Singer throws 7 innings without conceding a goal and leads the Royals to a 6-1 victory over the White Sox

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) — Brady Singer threw seven scoreless innings to lead the Kansas City Royals to a 6-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday night.

“It doesn’t get much better than that,” said Royals manager Matt Quatraro. “The efficiency in every inning except one. He seemed to have position on both sides of the plate. He also had some bigger breaking balls and that threw them off balance.”

Singer had to pitch the minimum for three innings before running into trouble in the fourth inning, needing two walks to load the bases. He came away with one strikeout and struck out 10 of the last 13 hitters.

“Obviously, I didn’t want it to be a big inning here, so it was great to get out of that trouble and get a clean sheet,” Singer said. “The most important thing was to get deep into the game, control my pitch count and pitch until the seventh inning.”

Singer (6-6) allowed five singles with two walks and seven strikeouts, earning his second win in his last 10 starts.

Kansas City Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia throws out Chicago White Sox’s Nicky Lopez at first base during the third inning of a baseball game, Saturday, July 20, 2024, in Kansas City, Missouri. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Reed Hoffmann

“The sinker was great,” he said. “The slider was good. I thought the sweeper was better, my best pitch of the night. I was able to use it a lot more tonight.”

The White Sox, the worst in the major leagues, have lost six straight games and nine of their last 10. They have lost 10 consecutive road series since their last win May 3-5 in St. Louis.

“We had some opportunities to score some runs, but we just didn’t get it done,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “(Singer) sinks the ball. He’s got a lot of life left in the last second. When he’s got his fastball on, his control on, his slider on, he’s pretty tough to hit.”

The Royals took a 3-0 lead with five straight hits in the first inning, highlighted by Michael Massey’s RBI triple. In the second inning, Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. hit a double and scored another run.

Jonathan Cannon (1-4) then held Kansas City to a single, finished six innings, allowed four runs on eight hits and four strikeouts.

“He was a little too strong,” Grifol said. “He just needed to step back, calm down and throw a little bit. Today was a good day for his development. In fact, he gave us a chance to win.”

Witt has three hits and has hit in 29 of his last 30 home games, with a batting average of .444. He has had multiple hits in nine of his last 14 games.

Salvador Perez had two hits and an RBI, and Hunter Renfroe scored two runs in the Royals’ sixth win in their last eight games.

Hunter Harvey allowed two doubles and a run in the eighth inning in his debut for the Royals.

Kansas City’s 33 wins at Kauffman Stadium are the second-most home wins in baseball behind Philadelphia’s 37 and equal to the Royals’ total home wins in 2023.

Chuckie Robinson made his debut as a catcher for the White Sox and threw out Witt as he attempted to steal third base.

TRAINING ROOM

White Sox: RHP Jordan Leasure was placed on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to July 17) due to a right shoulder strain.

TRANSACTIONS

White Sox: LHP Sammy Peralta recalled from Triple-A Charlotte.

NEXT

White Sox right-hander Drew Thorpe (3-1, 3.58 ERA) will face Royals right-hander Seth Lugo (11-4, 2.48) in the final game of the series on Sunday.

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