Brad Keller stifles Cardinals and young KC Royals hitters spark offense in 7-1 win
Rookie phenom Bobby Witt Jr. hit his first career major-league home run on Tuesday night and all eyes were on MJ Melendez, who had a hit in his big-league debut.
But in the Royals’ 7-1 win over the Cardinals at Kauffman Stadium on chilly evening, it was a seasoned veteran who is all of 26 years old, that stole the show.
Starter Brad Keller pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings, yielding just four singles and a trio of walks and got his first victory of the season. And he helped the Royals end a four-game losing streak.
“It feels good. To snap a little four-game skid we were on right is definitely big,” Keller said. “To be able to go out there and put up a bunch of zeros and the team explode like they did was was awesome to see.”
Keller threw 93 pitches and relied mostly on his slider, using it on slightly more than 50% of his overall total. The outing continued a sensational start to the season, and his ERA dropped to 1.74.
After seeing the Royals score eight runs in his first four starts (including three in extra innings), Keller was backed by a season-best 15-hit outburst. Right fielder Edward Olivares, 26, led the way with four hits.
Witt got the Royals on the board in the second inning when he crushed a Dakota Hudson change-up into left-center field for his first career home run. The solo blast traveled an estimated 417 feet.
The dinger extended Witt’s hitting streak to 11 games. He later walked and had an RBI single.
In the fourth inning, Ryan O’Hearn and Whit Merrifield singled, and O’Hearn scored when Witt grounded into a double play. There was no RBI for Witt, but the Royals had a 2-0 lead.
Although that was all the Royals would need in the game, they put up five runs in the seventh inning and enjoyed an unstressful finish.
MJ’s first big-league hit
Melendez, who was the Royals designated hitter, grounded out to third in his first big-league plate appearance in the third inning and two innings later flied out to left. Both outs ended the inning, and he came up once again with two outs in the sixth inning.
This time, he made a lifelong memory.
With Witt on first, Melendez scorched a single to left field and the ball had an exit velocity of 95.1 mph. After arriving at the bag, Melendez hugged coach Damon Hollins, then looked into the seats at his family.
Royals fans who were among the 18,788 at the K stood and applauded Melendez as the ball was thrown to the dugout for him to keep.
“It’s just so surreal, thinking back on everything, just from day one, all the things that my family has done for me,” Melendez said. “I just am so grateful and so happy that they’re able to witness that moment. ... I’m just so thankful for that for everything they’ve done for me, because without my family I wouldn’t be here.”
The Cardinals finally got to Keller in the seventh as they wrapped a walk and a single around an out. Royals manager Mike Matheny called on relief pitcher Collin Snider, and Snider induced a 5-4-3 double play out of St. Louis shortstop Paul DeJong, ending the inning.
The five runs in the bottom of the inning put the Royals firmly in control.
Royals manager Mike Matheny was thrilled to see Witt and Melendez, two of the Royals’ top prospects, break out on Tuesday.
“Pretty cool for (Witt) and MJ both, for our fans to see two guys that we’ve been talking about for a while do something good to help us win,” Matheny said. “It was a special day.”
This story was originally published May 3, 2022 at 10:08 PM.
