Royals blanked by Fried in 3-0 loss to Braves

Can they still clinch?

The Royals mustered little offense against Braves starter Max Fried as they lost to Atlanta 3-0 Friday night.

Brady Singer worked around two first inning walks and retired eight of the next nine hitters, the only hitter reaching doing so on an error by Michael Massey. In the fourth, Jorge Soler reached on a one-out single. Ramon Laureano hit a slow grounder that had the potential to be an inning-ending double play. But Bobby Witt Jr. had shifted over and was slow to get to second and his throw to first was late. One batter later, Singer hung an 0-2 pitch to Sean Murphy who made him pay with a two-run home run.

Singer was otherwise sharp, exiting after six innings with just four hits, three walks, and two runs allowed, striking out five. It was his 13th quality start of the season.

But he couldn’t match Max Fried who has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this year and looked dominant tonight. He was in complete control for the first eight innings allowing just three baserunners. The Royals mustered their best rally in the ninth with two outs. Bobby Witt Jr. walked and Michael Massey doubled to bring Salvador Perez up with a chance to tie the game. The Braves brought in closer Raisel Iglesias and he needed just one pitch to get Salvy to fly out to left to end the game.

The Royals fall to 85-75 but can still clinch a playoff spot if the Twins lose to the Orioles tonight. Kansas City will have a chance to tie the series tomorrow evening at 6:20 CT with Seth Lugo on the mound.