3 at home.
Boxed in: Quietly, Royals reliever Brad Boxberger has now retired 12 consecutive batters in his past three appearances (four innings). A scoreless inning on Saturday extended the streak to four straight scoreless innings, and he has allowed just one runner to reach base — a leadoff walk in the first of the four appearances — during that stretch dating back to April 24 in Tampa Bay. He spoke recently of mechanical adjustments that have helped him gain life and movement on his pitches.
700 club: With the Royals’ next win, Yost will reach 700 wins at the helm of the club. He’s already the franchise’s winningest manager. He entered Sunday with a record of 699-758, having long ago surpassed Whitey Herzog previous team record for wins by a manager (410 from 1975-79).
Sunday’s lineup
1. Whit Merrifield, 2b
2. Adalberto Mondesi, ss
3. Alex Gordon, lf
4. Hunter Dozier, dh
5. Jorge Soler, rf
6. Ryan O’Hearn, 1b
7. Kelvin Gutierrez, 3b
8. Cam Gallagher, c
9. Billy Hamilton, cf
Starting pitcher: Brad Keller (rh, 2-3, 4.07)
This story was originally published May 5, 2019 at 11:38 AM with the headline "Royals catcher Cam Gallagher bunting his way into the club record book."
