Bobby Witt Jr. hit a home run, a double, and a single, raising his major league-leading average to .352. Michael Lorenzen pitched into the sixth inning to earn his first win since being traded, and the Kansas City Royals defeated the Cincinnati Reds 7-1 in the first game of their interleague series on Friday night.
Witt, the Royals’ All-Star shortstop, hit a four-seam fastball from Nick Martinez 430 feet into the upper deck for his 25th home run in the fourth inning. He doubled and scored on a fielder’s choice in the sixth inning and had an infield single in the seventh.
In the ninth inning, the Reds intentionally walked Witt with two outs, just before he scored on Vinnie Pasquantino’s 18th home run.
Witt became the third Royals player to hit 25 home runs and steal 25 bases in consecutive seasons.
“It’s special any time you kind of say that word ‘history,’” Witt said. “I’ve just got to keep preparing the way I’m preparing and keep trying to get these wins. This team is a lot of fun, and we’re just having a blast here.”
Lorenzen (6-6), who was acquired by the Royals in a trade with Texas on July 29, made his third start after two no-decisions. He allowed one run and two hits in 5 2/3 innings and left the game after 83 pitches.
“Truthfully, it was tough,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said of Lorenzen’s performance. “He was behind a lot of those guys but was able to execute pitches when he needed to. It’s probably not the way he would have liked to go about it, but he really made pitches when he had to.”
Lorenzen is happy to be on Witt’s team instead of facing him. “You know, I see it on MLB Network every night, and you kind of get sick of it, to be honest, because he’s on it every night, his highlights and stuff,” Lorenzen said.
“And playing with him, it’s the real deal. There’s not many people you can say that about. You can say that about Bobby. It’s the real deal. It’s incredible.”
