Singer's scoreless start, Blanco's power and speed spark Royals' series sweep

CINCINNATI -- The dog days of August can be difficult for young teams, and the Royals know what that feels like. But it doesn’t feel like August to them this year. It certainly didn’t this weekend in Cincinnati.

Brady Singer enjoyed a nice rebound outing and Dairon Blanco hit another homer with his neon yellow crayon bat as the Royals made the most out of Players' Weekend by running through the Reds, 8-1, on Sunday afternoon to complete a sweep at Great American Ball Park. After outplaying Cincinnati on both sides of the ball all weekend, the Royals’ fourth straight win pushed them 3.5 games in front of Boston for the final American League Wild Card spot.

“They don’t treat this like the dog days,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “They play the whole game.”

The sweep was Kansas City’s eighth of the season, matching the Dodgers and Guardians for the second-most in MLB this year. They had only five sweeps combined in 2022 and '23. And after being swept 14 times last season, this year, the Royals have been swept only once. They’ve also won 10 of their last 13 road games, and have outscored their opponents 32-4 during their current four-game win streak.

Here are three observations from the latest victory, which Kansas City used to celebrate Players' Weekend in style.

Keep the yellow bat magic alive
Unsurprisingly, Blanco found himself back in the lineup Sunday after driving in seven runs in an historic multi-homer performance Saturday night. The surprising part was what he did for an encore.

Using the neon yellow bat again that he used to hit two homers Saturday, Blanco hit another long ball, this one a solo homer in the fifth off Andrew Abbott. Blanco entered the weekend just one homer in 68 games this season, and four over 142 career games. He then hit three homers in the next two.

“It’s a good bat!” Blanco said, through interpreter Luis Perez. “It felt really good since I grabbed it the very first time.”

Burner Bros.
Blanco also contributed Sunday in ways that were more in character. He used his legs to manufacture the Royals first run in the third, bunting for a hit, stealing second and scoring on the first of Vinnie Pasquantino’s two run-scoring knocks.

The key to it all was the bunt Blanco pushed up the first base line, beating Spencer Steer to the bag with a 3.66 second sprint from home. That tied the eighth-fastest run to first base in the Majors this year, a leaderboard Blanco is very familiar with. He already owns the two fastest such runs, and three of the top four.

“Once I put that bunt down,” Blanco said, “I knew I was going to beat him to the bag.”

It was reflective of the kind of extra weapon Blanco can be in a lineup already full of speed. With Bobby Witt in the 2-hole and Garrett Hampson and Blanco occupying 8th and 9th spots, the Royals had three of the 17 fastest players in the Majors in their Sunday lineup, per Statcast’s sprint speed.

“I think it speaks to his preparedness and his professionalism,” Quatraro said. “He’s just one of those guys who is always looking forward. 'What’s next? How can I help this team?’”

Sing it again
Singer was on one of the best runs of his career before allowing six runs in a blowout start last time out, so it was important for Kansas City for the righty to get back on track. He did just that Sunday, striking out six in six scoreless innings over which he largely cruised.

Quatraro let Singer return to the mound after the second inning was interrupted by a 45-minute rain delay, and it proved the right decision almost immediately. Singer only got sharper after the delay, striking out three of his first four batters and retiring 10 of his last 12.

But Lucas Erceg recorded Sunday’s biggest outs in the seventh, striking out Elly De La Cruz and Spencer Steer to extinguish a bases-loaded, one-out jam that he inherited in what was then a three-run game.

Erceg punched out four of the six batters he faced in the latest impressive showing from the hard-throwing righty, who has been a revelation since arriving in a deal from Oakland at the Trade Deadline.

“That guy is incredible,” Singer said. “Huge bulldog on the mound, and we trust him a lot in huge situations. You saw that today. He definitely saved the game.”