Royals bring power in powder blues in I-70 Series opener

Royals hit three home runs in win over Cardinals

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August 12th, 2023

KANSAS CITY — The Royals brought out the full powder blue jerseys for this weekend’s I-70 Series against the Cardinals at Kauffman Stadium.

On Friday, they also brought the power.

The Royals scored nine runs in the first two innings and added three more late in their 12-8 win over the Cardinals, needing every bit of the offensive outburst on a night that saw more red than blue in the stands at The K.

“I thought it was Chiefs night again,” shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. said. “But it was good to get them while we’re here with all those fans out there.”

The Royals pounced on Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright with four runs in the first inning and four more before St. Louis could record an out in the second.

“Pretty explosive,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “They had a good plan. You know Wainwright’s going to have the good curveball, and I think they had a good plan hunting it at times. They made him pay for some mistakes.”

The Royals homered three times in the second inning, started off by Nelson Velázquez sending a sinker to center field in his first at-bat as a Royal after the organization acquired the 24-year-old outfielder from the Cubs on July 31.

Velázquez’s right-handed pop was one of the reasons they traded for him, and he showed that strength with a 411-foot, 104.5 mph blast to one of the deeper parts of the park.

“Man, this field’s huge,” Velázquez said. “ … I was like, ‘Man, I have to start hitting them hard, or they’re not going anywhere.’”

Witt followed with his 21st home run of the year, and the 23-year-old’s 21 homers in 115 games this season are better than his 20 homers in 150 games as a rookie in ’22.

Through 118 team games, he’s on pace for 28 home runs.

“You saw it go hand-in-hand when he changed or improved his approach at the plate, the power really started to come,” Quatraro said. “He got himself in better counts, he saw more pitches, he feels more comfortable with his timing.”

Of catcher Salvador Perez’s four hits Friday night, he was most happy with his “oppo-taco” home run in the second off reliever Zack Thompson to right field. Perez was a triple away from the cycle, and in the seventh, he tried desperately to push a single into right field to a double but got thrown out.

“I was trying my best,” Perez said with a grin.

The Royals’ offense has been fueled recently by the top of the lineup, but they’ll need the middle and bottom to step up like it did on Friday, especially after leadoff hitter Maikel Garcia exited Friday’s game with what was described as “left upper body discomfort” by the team.

Until then, Garcia’s 15-game hit streak is on hold, and the Royals will have to find someone to supplement his offense — which is no small task. The rookie is slashing .333/.358/.400 during his hit streak and has hit safely in 38 of 48 games since June 17, a span in which he has a .768 OPS.

Luckily, the Royals saw flashes of offense up and down their lineup on Friday with Velázquez and Kyle Isbel, who was 2-for-3 with a walk, at the bottom. Matt Duffy replaced Garcia at third and made an error then struck out in the fourth inning but made up for it with a leaping grab to end the top of the eighth and a two-run single in the bottom of the frame.

The Royals needed those runs as the Cardinals scratched back in a bullpen game opened by Dylan Coleman, who made his first Major League start and said his adrenaline was high because he was facing the Cardinals, his hometown team. The Potosi, Mo., native had to navigate around three walks and a hit batsman to get through a scoreless first inning.

“Having the whole night last night to sleep on it, I felt like my heart rate was real high ever since I found out, and that kind of played into it today,” Coleman said. “I had a couple opportunities to make the pitches I needed to. I had some decent counts where I was 2-2, 1-2, but just didn’t execute those pitches. So it kind of snowballed from there.”

But the Royals just out-hit the Cardinals. Kansas City matched a season high with 12 runs, and 16 hits fell two shy of its season high.

“It comes with at-bats and experience and just guys preparing, putting together great at-bats and taking it day by day,” Witt said. “Just learning and keep building confidence.”