Brady Singer pitched seven scoreless innings to lead the Kansas City Royals to a 6-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday night.
“You can’t ask for much more,” said Royals manager Matt Quatraro. “He was efficient, except for one inning. His location was excellent, hitting both sides of the plate. His breaking balls kept them guessing.”
Singer cruised through the first three innings, but faced trouble in the fourth when he walked two batters to load the bases. He managed to escape with a crucial strikeout and then retired 10 of the next 13 batters.
“Obviously, I didn’t want a big inning there,” Singer said. “It was important to get out of those jams and put up a zero. The key was pitching deep into the game and managing my pitch count.”
Singer gave up five singles, walked two, and struck out seven to earn his second win in his last 10 starts.
“My sinker was working well tonight,” he said. “The slider was good, but my curveball was especially effective. I used it a lot tonight.”
The White Sox, who have the worst record in the majors, have now lost six straight games and nine of their last 10.
“We had chances to score runs, but we couldn’t capitalize,” said White Sox manager Pedro Grifol. “Singer’s sinker has late movement and is difficult to hit when he’s on.”
The Royals took an early 3-0 lead in the first inning with five consecutive hits, including Michael Massey’s RBI triple. They added another run in the second inning with doubles from Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr.
Jonathan Cannon, the White Sox starter, settled down after the rough start, allowing just one more hit over the next five innings. He finished with four strikeouts, giving up four runs on eight hits in six innings.
