Ray’s KC loss cut AL East score to 1 game
KANSAS CITY. Rain and a trip in August or September could have been better for Reis. Instead, they waited out another big storm and an hour’s delay to play a game they’d rather forget, losing 8–4 to the Royals. on Sunday. How bad was it? Starter Zack Eflin was pulled after just three innings and 46 assists, allowing 5 runs on 7 hits before being pulled for non-injury reasons, according to the team. And Jonny Chirinos, who replaced him in his future role, allowed the 465-foot homer to make his first batter. seven innings and quick strikeouts before a short burst in the eighth with homers from Isaac Paredes and Francisco Mejia. Manuel Margo, one of their top outfielders, mishandled two balls in a messy second inning with 4 runs. And by the end of the day, the Races (60-36) saw their lead in the American League East reduced to just one game over the Orioles, who are 57-35, they won eight in a row, including a win over the Marlins, and went to Trope later. a week. Hagerty High graduate Eflin, who said he never felt better on Saturday, allowed only one run in the first inning. But he allowed the first four members of the royal family to make it to the second and five of the six overall, thanks in part to a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes, or at least Margot’s missed games.
“I had a pretty bad bullpen before the game,” Eflin said. “I didn’t feel like I was in sync. The sinker didn’t work. I couldn’t figure out where the ball was going. I knew something was wrong with the game. I didn’t set the tone like I should have.” The Royals, who picked up their 27th win under new manager and longtime Reis coach Matt Quatraro, extended the lead against the Chirinos to extend their lead to 7-0 against Eustis High alumnus and Gators alumnus Brady Singer in eighth place. Paredes was in the lead, hitting his 17th homer. After singles by Jonathan Aranda and Margot, Mejia was second in two days and fifth of the season.
Singer (6-8) won for the second time in seven starts since June 4.
“The slider was really good, had some good swings and misses on it, and a transition when I needed it,” said Singer, who needed 70 innings in seven innings.
“When you have a sinker that works that way and he puts the ball down early, it gives him a lot of confidence that he can work fast and move efficiently through the game,” Quatraro said.
“It’s a vintage mover,” said Rays manager Kevin Cash. “You rely on late movement to get the ball to the ground and this is what happened. He just had some extra movement today, which made things a little more difficult for us.”
Bobby Witt Jr. scored a goal and tripled with three RBIs for the Royals, who have only their second win in 10 games and, at 27–67, have the second-worst record in MLB, ahead of only Oakland. Witt and Drew Waters became the first members of the royal family. teammates to every triple and homer in the same game. In a game that sped up in 1 hour 54 minutes,
The early lead gave Singer confidence to attack forwards. “It set me up to stay in the zone more,” he said. “I was definitely more aggressive with that lead. I stayed in the zone for so long. Landing so many punches helped me get them to swing early.”
The Rays next play Monday at the Texas-leading AL West and are set to start with left-hander Shane McClanahan (11-1, 2.53 ERA), who is returning from a 15-day IL stint with a back injury against a right-hander Dane Dunning. (8-2, 2.84).
