Sweep! Clutch Melendez goes yard AGAIN to cap 'crazy' series

KANSAS CITY -- In what could only be described as a déjà vu moment, the inevitable happened in the seventh inning Sunday afternoon.

MJ Melendez delivered yet again.

After delivering the go-ahead homer in Saturday night’s win, Melendez did it again Sunday with a go-ahead, two-run blast that lifted the Royals to a 5-3 win over the White Sox at Kauffman Stadium -- and four-game series sweep.

In those four games, Melendez drove in seven runs and gave the Royals the lead in each of the last three games -- the go-ahead single in the eighth inning Friday and the seventh-inning homers on Saturday and Sunday.

“Those bats, they never give up,” starter Alec Marsh said after allowing three runs over 4 2/3 innings Sunday. “... Being able to win these close ones against the White Sox, and get that sweep, is just awesome. Good teams win those games.”

Now two games over .500 after 10 games in 2024, Sunday was the Royals’ fourth win in a row and their first four-game sweep since April 2021. They’re on a roll, and it couldn’t come at a better time with the Astros coming into town for a three-game set starting Tuesday.

“These guys are high right now when they win, and we’ve made it very clear that’s what our objective is,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “You can’t proclaim anything over 10 games, but it’s better than the alternative, that’s for sure.”

“It’s huge,” Melendez added. “Showing that we can win a lot of ball games in a row is big for us. It’s a tough game, you’re not going to be able to win every single game, win every single series, but that’s something we’re looking to try to do. Taking it one day at a time was our mantra last year in the second half. This year, we’re doing that. Not looking too much into the future and attacking the moment right now.”

There wasn’t a bigger moment for Melendez on Sunday than in the seventh with the Royals down 3-2. Nelson Velázquez walked to lead off the inning, and, with Dairon Blanco pinch-running, Melendez came to the plate against White Sox reliever Deivi García.

Melendez swung through two fastballs early but then took two fastballs out of the zone before fouling off a changeup. He felt like he was pulling off the heater, so he changed his directional mindset to left field and tried to see the pitch down in the zone.

On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Melendez got what he was looking for and crushed it 405 feet to the QuikTrip Fountain deck in right-center field.

“It’s all about confidence for me right now,” Melendez said. “... “Just thankful I’m able to do something to help the team win. Pretty crazy.”

Melendez was able to return as the Royals’ late-game hero because of Marsh limiting damage despite not having his best command and a huge swing from Hunter Renfroe earlier in the game. The new Royals outfielder smoked his first home run of the season in the fifth inning -- a two-run shot that pulled the Royals within one against White Sox starter Garrett Crochet.

Crochet was rolling before that, with a no-hitter and just 54 pitches through four innings. But Renfroe saw six pitches in his first at-bat, which resulted in a groundout, before he drove a slider down in the zone out to the visiting bullpen in the fifth. Crochet’s day was done after five innings, and the Royals were able to get to the bullpen quickly.

“I was trying to get him out of the game as quick as possible,” Renfroe said. “We knew we had a good chance against their bullpen, so I didn’t want to go out there and swing at the first pitch from him. I knew if we worked the count, tried to get him out of the ballgame, we were going to get him.”

The Royals are winning in a variety of ways right now, with their offense getting hot, their rotation putting together a historic start of the season and the bullpen looking better after a shaky start. The unit didn’t allow a run this series, and Will Smith had a nice bounce-back on Sunday with a scoreless eighth inning before James McArthur secured the save.

“You can say momentum, but it’s just guys caring about each other and wanting to play for each other,” Smith said. “And just wanting to win. It doesn’t matter how we do it, how it gets done, we just want to win. It’s a team effort. And it’s been fun to come to work every day.”