KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Through two starts, Royals left-hander Kris Bubic has pitched nothing like a fourth starter. He’s actually been the team’s best.
Bubic pitched 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball to lead the Royals to a 4-1 win against the Orioles on Sunday at Kauffman Stadium. The win also gave the Royals their first series win of the season. Bubic (2-0) struck out eight and walked just one as he scattered five hits and lowered his ERA to 0.71.
“I know there’s a lot made of who starts Opening Day and who’s fifth,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “But these guys are all going to make 30-plus starts hopefully. And once the season gets going, I lose track of who is one and who is four, whatever the case is.
“We know we have good starting pitching, and good for Kris. To come out of the gate like this has helped us immensely, and to get two of the wins we’ve got. We feel really comfortable with him regardless of where he’s slotted in there and he’s lived up to that so far.”
Bubic took a shutout into the seventh and his only blemish came in that inning after giving up a triple and a wild pitch that led to the Orioles’ lone run. Royals relievers Hunter Harvey, Lucas Erceg and Carlos Estevez took it from there and didn’t allow a hit or a walk.
“If you look at the whole weekend we pitched pretty well,” Quatraro said. “We had the one inning yesterday that got away from us, but that’s a really good lineup, and they can beat you in a lot of ways. And our guys did a really good job of mixing and kept them off balance and got some soft contact and a bunch of swing and miss today.”
Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. fell a home run shy of the cycle. He had a chance to make history when he came up in the seventh but struck out looking. Still, it was the 11th time in his young career that Witt had the opportunity to come to the plate with a chance for the cycle.
Quatraro, though, believes Witt will accomplish that feat before long.
“You can’t take for granted that anybody gets three hits in a Major League game,” Quatraro said. “And for Bobby to do that however many times it’s been so far is pretty remarkable. His speed sets him up in this ballpark for triples, and he’s got power to hit the ball out of the ballpark anywhere. So I think it’s a matter of when.”
The Royals scored three in the first against Baltimore starter Cade Povich, as Vinnie Pasquantino’s sac fly scored Witt, and Michael Massey hit a two-run double. Freddy Fermin added an RBI single in the second, which was more than enough for Bubic and the Royals.
“It’s nice to get off to a good start, but I think it’s even better when you get a series win,” Bubic said.
UP NEXT
The Royals begin a four-game homestand against the Twins on Monday. Twins RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (0-0, 4.50 ERA) will face Royals RHP (Michael Lorenzen 0-1, 5.06 ERA).
