Once again, Brady Singer stepped in and righted the ship when the Kansas City Royals were seemingly headed for rocky waters.
For the second time in a week, Singer stopped a potential losing skid and muzzled an opposing offense.
Meanwhile, the Royals bats came to life in a big way after they’d been largely stifled for the previous four games.
The Royals scored eight runs in the first six innings, and Singer complemented that attack with six scoreless frames in a 9-0 win over the Boston Red Sox in front of an announced 34,925 in the second game of a three-game series at Fenway Park in Boston.
The Royals (58-88) evened the series at one game apiece, and stopped a four-game losing slide. The Royals pitching staff recorded its ninth shutout of the season.
The top four hitters in the Royals lineup enjoyed a highly-productive day. Individually and collectively.
Royals rookie leadoff hitter and catcher MJ Melendez went 3 for 5 with a double, a stolen base, two RBIs and four runs scored. Melendez became the first Royals catcher to score four runs in a game.
Fellow rookie and Royals No. 2 hitter Bobby Witt Jr. went 2 for 5 with a run scored and two RBIs, while No. 3 hitter Salvador Perez went 2 for 5 with a run scored. Cleanup hitter Vinnie Pasquantino went 3 for 5 with a double and three RBIs.
In his first game back from the IL, outfielder Edward Olivares went 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored for the Royals.
Six of the nine starting position players for the Royals scored at least once in the game.
Singer (9-4) has now posted back-to-back scoreless outings (13 innings). He tossed seven scoreless in his previous start to finish the most recent homestand. He lowered his season ERA to 3.07 in 25 games (22 starts).
Saturday, Singer held the Red Sox to five hits and one walk in his six innings. He struck out five. Half of the six men who reached base against Singer, did so in one inning. Singer stranded all three of them in that inning.
Red Sox starter Rich Hill, the 42-year-old veteran left-hander, didn’t finish the fifth inning before the bullpen took over.
Hill allowed four runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. Hill had allowed two runs in the fifth when he exited the game.
The Royals offense had mustered just six runs through the first four games of their road trip.
Melendez, who had the game’s lone extra-base hit and scored the Royals only run on Friday, drove in the first run in the third inning on Saturday.
After Nate Eaton legged out an infield single and stole second base, Melendez swatted a one-out single to right field that drove in Eaton.
With two outs, Melendez scored from second base on Perez’s second hit of the day — a hard-hit single to center field. That gave the Royals and Singer a 2-0 advantage.
Singer rises to the challenge
The Red Sox threatened to wipe away that lead in the bottom half of the third inning when they loaded the bases with no outs on a pair of singles and a walk.
But Singer rose to the occasion. He got Red Sox leadoff hitter Tommy Pham to pop up to catcher Melendez. Then Singer struck out one of the Red Sox’s most dangerous hitters, Rafael Devers, on a called third strike. The inning concluded on a soft pop fly to first baseman Pasquantino by D.J. Martinez.
The Royals held onto that two-run edge until they tacked on two more in the fifth.
Melendez hit a one-out single, stole second and scored on a Witt single as the Royals lead increased to three runs. Then Red Sox right fielder Alex Verdugo lost Pasquantino’s fly ball in the sun.
The ball dropped in front of Verdugo for a single and then caromed off his glove on the bounce as the speedster Witt scored all the way from first base. The play was ruled a single with an error on Verdugo, so Pasquantino did not get credit for an RBI.
The Royals increased their cushion in the sixth. First, they took advantage of Red Sox rookie right-hander Franklin German in his major-league debut. German did not record an out and allowed four batters to reach on two walks and two singles.
The second single, a bases-loaded drive into center field by Eaton, gave the Royals a 5-0 lead and marked the end of German’s outing.
After a pitching change, Melendez hit into a fielder’s choice as another run scored. Witt followed with his second hit of the day, an RBI single to give the Royals more runs in the game than they’d have in the previous four combined.
Pasquantino added an RBI single with two outs and pushed the lead to eight runs. All four runs in the inning were charged to the rookie reliever German.
Pasquantino drove in Melendez in the eight inning for the ninth and final run.
Royals relievers Brad Keller, Carlos Hernandez and Anthony Misiewicz combined to complete the shutout.
