*Photo from the Wichita Eagle*
We all knew the Bobby Witt Jr breakout was coming, and it's happened. Witt Jr homered and drove in two, 4 other hitters added an RBI, and the Kansas City Royals defeated the St. Louis Cardinals with a 7-1 victory on Tuesday evening in Kansas City.
The prized prospect of the Royals organization and best in baseball, Witt Jr cracked the team's opening day roster after a brilliant spring training. Witt Jr hit his first big league home run and drove in two runs in a convincing win for the Royals, beating their in state rivals by 6 runs.
Royals assistant hitting coach Keoni De Renne said of Witt that "Having conversations with him like, 'You don’t have to do everything in one at-bat and one game. Go be you.' I think he’s taking into account the information that we’re giving him, coming up with what he wants to do, and he’s convicted in it."
It was Witt Jr who got the party started, hitting his first big league homer in the second inning, landing in the outfield fountains to make it 1-0 Royals. In the 4th, Ryan O'Hearn scored on a groundout from Witt Jr, making it a 2-0 Royals lead after 4 innings.
It stayed that way until the 7th inning, when Nicky Lopez scored on an RBI double off the bat of Edward Olivares, making it a 3-0 lead. Andrew Benintendi then scored Olivares on an RBI single to make it 4-0 Royals. Benintendi scored on a sac fly from Whit Merrifield, and it was a 5-0 game. RBI singles from Witt Jr and Michael A Taylor made it 7-0 Royals, before Tyler O'Neill got the Cardinals on the board with an RBI single of his own.
Asked about hitting his first major league homer, Witt Jr said that "It was awesome. Just from getting to the field today, seeing Mike Sweeney and Reggie Sanders here. With MJ being here, being back at home, wearing the new uniforms, it was just a blast. Lot of energy out there. And a lot of Cardinals fans, so it was good to beat them with a lot of fans here."
Brad Keller got the start and the win for the Royals, pitching a beautiful game. Keller pitched 6 1/3 shutout innings, allowing 4 hits and 3 walks on two strikeouts. Amir Garrett allowed one run in his inning of work, but Collin Snider and Gabe Speier shut things down in relief.
It was Dakota Hudson who got the start for the Cardinals, getting the loss in this one. Hudson allowed 3 runs on 9 hits and two walks in 6+ innings of work, falling to 2-2 this season. TJ McFarland pitched 1/3 of an inning and allowed two runs, with Jake Woodford allowing two runs in 1 2/3 innings.
O'Neill, who had an RBI and is seemingly turning a corner, said that "I was very pleased with my play last season. Sometimes guys go through slow starts and get in a rut. I’m not here to make any excuses, but I feel like my best times are definitely ahead of me. I’ll be putting in the due work to get out of this as soon as possible."
The Cardinals and Royals wrap up their series on Wednesday, with Kris Bubic taking the ball for the Royals, and Adam Wainwright starting for the Cardinals.
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