Rays jump on Brady Singer early and take series-deciding game from Kansas City Royals
Florida resident Brady Singer’s homecoming game on Thursday wasn’t a celebration. The Kansas City Royals dropped the rubber match of their three-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays, and their young right-hander didn’t complete three innings.
For Singer, the Royals’ top draft pick in 2018 out of the University of Florida, it was his first major-league game in his home state. He got roughed up by the defending American League champions: He gave up six runs — which matches a career high — this time on four hits, two walks and a hit batter in 2 2/3 innings.
Two big blasts by Rays slugger Austin Meadows largely ruined Singer’s day. Meadows started the scoring with a two-run triple in the first inning and then smashed a two-run home run with two outs in the third inning.
The Royals couldn’t recover and lost 7-2 in front of an announced 5,519 at Tropicana Field. The Rays (32-20) took two out of three games.
The Royals (23-25) will continue their road trip with a three-game weekend series against the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis starting Friday night.
“I kind of treated it just like every other start,” Singer said of pitching close to home. “I think that’s what I’ve got to do.”
The Toronto Blue Jays originally drafted Singer, born in Florida and a high school standout at Eustis High, which is less than a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Tropicana Field, with the 56th overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft. Singer did not sign, and he played in college.
Singer, who came to national prominence as a pitcher as a collegiate player, won the SEC Pitcher of the Year award in 2018 as well as the Dick Howser Trophy as the nation’s top college player. He helped the Gators to the 2017 College World Series championship.
Thursday, the Rays made Singer pay for early miscues. With one out, Singer got ahead of Brandon Lowe 0-2 and then hit Lowe with a slider. Singer then walked the next batter, Ji-Man Choi, on a full count, which put two men on with one out.
“Command definitely wasn’t there,” Singer said. “I definitely didn’t feel as sharp as I usually do. The slider felt like it was trending in the right direction. I’ll definitely take that away from it. But command wasn’t really there, and it was a tough night.”
Meadows, the Rays clean-up hitter, roped a two-run triple into the right-center field gap. The following batter, Joey Wendle, hit a groundball sharply to Royals shortstop Adalberto Mondesi.
Mondesi double-clutched as he tried to get the ball from his glove to his throwing hand and then made a one-hop throw off-target to home plate as the Rays scored a third run.
Singer had thrown 26 pitches by the time the Rays made their second out — on a caught stealing at second base. The Rays grabbed a three-run lead in the first inning on the strength of just one hit.
“It’s amazing how that first inning can set the tone,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “Thought he looked pretty good coming out of the gate. He gets to an 0-2 count and hits a guy, then a walk and the next thing you know he’s got a 28-pitch first inning. He had a little trouble finding his rhythm after that. A 30-pitch third, and next thing you know you’re throwing 70 pitches in 2 2/3 innings.”
In the third inning, Singer again set himself up for trouble with a one-out walk.
After Singer struck out Choi, Meadows blasted an 0-1 slider into the right-field stands for a two-run homer as the Rays went up 5-0. Wendle doubled to center field despite a leaping attempt at a catch by Michael A. Taylor. Taylor Walls’ RBI single ended Singer’s outing. Singer came out with the Royals down six runs.
Singer had left with a lead in three of his previous four starts.
Jakob Junis pitched 2 1/3 innings in relief of Singer and allowed one run, while Wade Davis (two innings) and Ervin Santana (one inning) also pitched out of the bullpen.
Ryan O’Hearn’s sixth-inning two-run home run provided the only scoring for the Royals (23-25). O’Hearn entered the game as a substitute for Carlos Santana in the fifth inning.
Hanser Alberto, who also came off the bench in the fifth for the Royals, had two hits and scored a run.
The Royals were held to a total of five runs in the three games with the Rays.
Wednesday night, the Rays’ Tyler Glasnow went eight innings and collected 11 strikeouts on 102 pitches. Thursday, Rays starter Shane McClanahan faced two batters over the minimum through five innings.
“We had a chance to win two out of three here against some pretty solid arms,” Royals leadoff hitter Whit Merrifield said of the club’s aggressive approach. “I don’t know if you guys noticed what they ran out the last two days, but mid-to-upper 90s with life and quality secondary pitches. There’s not much time to wait for stuff when you’ve got that kind of stuff coming at you.
“So you need to get something in the zone and attack it, and hope some stuff falls your way when you’re facing guys like that. It just didn’t enough for us yesterday or today.”
This story was originally published May 27, 2021 at 5:00 PM.
