Royals can’t complete sweep as Brady Singer has rough first start in loss to Rangers
Apparently Texas Rangers right-hander Jordan Lyles held the key to diffusing what had been a highly explosive Kansas City Royals offense.
Lyles held the Royals to two runs Sunday after they’d put up double-digit scoring totals in back-to-back come-from-behind wins to start the season.
The lone miscue on Lyle’s part came in the sixth inning when Royals All-Star catcher Salvador Perez followed an Andrew Benintendi bunt single with a loud two-run homer to center field.
By that time, Royals right-hander Brady Singer had given up six runs, and the Rangers made those runs stand up as they avoided a three-game sweep with a 7-3 win in front of an announced 8,869 at Kauffman Stadium.
First baseman Carlos Santana had two hits for the Royals (2-1) in the loss.
“We know we’re going to need our starters to go deeper,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “We know that we can’t keep expecting to fight back every night. It just takes too much out of them. You can feel that it has already taken a toll. It takes a lot.”
Singer struck out five, allowed five hits, three walks and six runs, five earned, in 3 1/3 innings.
Singer, 24, gave up three runs in the third on a two-out, three-run home run by Nate Lowe that landed in the right-center field fountain an estimated 465 feet away from home plate.
Perez, who was behind the plate, said that one pitch changed the entire outing for Singer.
“The slider was kind of down and away,” Perez said. “I think it was low. He made a pretty good swing. A situation like that, 3-1, we’ve got a righty behind him. I think we should be a little bit more smart and try to walk him, not give him nothing to hit and concentrate on the other guy. I think it’s better to start the count 0-0 than 3-1.”
Singer struck out the next batter, Nick Solak, on three pitches to end the inning.
All three of Singer’s walks came in the fourth inning and all three came on a full count. With the bases loaded in the fourth, Singer gave up a single to Isiah Kiner-Falefa on a ground ball through the hole between third base and shortstop.
“I was definitely one pitch away there in the last inning,” Singer said. “I had runners on first and second. A ground ball anywhere in there could’ve helped. I was just trying so hard to drive it in there and strike the guy out. I should’ve just made a good pitch. I think I was trying way too hard.”
Two runs scored on the single, and Benintendi’s throw home veered off course and allowed runners to second and third. The third run of the inning, which moved up to third base on the error, scored on a sacrifice fly after Singer came out of the game.
“He’s in the fourth inning,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said of letting Singer try to work out of trouble. “We’ve got a right-handed batter in the box, and we’ve got somebody ready for the next lefty. We want to get a ground ball. He got a ground ball. It just got through.”
While Mike Minor gave the Royals six innings on Saturday, Opening Day starter Brad Keller didn’t make it out of the second inning on Thursday.
After Singer didn’t make it through four innings on Sunday, the bullpen has already pitched 16 1/3 innings in three games.
“It’s not like we’re stretching him,” Matheny said. “... He had a couple that got away, sailed high and pushed. But besides that, we knew he was one pitch away from getting out of that. We don’t have an endless supply of pitching either. We’ve got to try to get what we can so we aren’t killing the other guys the third game into this season. We’ve got to have some inning eaten up.”
Perez’s sixth-inning home run gave the Royals their first runs of the day, but it didn’t ignite a raging fire as had been the case earlier in the weekend. They’d scored in bunches in the two previous games, but they didn’t add another run until the ninth.
Michael A. Taylor singled with one out in the ninth and scored on an RBI double by Hanser Alberto for the game’s final run.
Former Royals starter and closer Ian Kennedy, who signed a minor-league contract with the Rangers in late February, pitched the ninth inning against his old team to close out the game.
Dozier making progress
Starting third baseman Hunter Dozier did not start for the second consecutive game after leaving the season opener with a swollen right thumb. Matheny said the swelling had gone down and Dozier was scheduled to participate in early drills prior Sunday’s game to test his viability as a defensive option.
Dozier has not been placed on the injured list, and the Royals have not felt the need to make a roster move to add another position player. Matheny has not given a timetable on his return, though he didn’t rule out him playing before the team’s scheduled day off on Tuesday.
Up next
The Royals begin a two-game set with the Indians in Cleveland on Monday afternoon. They’ll play the Indians’ home opener on Monday and then have a day off before wrapping up that set on Wednesday.
Left-hander Logan Allen will start for the Indians on Monday, his first start since July 16, 2019. He pitched in relief to finish the 2019 season and during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Last year’s AL Cy Young Award winner, Shane Bieber will start the second game of the set.
This story was originally published April 4, 2021 at 4:26 PM with the headline "Royals can’t complete sweep as Brady Singer has rough first start in loss to Rangers."
