'Only thing I could do': Singer rocked early, but regroups 

KANSAS CITY -- When Royals general manager J.J. Picollo arrived at Kauffman Stadium on Friday, he had good reason to feel optimistic about his club’s pitching accomplishments.

With one homestand and one road trip in the books, the Royals' rotation had a 3.47 ERA, which ranked fifth in the Major Leagues through 13 games. Picollo stood near the first-base dugout during batting practice and talked about the pitching improvements that Kansas City had shown since ranking 27th in starter ERA (4.76) last season.

“Strike-throwing is the key for us,” Picollo said. “Right now, they are doing a good job with it. When you get results quickly, you get buy-in. That’s going through the staff now.”

However, the Royals didn't face a lineup in those first 13 games with the kind of thunder that they witnessed Friday, when the Braves cruised to a 10-3 victory at Kauffman Stadium. With the normally reliable Brady Singer starting for Kansas City, Atlanta rang up nine hits, seven runs and three homers by the end of the second inning.

Over his previous 12 starts dating back to Aug. 9, 2022, Singer had been 7-1 with a 2.93 ERA, and the Royals were 10-2 in those outings.

But whether he came at Atlanta batters with the sinker or the slider, the Braves were making ferocious contact with Singer’s pitches from the first batter on. Ronald Acuña Jr. opened the game with a single that whistled off his bat with a 109.5 mph exit velocity. Matt Olson followed with a 105.7 mph opposite-field homer to left.

And so it went.

The Braves put 15 balls in play at 98.7 mph or higher, and 11 were at 101 mph or higher. Atlanta had five homers in a ballpark known for being tough to go deep. Singer allowed 10 hits and eight runs and, by the end of the night, his ERA climbed to 7.88.

“It boils down to leaving a lot of pitches in the middle of the plate,” said Singer, who surrendered homers to Olson, Sam Hilliard, Austin Riley and Sean Murphy. “Obviously, they did a lot of damage.”

Royals manager Matt Quatraro credited the Braves’ lineup for its impressive offensive performance on a night that Kansas City had hoped to begin its second homestand much better than the first, which ended 1-6.

“They are a good team, especially the top of the order,” Quatraro said. “Those guys are proven Major League hitters.”

The silver lining for Singer’s night was that he stayed on for three additional innings after being rocked in the first and again in the second.

Singer allowed only one run over his final three innings, and now Royals starters have gone at least five innings in 13 of the 14 games.

“He did a heck of a job stabilizing things,” Quatraro said of Singer. “He saved us big time by being able to right the ship and go five.”

Singer could take some solace in how he navigated his final three innings.

“Yeah, that was the only thing I could do,” Singer said. “Try to get deeper in the game and save the bullpen. The pitches were somewhat good. It’s just that the location wasn’t good. I was happy to keep competing and go right at them with what I had tonight.”