KC Royals officially avoid a losing season with Friday win at Pittsburgh Pirates
The Kansas City Royals will not finish with a losing season. They assured themselves of that with an 8-3 series-opening victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.
With a record of 81-67, the Royals are guaranteed to finish with a .500 or better winning percentage for the first time since 2016.
“We need to keep winning,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “This is a hotly contested race for the playoffs and we know that every day is important. All we can do today is win one game.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s our 81st or 82nd (victory) whatever it is. We can just keep putting our best foot forward every day.”
The Royals scored early against right-handed starting pitcher Luis Ortiz, sending nine batters to the plate during a six-run second inning.
Yuli Gurriel, Kyle Isbel and Tommy Pham all recorded RBIs. Isbel ripped a double down the right-field line and Pham singled as the Royals took a 4-0 lead.
Two batters later, team captain Salvador Perez hit a two-run homer over the wall in left-center field. The blast traveled 434 feet and pushed Perez’s RBI total to eight through four games on KC’s current six-game road trip.
The Royals belted two more homers in the game: Isbel and Adam Frazier hit solo shots. Frazier, who returned to PNC Park after six seasons with the Pirates, received a nice ovation in his first at-bat.
“It feels different, I guess,” Frazier said. “It’s good to be back. A lot of good memories, familiar faces over there and familiarity with the city and everything. It feels a little weird because it’s been so long, but it feels good.”
The Royals’ run support allowed right-handed starting pitcher Alec Marsh to settle in. He worked 5 1/3 innings and tied a career-high with 11 strikeouts, allowing five hits.
Marsh’s pitching arsenal was effective all night. At one point, he struck out six of eight Pittsburgh batters. And he worked a key shutdown inning after the Royals surged forward in the second.
“I liked how I bounced back after that second inning,” Marsh said. “You know, having a long inning and the boys swinging it, you’ve got to make sure you come back out firing. I didn’t like that first walk there, but other than that, I settled in and came back and delivered some good, clean shutout innings after that.”
The Pirates struck out 14 times despite scoring three runs. Catcher Joey Bart recorded an RBI single in the sixth inning. Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz drove in the hosts’ other runs in the ninth.
Marsh won his eighth game this season. He has allowed three or fewer runs in four starts since returning from Triple-A Omaha.
“His stuff has been good,” Quatraro said. “The velo is ticking up some. The movement on the sinker looks good, at least to me. So I’m really pleased for him that he is doing that.”
Pittsburgh fell to 70-77 and saw its four-game winning streak snapped.
The Royals are now three games behind the Cleveland Guardians for first place in the American League Central. The Guardians lost 3-1 to the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday at Progressive Field in Cleveland.
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Here are more notable aspects of Friday’s game:
Kyle Isbel hits eighth home run
Isbel continues to be productive in the ninth spot in the Royals’ lineup. He added two more hits on Friday against the Pirates.
In the fourth inning, Isbel hit a solo home run over the right-field wall. It was his eighth homer of the season and extended the Royals’ lead to 7-0.
“Yuli (Gurriel) had a really good at-bat before me,” Isbel said. “I knew he was going to try to get ahead early right there and I was able to capitalize.”
Isbel hit a 93.2 mph sinker left hanging over the plate. The homer was his first since a July 10 game against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
“We’ve got a chance to put us in a position to win the series tomorrow, which is what we are trying to do with every series,” Isbel said. The momentum and the energy we got in that one inning was amazing. We’ve just got to keep it rolling.”
What’s next on the KC Royals’ schedule?
The Royals continue their three-game series against the Pirates. On Saturday, KC right-handed starting pitcher Michael Wacha will look for his 13th win of the season.
Wacha is 7-3 with a 3.68 ERA in 18 career games against the Pirates. He earned his 100th career victory in his most recent start, becoming the 20th active pitcher to reach that milestone.
The Pirates will start right-hander Mitch Keller Saturday. He is 11-9 with a 3.85 ERA this season.
This story was originally published September 13, 2024 at 8:46 PM.
