Three Takeaways From Royals’ 2-1 Win Over the Rays
The Kansas City Royals were able to break the Tampa Bay Rays 11-game winning streak with a 2-1 win at Tropicana Field. Kansas City’s victory moved the Royals to 23-23 on the year.
Behind starting pitcher Brad Keller’s best start of the season, Kansas City was able to beat the hottest team in baseball. The Royals got RBIs from catcher Salvador Perez and a home run from Sunday’s hero, first baseman Carlos Santana.
Here are three things to take away from Kansas City's win.
The Carlos Santana signing continues to pay off.
I know what you’re thinking, “Tucker, this is the same first takeaway as last game, it must be a mistake.” Well, it’s not. Santana showed once again why he is the best player on the Royals roster at the moment. He continues to be patient at the plate, which in turn leads to him finding his pitch. Once Santana gets his pitch, it’s all over for the other team.
This is the Brad Keller the Royals need.
As I mentioned earlier in this article, Brad Keller had his best start of the season against the Rays tonight. Kansas City got seven strong innings from their ace as he only allowed one run on four hits and struck out seven. Overall, Keller has underwhelmed this season. Hopefully, this is a turning point in his year and he has figured something out. To hold this Rays team to only one run is no small feat. It’s good to see Keller get back to dominating.
This Adalberto Mondesi guy is pretty good.
In his first appearance of the season, Adalberto Mondesi went 2-for-4 with two doubles. Mondesi had been playing a lot of baseball between Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha and it’s apparently paid off. The 25-year-old shortstop could be an offensive catalyst for the Royals, who have struggled at the plate every now and again. Once Hunter Dozier returns from the injured list, it will be nice for the Royals to have their projected lineup back for the first time this season.
Read More: Royals Bounce Back From Losing Streak With Winning Week
Tucker D. Franklin is an alumnus of Northwest Missouri State University, majoring in sports media and graduating in 2019. Tucker was previously the sports editor for The Maryville Forum and is now the editor-in-chief of Inside the Royals as well as the deputy editor for Arrowhead Report on SI.com and the host of the Roughing the Kicker Chiefs podcast. Follow Tucker on Twitter @tuckerdfranklin.