Closing in on history: Witt's HR puts him three shy of 30-30 milestone

KANSAS CITY -- Bobby Witt Jr. is three home runs away from making history.

Witt blasted his 27th home run in the Royals’ 4-1 loss to the Pirates on Wednesday at Kauffman Stadium, and he needs just three more to become the first Royal with a 30-homer, 30-stolen base season after already swiping 38 bags this season.

The 23-year-old shortstop finished the month of August with a .324/.375/.640 slash line with 16 extra-base hits, including nine homers, and 22 RBIs. And that includes the 4-for-23 mini-slump he’s experienced in the past six games.

Witt’s 397-foot blast to lead off the fourth inning meant more than just his march toward the 30-30 milestone. It was the first Royals’ hit of the day off Pirates starter Andre Jackson and got Kansas City on the board after Pittsburgh jumped out to a three-run lead in the first two innings off lefty Angel Zerpa.

“Any time there’s a zero in that column, both of them, you want to change that,” Witt said. “So yeah, it was good.”

While the Royals were trying to figure out Jackson’s changeup -- which they whiffed on 35% of the time -- the righty threw a low, inside fastball to Witt, who launched it over the left-center wall. The home run was a bright spot in an otherwise bleak offensive series for the Royals, who scored just four runs this week against the Pirates and have now lost six consecutive games.

They are 53 games under .500 for the first time in franchise history.

“There’s not a lot to take away,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “We had some pretty good pitching performances. We’re obviously in a rut offensively right now. Hopefully we can reset on Friday.”

On Wednesday, the Royals struck out seven times in the first three innings against Pirates starter Andre Jackson, who set a career high in K's with seven (including the first five batters he faced). Six came on his changeup.

“We knew he was a predominantly fastball-changeup guy,” Quatraro said. “The guys all knew that. That was part of the approach. But it was good enough to keep us off the barrel. And the balls we did hit hard were caught.”

The Royals had five hard-hit balls against Jackson in 5 2/3 innings; Witt’s flyout to center field in the sixth inning off Jackson was actually hit harder (103 mph) than his homer (100.3 mph), but Jack Suwinski caught it at the wall.

“I’m pretty sure [Jackson] has two different changeups,” Witt said. “The movement does a lot. You don’t see a lot of guys throw as many right-on-right changeups as he does, so it was getting hitters off balance.”

When the Royals did get runners on later in the game, they were hardly threatening. Despite having just seven baserunners, Kansas City hit into three double plays, including two that ended the inning. Maikel Garcia led off the ninth with a triple, but the Royals went down in order.

The lackluster offensive was especially frustrating given that the pitching staff settled down later in the game, with reliever Collin Snider giving up the only run after the second inning. Zerpa allowed three runs in the first two innings but was able to pitch into the sixth inning.

Zerpa walked two and needed 46 pitches through two innings. In his final 3 2/3, he needed just 38 pitches.

“In the first inning and second inning, I got down in the count,” Zerpa said through interpreter Jose Alguacil. “The third inning, I focused on first-pitch strikes and attacking the hitter.”

With 27 games left, the Royals are on pace for 49 wins. To simply call that a disappointment would be a severe understatement. The message from the front office and coaching staff is that the team needs to compete and stay in games over the last month of the season, but the lack of energy was palpable during this week’s series against the Pirates. Kansas City will host the Red Sox this weekend and will induct former manager Ned Yost into the Royals Hall of Fame.

Memories and highlights from the Royals 2014-15 playoff runs will be on full display for these young Royals to see and hear.

“You just got to keep working,” Witt said. “Keep getting better each and every day. That’s what we’re trying to do. I know that it’s not what people want to see, performance-wise. But we’ve got to keep chomping at the bit and keep going and keep getting better.”