Fastball

Kansas City Royals Shortstop Continues to Make American League History in Latest Win

The Kansas City Royals beat the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday night as Bobby Witt Jr. continued his torrid and historic 2024.

Brady Farkas

Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (7) hits a home run during the sixth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Kauffman Stadium on Aug 7.
Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (7) hits a home run during the sixth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Kauffman Stadium on Aug 7. / Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports
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The Kansas City Royals beat the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday night by a score of 8-3. The win was crucial for Kansas City, who is now 65-53 and owns a 2.5 game lead over the Boston Red Sox for the third and final wild card spot.

Conversely, the loss dropped the Cardinals to 60-58 on the season. They are 2.0 games back of the final spot in the National League.

As he has so many times this year, Bobby Witt Jr. paced the Royals offense. The star shortstop went 2-for-4 with a triple, a run scored, a walk and three RBI. He's now hitting .347 for the year, putting him on pace to win the American League batting title. He's also positioning himself for quite the battle with Aaron Judge to win the AL MVP Award.

This particular performance also put him in a rare class of American League history, according to @StatsCentre:

Players to have a season of 11+ triples, 20+ home runs, 25+ steals and 30+ doubles in American League history (1901-):
@Royals Bobby Witt Jr. (2024 via his RBI three-base hit tonight vs STL)
Curtis Granderson (2007)
Roberto Alomar (2001)
Carlos Beltran (2001)
Ken Williams (1922)

Witt Jr. also has a .998 OPS at just the age of 24, making him one of the best (and youngest) players in all of baseball. An All-Star for the first time this year, Witt Jr. also finished second in the Home Run Derby.

The Royals have a rare Sunday off-day this week but will be back in action for a huge series with the Minnesota Twins on Monday.

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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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