Singer throws seven shutout innings to lead Royals past White Sox

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

“You can’t get much better,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “The efficiency, every inning except the one. Location, he seemed to have it on both sides of the plate. He also had some bigger breaking balls and that kept them off balance.”

Singer faced the minimum through three before running into fourth-inning trouble, walking two to load the bases. He escaped with a strikeout and retired 10 of the final 13 hitters.

“Obviously, didn’t want a big inning to happen there, so to get out of those jams and put up a zero was huge,” Singer said. “The biggest thing was getting deep in the game, controlling my pitch count and pitching into the seventh inning.”

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

“Sinker was great,” he said. “Slider was good. I thought the sweeper was better, my best pitch of the night. I was able to use that a lot more tonight.”

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

“We had some opportunities to put some runs on the board and we just didn’t,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “(Singer) sinks it. He’s got late, late life on it. When he’s got his fastball going, he’s got his command going, he’s got his slider, he’s pretty tough to hit.”

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

Jonathan Cannon (1-4) held Kansas City to one single thereafter, finishing six innings while allowing four runs on eight hits with four strikeouts.

“He was a little too strong,” Grifol said. “He just needed to take a step back there and settle down and pitch a little bit. Today was a good developmental day for him. In reality, he gave us a chance to win.”

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

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

Hunter Harvey allowed two doubles and an eighth-inning run in his Royals debut.

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

Chuckie Robinson made his White Sox debut at catcher, throwing out Witt attempting to steal third.

TRAINER’S ROOM

White Sox: Placed RHP Jordan Leasure on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to July 17) with a right shoulder impingement.

TRANSACTIONS

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

UP NEXT

White Sox right-hander Drew Thorpe (3-1, 3.58 ERA) opposes Royals right-hander Seth Lugo (11-4, 2.48) in Sunday’s series finale.

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