Rookie Brady Singer flirts with a no-hitter as Royals run over the Indians in Cleveland
Kansas City Royals’ rookie right-hander and former first-round draft pick Brady Singer hadn’t gotten through six full innings in his previous eight starts, nor had he allowed fewer than two earned runs.
Thursday night while a segment of the local sports community’s attention rested with the NFL season opener at Arrowhead Stadium and the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs, Singer flirted with a no-hitter in Cleveland.
Singer tossed 7 2/3 no-hit innings in just his ninth big-league start as the Royals dominated the series finale against the Indians 11-1 at Progressive Field on Thursday. Edward Olivares, Maikel Franco and Adalberto Mondesi hit home runs in the blowout win. Franco drove in a season-high five runs.
“I felt really good from the start. It was probably a bad thing, but I kind of noticed there was no hits after the third inning,” a smiling Singer said, shortly after having had ice water dumped on him by teammates Danny Duffy and Jakob Junis — both wearing masks — during a postgame interview on Fox Sports Kansas City. “It was a stressful however many more innings that is, a stressful time.
“I felt sharp from pitch one. I tried to stay focused from pitch one, something I really did. I know that’s what it takes, to stay focused for 100-plus pitches and a whole game.”
The Royals (17-28) have now won three consecutive games as they get set to return home and host the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.
The Royals won their first series since they swept the Minnesota Twins on Aug. 7-9.
Singer, 24, said his last no-hitter was a seven-inning no-hitter in high school. He didn’t have one in college at the University of Florida or in the minors.
Singer threw eight scoreless and allowed one hit and two walks. He said he went with every pitch catcher Cam Gallagher called. Singer called Gallagher “unbelievable.”
Singer, one of the anchors of the Royals’ pitching youth movement, matched his career high with eight strikeouts, and he threw a career-high 119 pitches. In his final two innings, he could be seen glancing up at the scoreboard to see how far his pitch count had risen.
After the game, Royals manager Mike Matheny said he would’ve let Singer go as long as it took to finish a no-hitter. The Royals currently have a six-man pitching rotation and they’ll have days off on Monday and Thursday next week, which will provide plenty of rest and recuperation time.
“I was going to give him anything he absolutely wanted to keep going,” Singer said. “Whatever he wanted, I would give him to get through that. I don’t know how many he was going to let me go.”
Singer retired 20 of 21 batters to start the game, including 19 in a row at one point. After walking the second batter he faced, he didn’t allow another walk until he had two outs in the seventh inning. No Indians runner reached second base while Singer was in the game.
“You don’t think you’re going to do it,” Singer said. “You’re trying to do it, but you don’t think it’s actually possible. Honestly. You’re just trying to keep the nerves down, trying not to think about it. Obviously, the guys were hitting too, so that kept me in the dugout a long time, which I love.”
Indians catcher Austin Hedges, acquired in a trade with the San Diego Padres on Aug. 31, hit a 3-2 pitch on the ground through the infield and into right field for a single with two outs in the eighth inning to break-up the no-hitter.
The Royals have had four no-hitters in franchise history. The first three came in the 1970s, two by Steve Busby in 1973 and 1974. Jim Colborn threw the third in 1977. Busby was a rookie in 1973.
The last no-hitter for the Royals came via Bret Saberhagen on Aug. 26, 1991, against the Chicago White Sox in a 7-0 win in Kansas City. Singer wasn’t born until August 1996.
“Those are something. Not many guys get an opportunity like that,” Matheny said. “... That was going to be his no matter what.”
Matheny, who caught a no-hitter in the minors, didn’t take part in one in a 13-year big-league career that included four Gold Glove awards as a catcher. He said he still has a bottle of champagne from celebrating the one he caught in Triple-A.
Matheny started believing Singer had the potential to throw a no-hitter in the fourth inning — Singer went through the Indians Nos. 2, 3 and 4 hitters for a second time, and a ball didn’t get out of the infield.
Singer’s only other start against the Indians came in his MLB debut on July 25 in Cleveland. He struck out seven and gave up two runs in five innings in a no decision.
“He had the stuff to do it today,” Matheny said. “We sensed it pretty early that this was a pretty special outing. He was commanding both sides of the bottom of the zone so well. Just seeing that the slider was tunneled so evenly with the heater that they were having trouble picking it up, and this is a team that has seen him before.
“I just thought it was going to be a special night. I was right. It was a special night. Unfortunately, just short of being as special as we wanted it to be.”
All 11 of the Royals runs were scored with two outs. Franco drove in five of the team’s first seven runs, including a seventh-inning three-run home run to make it 7-0.
Mondesi belted a three-run home in the club’s four-run eighth inning, extending his hitting streak to seven games. Mondesi has eight RBIs during his streak.
This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 8:12 PM.
