Brady Singer reaches milestone as the Kansas City Royals defeat the Milwaukee Brewers

When the Royals selected Brady Singer with the 18th overall pick of the 2018 MLB Draft, they envisioned the right-hander being a stalwart of the rotation for years.

That’s proven to be the case, as illustrated by one statistic.

The Royals defeated the Brewers 6-4 on Wednesday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium in Singer’s 100th career start. He’s the just 26th pitcher in franchise history to reach triple digits in games started.

“Whenever you see those numbers, that’s pretty amazing for all the games that have been played in 50 years, or whatever it’s been,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “It’s impressive, the longevity.

“I think all of those milestones are impressive, because there’s just so few people that get to reach them in the history of the game. Brady is somebody that embodies what we like here. He’s a guy that really wants to take the ball and keep going out there and competing.”

Singer gritted through a rough start as the Brewers scored the game’s first run on doubles by the first two batters after just seven pitches. When he exited with one out in the sixth inning, he had allowed just the run on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

Getting into the sixth was important for Singer, who threw 29 pitches in the first inning.

“I knew after the first ... to go out there in the second, trying to manage the pitch count, trying to get quick outs and obviously I’m trying to get deep in the game,” he said. “So I gotta get the pitch count back in line and for some early contact.”

It was the 30th career victory for Singer, 3-1, and he was happy with the 100th start, even if he didn’t realize it until being told by a reporter.

“It’s really cool,” Singer said. “I feel like I was talking about this the other day with someone, the career has gone by really, really quick. It’s flown by, so just sit back and enjoy it. But yeah, 100 starts is cool.”

Missed previous games of the series?

Game 1: Royals rally late, beat Brewers 3-2

Game 2: Royals get taste of own medicine in 6-5 loss

Productive outs

The Royals erased the early deficit in their half of the first. Maikel Garcia doubled and took third when Brewers center fielder Blake Perkins slipped while tracking a ball off the bat of Bobby Witt Jr.

Vinnie Pasquantino’s sacrifice fly scored Garcia as Witt took third. Michael Massey followed with another sac fly that brought home Witt.

In the sixth inning, Massey had another sacrifice fly that again scored Witt as the Royals took a 3-1 lead.

A money throw

Nick Anderson took over in the sixth inning for the Royals and ran into immediate trouble. Gary Sánchez opened with a home run and Oliver Dunn walked and took second on a groundout.

Brice Turang ripped a double to left but MJ Melendez extinguished the threat with a perfect throw home to get Dunn.

“I always have confidence in my arm, my ability to throw,” Melendez said. “I feel like that’s what I’ve always done best even when I was a catcher. I got it before he touched third base, and I felt like it had a pretty good shot.”

Series winner

Witt blasted a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth inning, and then the Royals got the line moving.

It was Witt’s first home run since April 11.

“Just a slider. Those pitches you’re supposed to hit out, the ones that back up like that,” Witt said. “But yeah, I just saw it good and yeah, good to kind of get one.”

Pasquantino followed with a double and, after an out, Hunter Renfroe walked. Three straight singles brought home two more runs, giving the Royals a 6-2 lead.

Milwaukee got two runs back in the ninth, but James McArthur secured the win. He entered with two on and got the game’s final two outs on just three pitches.

The Royals took two of three in the series and split the six-game homestand. They have a 22-16 record. A year ago, the Royals didn’t win their 22nd game until June 24 (22-55 overall).

“Happy flight,” Quatraro said of the Royals upcoming trip to the West Coast. “I mean, that’s said often in the dugout before you travel, so yeah, it’s definitely better to win. I mean, I’m not an idiot. I feel better when we win.

“But regardless, tomorrow when we show up in Anaheim the Angels don’t care if we won or lost today, right? So we’ve got a little while to feel good about this and then move on.”

Injury report

Left-hander Kris Bubic threw a scoreless inning for the Surprise Royals on Tuesday in his first appearance since having Tommy John surgery a year ago. Bubic struck out two and allowed two hits as Surprise beat the ACL Rockies 5-1.

Right-hander Alec Marsh is expected to start Friday against the Angels in Los Angeles. He went on the injured list because of a bruised right elbow on April 25.

What’s next: The Royals open a four-game series against the Angels on Thursday night. Right-hander Michael Wacha will start for KC against the Angels’ Reid Detmers. First pitch is at 8:38 p.m.