Nicky Lopez looks back on the halcyon days of the Kansas City Royals in 2014 and 2015, when the small-market club won back-to-back American League pennants and its first World Series title in three decades.
More importantly, Lopez remembers how they did it: good starting pitching, timely hitting and a dominant bullpen.
It’s precisely the formula they used to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday.
Brady Singer pitched seven effective innings, Lopez matched a career high with four RBIs, Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. each drove in two runs and the Royals beat the Dodgers 9-1 to claim their first series win since ’17. of May.
“You know, a lot of times in 2014 and 2015, they won a lot of ballgames 3-1, but they put it all together: timely hitting and a bullpen shut it down, and a good leadoff pitch,” Lopez said. “I just think that’s been the identity of the Royals for a while, and sometimes we lose sight of it, but I feel like it has to be that way.”
Singer (5-7) played an important role from the mound, allowing one run on three hits and four walks in seven innings.
“Hopefully, you know, this gives us a lot of confidence,” Singer said. “We are very confident”.
The Royals stripped away Tony Gonsolin (4-3) in the second on a single by Garcia, who also had a career-high four hits and then took the right-hander out of the game in the fourth when they scored three . More to get away
Gonsolin allowed four runs and six hits in 3 2/3 innings, and has now allowed 15 runs in his last 14 1/3 innings.
“We just didn’t play well and they played better, frankly,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Those guys just outclassed us. It’s a different brand of baseball as far as putting the ball in play, hitting behind runners, stealing bases. They were excellent at situational hitting. To be honest, we didn’t keep up. That’s how they won the series.”
The Royals, who have yet to homer in their last seven games, continued to produce runs on small ball, just as they did in a rain-delayed 6-4 victory on Saturday night. They strung together a walk and three hits to score three times in the quarter; he had four hits along with a walk and a sacrifice to score three more in the fifth; and he capitalized on an error leading off the sixth with a walk and two more hits to drive in two more runs and take a 9-1 lead.
“Putting the ball in play consistently is what makes the difference,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said.
The only offense the Dodgers managed came in the fourth inning, when JD Martínez drew a walk and advanced on David Peralta’s single. Miguel Vargas followed with a sacrifice fly to deep center field.
Otherwise, the 26-year-old Singer wrapped up one of baseball’s most popular lineups to win for the first time since June 4. He had taken the loss in three of his last four starts, though he pitched six four-hit innings. ball without result in his last timeout.
After Daniel Lynch’s victory on Saturday night, the Royals have consecutive starting wins for the first time in 93 games.
“That was huge. The bullpen was a little bit drained,” Singer said. “Going out there and giving them seven was huge.”