Kansas City Royals stop losing slide with 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in 10 innings

Once again, the Kansas City Royals handed the ball to Brady Singer when they were in need of a tone-setting performance to avoid falling into an extended funk.

And once again, Singer delivered.

The former University of Florida star who went to high school about an hour-and-a-half away at Eustis High School and now makes his offseason home in Tampa, didn’t factor into the decision. But he set the right tone as the Royals beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 in 10 innings in front of an announced 10,049 in attendance for the second game of a four-game set at Tropicana Field on Friday night.

Singer recorded a quality start with a large group of friends and family from his hometown on hand. He allowed two runs on five hits and four walks in six innings. He also struck out seven. The two runs he allowed came in the sixth.

“It was definitely a battle,” Singer said. “I definitely didn’t have my best stuff there, but I was able to fight through it and give us a chance to win.”

Singer turned over a tie game to the bullpen. Relievers Dylan Coleman (two innings) and Scott Barlow (two innings) pitched scoreless relief for the Royals (49-72) as they snapped a four-game losing slide.

“Everyone did their part,” rookie shortstop/third baseman Bobby Witt Jr. said. “Brady started us off, just pounding the zone, doing what he does. Doing what he’s been doing, he’s been a lot of fun to play defense behind.”

Witt went on to praise numerous defensive plays made by veteran catcher Salvador Perez and fellow rookies MJ Melendez and Nate Eaton in the outfield, as well as clutch plate appearances by NIcky Lopez and Michael Massey in the 10th inning to manufacture the winning run.

Witt’s third-inning home run provided the bulk of the offense for the Royals until the extra frame.

The Rays entered the night having allowed two runs or fewer in five of their previous six games, and their team ERA (3.41) ranked fourth in the majors.

The Royals scored just three runs in the first four games of their road trip, but they jumped out to a two-run lead thanks to one swing by Witt in the top of the third — his 16th home run of the season and first since August 3.

“I was just trying to find a pitch up in the zone, seeing it and then just trying to drive it and do what I can — get back going,” Witt said.

After Melendez drew a two-out walk, Witt smashed a first-pitch slider from ace Rays left-hander Shane McClanahan 438 feet to center field.

“I think that getting on with two outs is something that’s very important,” Melendez said. “Whenever you walk somebody with two outs, you try to limit the damage. But you’ve got one of the best hitters on the team right there coming up behind me. I knew he was going to do something special. The home run just topped it off.”

The Royals held on to that two-run edge until the sixth.

Singer worked around some early command issues to keep the Rays off the board early. He walked four in the first three innings. But like the Royals’ defense, which made key plays at the right moments, Singer threw the right pitches in critical situations.

“He was trying to find that release point, because the ball was really taking off,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said, referencing Singer’s fastball. “He’s always had good run, but it was a little bit more than what he would normally have. It just took him a little while for him to get locked in. Once he did, then everything else just kind of fell in place.”

The Rays finally broke through when they put the first two men on in the sixth via a leadoff single by David Peralta followed by a Harold Ramirez double.

That put runners on second and third with no outs and the Royals holding a 2-0 lead. Rays outfielder and star of the 2020 postseason Randy Arozarena hit a pitch low and outside for a two-strike, two-run single through the right side of the shifted infield, driving in both runners.

“I definitely wanted it down and away,” Singer said. “It might have caught too much plate. I was trying to get him to chase there. I didn’t want to go 3-2. I tried to throw a good slider down and away. He put a good swing on it and he hit it to the other side.”

Singer retired the next two batters to strand Arozarena.

Coleman and Barlow, who got the win, combined to allow just one hit in the final four innings. Coleman struck out three in two perfect innings of relief with the score tied.

“I thought that’s as good as we’ve seen Dylan Coleman, to be able to come in and throw two innings worth,” Matheny said. “He was at 22 pitches after two. For the majority of this season and the time we’ve had him, it’s been longer pitch counts. Just to get through an inning, it was normally pushing 25 and plus. So to be able to do that to allow Scotty to go back out in the ninth, and then Scott to be efficient enough to do what he did in the 10th ...”

The Royals manufactured a run with the help of the ghost runner in the extra inning. Lopez’s sacrifice bunt and Massey’s sacrifice fly delivered the deciding run as Michael A. Taylor, who started the inning on second, came around to score.