Another sensational start for Singer (10 K's)

NEW YORK -- The first batter Royals starter Brady Singer faced on Thursday night wasn’t one of the daunting sluggers that make the Yankees’ lineup so universally feared. Not Aaron Judge nor Giancarlo Stanton. Not Anthony Rizzo nor Josh Donaldson.

Instead, into the box stepped a 5-foot-9, 180-pound left-handed hitter, one who Singer used to watch take at-bats between innings of his own starts. Andrew Benintendi, fresh off a trade to the Yankees late Wednesday night -- which meant he traveled to New York with the Royals, only to join the home clubhouse -- was ready to make a good first impression in his new ballpark.

It was Singer, however, who came out of the battle victorious, striking out Benintendi on three pitches. That set the tone for one of the best starts of his Royals career, in which he tossed seven scoreless innings of one-hit ball and tallied 10 strikeouts. The only drawback was a lack of run support, which proved costly in the ninth, when Judge launched a walk-off home run into Kansas City’s bullpen to send the Royals to a 1-0 loss in the series opener at Yankee Stadium.

“Brady responded as [well] as you could ever ask any pitcher against an offense like this,” manager Mike Matheny said. “Just the best we’ve seen him, if you look at how few times he was even close to the middle of the plate, how he was living on the edges and the kind of movement he had. You can see the reaction from the hitters.

“That’s a shame to lose a start like Brady had, because that was special.”

Closer Scott Barlow gave up the deciding homer to Judge on the first pitch of the at-bat, after he had retired Benintendi on a flyout to foul territory in left field. It was a second consecutive no-decision for Singer, who tossed a six-inning, career-best 12-punchout gem against the Rays on Saturday.

“His last couple of outings have been incredible,” Barlow said. “His two-seamer was moving a ton today. His slider too was really, really sharp. And being able to locate into lefties really well and have it run back over for strikes -- when you’re getting a lot of takes, your stuff’s working up for sure.”

On Thursday, Singer, who turns 26 next week, yielded only a two-out single to right field off the bat of Gleyber Torres in the fourth. Though Torres advanced to second base on a passed ball by catcher MJ Melendez, Singer induced an inning-ending groundout to shortstop. He allowed just two other baserunners: a walk to Judge in the first and a hit-by-pitch to Rizzo in the seventh.

“[He was] really working the edges,” Judge said. “He’s got that great sinker-slider combo … and he was painting. He didn’t give us much to work with, and when someone’s on like that, especially 95-97 mph, the type of velo he has -- it makes for a tough night.”

Singer outlasted Yankees starter Jameson Taillon, who held the Royals to just four hits while striking out eight over six frames. Kansas City’s best chance to break through the deadlock came in the second, when Nick Pratto knocked a one-out triple to the gap in right-center field. But Maikel Garcia (recalled as the corresponding move in the Benintendi deal) flied out to center and Kyle Isbel (Benintendi’s part-time replacement in left) struck out.

Singer bookended his outing with strikeouts, sitting down Donaldson swinging with a 95 mph sinker on his 99th and final pitch. But it was that opening at-bat against Benintendi that set the tone for Singer’s start.

The third-year big leaguer threw a 95 mph sinker that Benintendi fouled off, an 87 mph slider that he swung through and a 95 mph sinker that caught him looking on the inside edge of the strike zone.

“When you see that first-base-side sinker that has that kind of movement where a guy jumps out of the way and you get a called strike, you know that it’s unique,” Matheny said.

“Right there, I knew that all my pitches were working,” Singer said. “I knew the fastball had the life there to get me through the game.”