Blanco bunts for win after Singer flirts with no-no
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Dairon Blanco executed a suicide squeeze bunt in the ninth inning to score pinch-runner Samad Taylor, and the Kansas City Royals rallied after blowing a 5-0 lead to hand the playoff-contending Seattle Mariners their third straight loss, 7-6 on Monday night.
“That’s how we drew it up,” Royals Manager Matt Quatraro deadpanned. “He’s gotten bunts down in big spots. That guy [Matt Brash] was throwing 100 miles per hour. That’s not easy to do.”
Brady Singer took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, Bobby Witt Jr. hit the Royals’ first inside-the-park homer in four years and Salvador Perez hit a three-run shot to build the Royals’ big lead.
“Everything felt good,” Singer said. “I was able to work up in the zone. All the pitches were working.
“I knew [about a no-hitter], but you never think it’s going to happen. So you just go out there and try to make pitches. What happens, happens.”
So much happened in the final two innings that Singer’s effort was almost for naught.
Julio Rodriguez hit a bases-clearing double in the eighth to get the Mariners within 5-3, then scored on a single by Eugenio Suarez. In the ninth, Josh Rojas tied it with a run-scoring single against Nick Wittgren (1-0), and Rodriguez’s RBI single put the Mariners on top.
But Brash (8-4) immediately ran into trouble in the ninth. He gave up consecutive singles and Perez tied the game with a sacrifice fly. Blanco then bunted Brash’s first pitch down the first-base line, and first baseman Dylan Moore couldn’t handle it cleanly as Taylor dashed home with the game-ending run.
“It was a heck of a comeback by our guys, really down and out and didn’t have a whole lot going offensively,” Seattle Manager Scott Servais said. “But our guys don’t quit. It’s a testament to them and they find a way to get ahead and get the lead.”
The Mariners (63-55), coming off back-to-back extra-inning losses to Baltimore, fell two games behind Toronto for the final AL wild-card spot.
Maikel Garcia led off the bottom of the first with a single against Logan Gilbert, extending his hitting streak to 16 games, a Royals rookie record. Garcia advanced on Witt’s infield hit and Perez followed with a 429-foot homer to center, his 19th.
In the fifth, Witt hit a sharp line drive to right field. Dominic Canzone appeared to lose it in the lights and it sailed behind him. He had trouble picking it up at the wall, and the speedy Witt circled the bases in 14.3 seconds, the fourth-fastest home-tohome time since Statcast began in 2015.
RANGERS 12, ANGELS 0 Max Scherzer allowed only one infield single and one walk while striking out a season-high 11 in seven innings to record his third win in three starts for his new team as Texas beat Los Angeles.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
METS 7, PIRATES 2 Francisco Lindor became the first Met to reach 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases since 2008 as New York beat Pittsburgh.
ROCKIES 6, DIAMONDBACKS 4 Nolan Jones singled in the go-ahead run in a three-run eighth inning and Colorado beat Arizona to snap a five-game losing streak.
INTERLEAGUE
MARLINS 5, ASTROS 1 Jorge Soler, Luis Arraez and Josh Bell hit consecutive homers in the eighth inning and Miami beat Houston. BRAVES 11, YANKEES 3 Max Fried allowed two runs in his first home start since coming off the injured list, Nicky Lopez drove in three runs with three hits in a fill-in role and Atlanta beat New York.
CARDINALS 7, ATHLETICS 5 Rookie Jordan Walker hit a bases-loaded triple in the seventh inning, and St. Louis rallied for a victory over Oakland in a matchup of last-place teams. ORIOLES 4, PADRES 1 Ryan O’Hearn homered and Gunnar Henderson hit a bases-clearing double off Yu Darvish for AL-leading Baltimore, who beat San Diego for their third straight win.