Royals race past pathetic Pirates, 5-1

Featuring: The return of Two-Hit Witt!

It’s a well-known fact that Bobby Witt Jr. has been slumping lately.

Well, slumping for Bobby anyway.

In the month of September, he had 10 hits in 11 games. Had gone hitless only twice, and came into today on a six-game hitting streak. But, still, he clearly wasn’t playing up to his standards.

One at-bat into the game, one hit, one run, one RBI. That gave him 100 RBIs and 31 home runs on the season. Before the game was over, he would add a sacrifice fly to the wall in dead center and an RBI double. It was his first multi-hit game since September 3 against Cleveland. It was his first game with a walk - he was intentionally walked in the ninth with runners at second and third and a 3-1 count - since September 3 as well. Perhaps most surprisingly, it was also his first multi-RBI game since August 10 against St. Louis. Back then, Tommy Pham was in the other team’s lineup.

If you follow me on Twitter you maybe saw this coming. Despite the numbers I rattled off, he had a poor 72 wRC+ in the month of September before today’s game. But his exit velocities were back up to the elite levels he usually manages during the New York series, though the hits weren’t falling in droves. Last night I remarked that he had just missed a home run and, well, today, he didn’t miss.

The offense overall had a weird day. They only managed seven hits, but six went for extra bases. They scored five runs, which is above average in a game, but it felt like they could and should have scored a lot more. Including when they got three walks in the ninth inning but scored none thanks to a Pham strikeout and a Salvador Perez GIDP.

Michael Wacha was effective but didn’t get very deep in this one, allowing the Pirates sole run over his five innings while striking out eight. He also walked three which contributed to a pitch count that precluded him from pitching into the sixth. John Schreiber was the first man out of the bullpen, followed by Sam Long. James McArthur was offered the seventh with a four-run lead, but could only get one out - a groundout - while walking one and giving up a pair of hits to load the bases. Kris Bubic came in and struck out pinch-hitter Joey Bart and Isiah Kiner-Falefa to escape the jam unscathed. Lucas Erceg pitched around a two-out double to finish the game, but the score was not close enough for him to collect a save.

It’s tempting to argue that the Royals wouldn’t have won the game with this level of effort if the Pirates hadn’t already seemingly packed it in for the season, but this marks the Royals sixth win in a row against teams that aren’t in first place, a streak that dates back to a loss to the Angels on August 20, almost a month ago. Going back a little further, the Royals have won 11 of their last 12 against non-first-place opponents. It’s not just the White Sox that they can beat up on.

With today’s victory, number 82 on the season, the Royals have clinched their first winning season since 2015. Disappointingly, all of the games that impact the Royals’ playoff positioning will be played later today, but as things stand immediately following the contest the Royals are 2.5 back of the Guardians and three ahead of the Twins. The Magic Number to clinch a playoff berth stands at only eight.

The Royals have a chance to sweep tomorrow. Brady Singer, in a day game against a team that strikes out a lot, will pitch for Kansas City. Jared Jones, who would be a rookie sensation for the Pirates if Paul Skenes didn’t exist, will go for the Pirates. By the way, Jones has a 5.19 ERA in three starts since returning from the injured list and has given up four home runs in only 17.1 innings. The game will start at 12:35 Central.