Brady Singer‘s bid at history turned to heartbreak in one pitch. Singer allowed just one hit — a two-out single to Austin Hedges through an infield shift in the eighth inning — and the rookie flirted with a baseball rarity while leading Kansas City to a 11-1 win over the Cleveland Indians on Thursday night.
Making just his ninth big league start, the 24-year-old right-hander was four outs from becoming only the 36th rookie to throw a no-hitter when Hedges, who came in batting .148, bounced a single through a wide-open right side.
Kansas City had shifted its infield for the right-handed hitting Hedges, and he found the hole left open when second baseman Nicky Lopez moved.
inger (2-4) threw 119 pitches, the second-highest total in the majors this season behind the 122 by St. Louis’ Adam Wainwright on Aug. 30. Matheny said he was going to let Singer go as long as he needed to finish the no-hitter.
Maikel Franco and Adalberto Mondesi each hit three-run homers and Edward Olivares added a solo shot off Aaron Civale (3-5). The Royals have won three straight since stopping a seven-game losing streak.
Franco also had a two-run single and drove in five runs.
Singer’s performance came in his first start after giving up a season-high 10 hits — all singles — in a loss to the White Sox on Sept 4.
The Indians have struggled at the plate all season and they spent most of the unusually chilly evening inside Progressive Field either over-swinging or guessing against Singer, who made his major league debut against Cleveland on July 25.
Singer gave up a one-out walk in the first but then retired the Indians with relative ease.