Brady Singer’s poor start and a baserunning error prove costly in the KC Royals’ loss

The Royals’ strength this season was clearly their starting pitching and their aggressive baserunning often paid off.

But both paid off in Sunday’s narrow 5-4 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

The Royals were down by two runs at the start of the ninth inning, but as they often do, they managed to catch up at the end.

Hunter Renfroe hit a single with one out against Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen, and Garrett Hampson followed with a walk. Dairon Blanco walked for Renfroe and scored when Freddy Fermin hit a single to center.

Hampson attempted to move from first base to third base, but was thrown out by a great throw from Boston center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela. Nick Loftin was then taken out of the game via a groundout.

“That’s the way we play,” said Royals manager Matt Quatraro. “We’re giving it our all. We’ve got to try to make a difference. It’s hard to get a lot of hits in an inning against Jansen, so to get a guy on third base with one out, you want to try your luck. The guy made a perfect throw and had a good day.”

The Royals, who are battling with the Red Sox for the last wild card spot in the American League, had essentially tied Boston with their win on Friday. But the Red Sox won the last two games of the three-game set and the series.

Despite being two games behind Boston, the Royals enter the All-Star break with a record of 52-45 and only four fewer wins than they had all of last season.

But they regretted not being able to prevail against a team with which they are battling for postseason position.

“Yeah, we’re going to play hard until the last out,” said Royals captain Salvador Perez. “We didn’t win, that was pretty tough for us.”

Missed previous games in the series?

Game 1: Bobby Witt Jr. and MJ Melendez hit home runs in a 5-1 win in Boston

Game 2: Royals suffer defeat, Seth Lugo fights

Here are other notable moments from Sunday’s game.

Singer fights

Starting pitcher Brady Singer had his shortest outing of the season, allowing four runs on eight hits in 2 2/3 innings. It was one day after Seth Lugo’s worst start of 2024.

Singer managed 12 swings-and-misses and had two strikes on 12 of the 16 batters he faced, but he had trouble finishing batters.

“That’s probably the key to the bad start,” Singer said. “I was able to get two strikes in, felt like I was leading in the count, and then just couldn’t knock her out with two strikes.”

Singer, 5-6, had allowed three runs or fewer in his last five starts, including four straight games in which he allowed just one run. But Rafael Devers (first inning) and Dominic Smith (second inning) both hit two-run homers early.

Quatraro retired Singer with the bases loaded and two outs, but left-hander Angel Zerpa managed a pop out to prevent further damage and keep the Royals’ deficit at 4-1.

Combined, five Royals relief pitchers allowed just one run in the final 5 1/3 innings on Sunday, keeping the game close.

Melendez injured

In the fourth inning, runners were on the corners when the Royals had one out and MJ Melendez sprinted to avoid a double play on a ground ball.

One point increased the score to 4-2, but unfortunately Melendez sprained his ankle during this play and had to leave the game.

“He’ll come back with the team tomorrow and do more tests,” Quatraro said. “We don’t have a really good (update) tonight.”

Monster mash

Perez, Kansas City’s designated hitter on Sunday, hit a laser shot over the Green Monster in the sixth inning to cut the Royals’ deficit to one run, 4-3.

As Crash Davis said about a home run in the movie “Annie’s Men”: The ball came out quickly here.

This also applies to Perez, the captain of the Royals.

In the seventh inning, the Red Sox got a run back against Will Smith. Boston used a leadoff walk, a groundout and an RBI single by Dominic Smith to take a two-run lead.

This proved to be a decisive run as the Royals began their late comeback.

What’s next: After the All-Star break, the Royals begin a nine-game home series on Friday. Michael Wacha will open the second half against the Chicago White Sox. First pitch at Kauffman Stadium is at 7:10 p.m.