Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Brady Singer has put together some pretty solid outings this season. But on Sunday against Detroit, Singer reached another level.
Singer threw seven scoreless innings, leading the Royals to a 4-0 win to salvage the final game of the three-game series at Kauffman Stadium.
“I try to keep the mentality the same every time,” Singer said. “But like I said, with the two losses before, my mentality was a little bit better today. I was just going out there and trying to do my game and just going right at them. They had two good offensive days the past two days and to go out there and do that it was good.
“Being on the attack there with runners in scoring position helped me a lot. I think the past few years I’ve kind of been picking around guys and trying to get them to chase. So I’m trying to throw competitive pitches in the zone and I think I’ve done a lot better this year than I have in the past.”
Singer (8-4) gave up four hits and a walk to go with six strikeouts. He retired 16 of the last 18 batters he faced.
“It was as good a display of setting the tone, setting the tempo,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “He came out right away, and it was a different slider than he had last time out. It was really catching. You could tell by their reactions, and it took him a little bit to find his sinker release point. But when he did.
“And he wasn’t afraid to get soft contact and guys made a few good plays behind him. But that was Brady as good as we’ve seen him all season.”
The Royals have now won six of Singer’s last seven starts, and he improved to 6-0 in his career against Detroit.
“He’s been unbelievable,” said Royals second baseman Michael Massey, who hit a home run in the fourth inning. “It seems like at least since I’ve been here, every time he takes the ball (he’s gone) seven strong innings or six strong innings.
“He works quick, keeps the ball in the zone, gets ahead of guys. One thing from second base I’ve noticed is every time he throws that 0-0 slider, it’s in there for a strike and he’s 0-1 on the guy. It seems he’s always working from an advantage and he’s really fun to play behind.”
Singer now has a 3.21 ERA to go with 131 strikeouts and only 31 walks in 134 2/3 innings on the season. Not bad after being sent down to the minors in April to work on his changeup. But since his return to the big leagues in May, the Royals have seen the player they hoped could help lead them back to the playoffs. Now they hope it continues next season.
“We’ve known Brady Singer’s make up, and how he’s wired, and how he thrives in situations that are tough or a little different,” Matheny said. “And he knows we’ve lost a couple games, and it’s almost like he wills it to happen.
“I’ve got to be good today, this team needs me. That’s what the good ones do whether they have their good stuff or not. So you take that mentality and mix it with good stuff and talented people, you’re going to see special things happen and today was a special outing for Brady.”
