Brady Singer handcuffs White Sox as Kansas City Royals win doubleheader nightcap 2-1
Kansas City Royals pitcher Brady Singer bounced back from his demotion to the minors with a dominating performance that included a career-high nine strikeouts and a clear statement about his potential place among the organization’s young cadre of arms.
Singer tossed seven scoreless innings, allowed just four hits (all singles) and didn’t walk a soul as he led the Royals to a 2-1 win over the Chicago White Sox in the second game of their doubleheader in front of an announced 11,684 (plus 546 dogs) at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday night.
So was there a little extra behind this game for Singer?
“Of course,” Singer said. “I wanted to go out there and obviously do well — more for the team than anything. I went out there and I think the biggest thing was competing. Obviously, I tried to do my best.”
It was the Royals’ first game this season without star catcher Salvador Perez, who went on the 10-day injured list between games of the doubleheader.
Rookie catcher MJ Melendez smashed his first career home run, and his solo shot in the sixth inning provided the margin of victory.
Michael A. Taylor went 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI, while Emmanuel Rivera went 1 for 4 with a double and a run scored.
Singer, the club’s top draft pick in 2018, became the Royals’ first right-hander with seven scoreless innings and nine strikeouts since Zack Greinke did it his Cy Young season of 2009.
“That was one of those ‘When I come back I’m going to show you a little something,’” Royals manager Mike Matheny said of Singer’s outing. “That’s exactly how you’re supposed to handle this. Every opportunity you get out here is special. He came back with a purpose and looked like a completely different pitcher, mostly with usage.”
The Royals added Singer to their roster as the 27th man for the day’s doubleheader. He’d made his previous three appearances in the minors for Triple-A Omaha. He was optioned back to the minors following the game.
The Royals sent Singer to the minors on April 28 after he began this season in the bullpen and appeared in just three games (5 2/3 innings) since opening day.
Singer’s changeup, and his reluctance to throw it, has long been a topic of discussion and focus. He threw 16 on Tuesday night and got either a called strike or a swing-and-miss on more than half (nine).
Singer said the changeup wasn’t the sole focus of his time at Triple-A. He’d also made a change to his hand placement on the fastball while still in the majors in the bullpen.
“I think it was kind of the whole package, throwing everything,” Singer said. “The movement on the two-seam and the changeup were the two biggest things. I went down there and saw everything I wanted to see.”
During his postgame session with reporters in the clubhouse, a Baseball America magazine with the headline “Changeup!” in bright yellow letters was hanging from his locker.
“I don’t know who put that up there, and I’m not going to talk about it,” Singer said, unsuccessfully fighting a smile. “It’s there. I actually just saw it. I don’t know who it was, but I’ll find out somewhere.”
The implication was that Royals veteran Whit Merrifield, who has a history of playing pranks on Singer, had placed the magazine.
Taylor and Melendez provide the offense
The Royals scored in the second thanks to a leadoff double by Rivera. He advanced to third on a Melendez grounder to second base, and he scored on Taylor’s RBI double with one out.
While only one run, it got the Royals into the scoring column after they’d been blanked in the opening game of the doubleheader. Generating runs has been an ongoing issue for the club this season, which led to changes on the coaching staff just one day earlier.
“Whenever you’re playing with the lead, it’s a different feeling,” Taylor said. “You always want to add on, and no lead is really safe in this game especially with the offenses we see in the league. But yeah, whenever you’re playing with a lead it’s a good feeling.”
The score stayed 1-0 until Melendez took a 1-2 slider and swatted it 425 feet to right-center field for a solo homer.
Melendez’s run loomed large because the White Sox scratched out a run in the eighth on and RBI groundout by Adam Engel.
Throw from Benintendi preserves the lead
Later in that inning, Royals left fielder Andrew Benintendi threw out what would have been the tying run at the plate on a single to left field.
Josh Harrison tried to score from second on Yoan Moncada’s single with two outs. Benintendi’s throw to the plate was up the third-base line, but it was early enough for Melendez to reposition, catch, apply the tag as he and Harrison made contact with each other on the play.
“Two outs, you’ve got to send him no matter what there,” Benintendi said. “So I had a feeling, and it was a nice one-hop to me. It got to me pretty quick. The throw was a little up the line, but I’m glad we got him.”
The teams will continue their five-game series on Wednesday night. Right-hander Zack Greinke (0-2, 3.52) will start for the Royals, while the White Sox list right-hander Vince Velasquez (2-3, 5.53) as their scheduled starter.
This story was originally published May 17, 2022 at 8:56 PM.
