Kansas City Royals are winless no more: How they got it done vs. Minnesota Twins

Salvador Perez received a loud ovation as he stepped to the plate. It was the first inning of Sunday’s series finale against the Minnesota Twins and his Kansas City Royals had two runners on base with one out.

It was a prime scoring opportunity and the kind that had eluded the Royals across 18 innings to start the 2024 season.

And the Royals faithful on hand at Kauffman Stadium knew it.

Perez, who made the start at first base on Sunday, stood confidently in the batter’s box. He eschewed a four-seam fastball and slider from Twins starter Bailey Ober. Both pitches were called strikes.

Perez didn’t waver in his approach, however. He battled back into the count, then turned on an 83.1 mph changeup, extending his arms and drilling a three-run homer into the left-field bullpen.

The Royals took a 3-0 lead, their opening runs in an eventual 11-0 victory — KC’s first in three games to start the year.

As Perez rounded third base, the vacuum seal surrounding the Royals’ offense lifted. Their dormant lineup had come alive. By day’s end, the Royals had hammered five home runs among their 14 hits.

“To get out to a lead today was nice, you know, based on how we had not scored the last two games,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said.

Every Royals starter reached base. Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. nearly hit for the cycle. He finished 3-for-5 and now sports a .545 batting average to start the season.

Perez, the club’s veteran cornerstone and perennial All-Star, registered three hits and four RBIs. And Kyle Isbel and Maikel Garcia hit back-to-back home runs in the second inning.

“Anytime we can score first, I think it’s going to help the pitcher’s mentality to win that game,” Perez said.

Minnesota’s Ober, meanwhile, lasted just 1 1/3 innings. He allowed eight earned runs and nine hits before exiting in the second.

Sunday’s run support was enough for Royals starter Brady Singer. He starred in his 2024 debut by pitching seven shutout innings. He allowed just three hits and one walk and struck out 10.

The Royals’ starting pitching was excellent through all three games of this season-opening three-game series. KC’s starters, combined, allowed just two earned runs and 10 hits against 23 strikeouts in 19 innings.

“It was electric,” Witt said. “Just him throwing all the pitches, pounding the zone and just kind of dominating. It was just incredible to see. Just vintage Brady Singer pitching.”

The Twins mustered three hits in Sunday’s game.

The Royals (1-2) now hit the road to face the Baltimore Orioles on Monday in the first game of another three-game series. Then they return home to face the Chicago White Sox.

Missed previous games of the series?

Game 1: Cole Ragans strikes out nine, but Royals fall 4-1 to Twins

Game 2: Royals bullpen surrenders five runs in 5-1 loss

Here are more notables from Sunday’s game:

Brady Singer cruises to first victory

Singer altered his pitching arsenal this offseason. He focused on adding a four-seam fastball and sweeper to his repertoire.

The Royals believed the pitches would pair well with his sinker, slider and changeup.

Singer didn’t rely too much on his new pitches Sunday. But his sinker and slider were plenty effective in keeping the Twins off-balance. He registered 45 swings and 19 whiffs in the game.

The slider averaged 83.7 mph. Singer threw 52 of his 98 pitches as sliders, per Baseball Savant.

Of his fastball command Sunday, Singer said: “Having the sinker and four-seam, you know, being able to work and to be able to go back and forth with them. Then the two different sliders. You are just seeing some different swings on guys.”

Singer didn’t face significant trouble all afternoon. In the second inning, he worked around a two-out double and walk to keep the Twins at bay. From there, he cruised across seven innings en route to his first victory of the year.

“I think I was staying in the (strike) zone mostly and that was the biggest thing,” Singer said. “(Just) trusting my stuff in the zone. Everything had good movement to it and was where I wanted it.”

Matt Sauer makes MLB debut

The Royals inserted reliever Matt Sauer into the game in the eighth inning. It was his first MLB appearance after the Royals selected him in the Rule 5 Draft.

Sauer pitched a scoreless inning. He allowed one hit and didn’t walk a batter using his four-pitch repertoire.

The Royals added Sauer to their big-league roster after spring training. He must remain on the Royals’ 26-man active roster or be offered back to the New York Yankees, per MLB rules.

“I was super excited to get in there and just show what I could do,” Sauer said.

What’s next: The Royals begin a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles on Monday night at Camden Yards. Michael Wacha will make his Royals debut against Orioles pitcher Dean Kremer.