Brad Keller cruised early. Then Toronto tagged him with three homers for late win

From one corner inside the Royals’ clubhouse, Whit Merrifield shouted toward the opposite end to gather the attention of pitcher Brad Keller, set to take the mound in a few hours. Merrifield joked about the location of Keller’s last start, seven shutout innings highlighted by a 98-mph fastball that just so happened to be in his native Georgia.

“Bet you don’t throw 98 in Kansas City,” Merrifield quipped.

“Challenge accepted,” Keller replied.

Keller needed all of five pitches to reach that, freezing Toronto leadoff man Cavan Biggio on a fastball for strike three. The radar gun reading: 98 mph.

Keller backed his words early.

But Biggio spoke last.

The Blue Jays tagged Keller for three late home runs on their way to a 7-3 victory at Kauffman Stadium in the opener of a three-game series.

On a night in which the Blue Jays welcomed the son of one former major leaguer to the roster, they left it to the son of another Hall of Famer to produce the deciding blast. Biggio, the son of Craig, sent a 418-foot shot to right field to break a 3-3 tie in the eighth before Toronto pounced on the Royals’ bullpen in the ninth to pull away.

“I felt in control the whole time, and even minus those three pitches, I felt really good,” Keller said, later adding, “It’s really frustrating that it costs you a game.”

Keller (7-10) escaped the first four innings without issue, cruising in the encore of his dominant showing in Atlanta, near his hometown. He didn’t make many mistakes Monday, but the Blue Jays pounced on the ones he did, leaving three sliders over the plate. Teoscar Hernandez homered in the fifth and Randal Grichuk in the sixth before Biggio hit the go-ahead blast.

“He was really good with his fastball (but) started wrestling with his slider in about the fifth inning,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “All three home runs were sliders that he didn’t really locate where he wanted to locate. But outside of that, he managed his pitch count really well — 91 pitches going into the the eighth inning and a tie ball game but he still felt strong in that situation.”

Keller, who initially appeared to have the makeup that sparked last week’s seven shutout innings, lost for the time since June 19. He struck out four of the first five hitters, the first two batters frozen for strike three.

He departed after Biggio hit the go-ahead homer and Grichuk followed with a triple. Scott Barlow absorbed the jam and struck out three hitters to keep the margin at just one. The remainder of the bullpen did not follow suit.

“I’ve been a lot better with locating my fastball,” Barlow said. “I’m also getting the offspeed where I want it with two strikes.”

The Royals (40-68) actually struck first Monday, with Merrifield driving in Cam Gallagher on a two-out single. Gallagher had placed the ball atop the left field wall, a foot shy of his second home run of the year.

Hernandez pulled the Blue Jays even with a no-doubter to left field. The solo shot traveled 450 feet — on the top of the fountains in left field for his 15th homer of the season and the first damage against Keller in two starts. But not the last. An inning later, Grichuk bombed a two-run homer to left. None of the Blue Jays’ home runs were of the cheap variety.

Toronto starter Thomas Pannone departed after the inning, allowing three runs on five hits. Pannone has struggled as a starter this season — he entered the day with a 14.46 ERA in three previous starts.

The Blue Jays promoted 21-year-old Bo Bichette for his major-league debut Monday. Bichette is the son of former Colorado Rockies outfielder Dante Bichette. Bo is one of three players in the Blue Jays lineup whose father played in the majors. Biggio and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also made their MLB debuts earlier this year. Bo singled in his first at-bat, a chopper through the left side of the infield. He finished 1 for 4.

This story was originally published July 29, 2019 at 10:20 PM.