KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) 鈥 Brady Singer pitched five effective innings, MJ Melendez hit a two-run homer and the Kansas City Royals broke loose early to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 9-5 on Monday night for their first victory of the young season.
Nicky Lopez had a two-run triple and Bobby Witt Jr. delivered a pair of RBI singles as the Royals opened a 7-0 lead in the fourth against Jos茅 Berr铆os and gave Matt Quatraro his first win as manager.
鈥淭hey dumped some champagne on me, sprayed it in my face, turned out the lights,鈥 Quatraro said.
And his players were thrilled for him.
鈥淭he first one鈥檚 always the hardest,鈥 Lopez said. 鈥淲e showered him for his first win. He deserves it. It鈥檚 fun playing for him.鈥
Singer (1-0) allowed just two hits 鈥 doubles by third baseman Matt Chapman 鈥 with three walks and three strikeouts.
鈥淗e came out firing,鈥 Quatraro said. 鈥淚t seemed like every pitch he threw was a strike and the (velocity) was up. He had really good command of the two-seamer.鈥
Singer is 7-0 with a 1.68 ERA in his last 10 starts at Kauffman Stadium dating to June 26 last year.
鈥淚 felt good,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he fastball had some good life. The velo was pretty good all game. The slider got me out of a few situations. It had some better bite on it tonight.鈥
Toronto mounted a fifth-inning charge, loading the bases with a double and a pair of walks, but Singer limited the damage with a double-play grounder that scored one run.
Kansas City was shut out twice by Minnesota last weekend while losing its first three games. After entering with a major league-worst .133 batting average, the Royals greeted Berr铆os (0-1) with four first-inning hits, producing three runs and their first lead of the season.
鈥淭o do it early, to let them relax a little, and then to add on was a big plus,鈥 Quatraro said. 鈥(The hitters) were well prepared. Listening to what they were saying about how Berr铆os was going to pitch and what they were looking for.鈥
Berr铆os went 5 2/3 innings in his season debut, allowing eight runs on nine hits and striking out seven.
Lopez鈥檚 two-run triple highlighted a four-run fourth as Kansas City expanded its lead to 7-0.
鈥淲e came out swinging,鈥 Lopez said. 鈥淪ometimes you can start off slow. Just come in every day and work your tail off, and that鈥檚 what we do.鈥
Melendez capped the scoring in the sixth with a two-run homer, his first of the year and the longest of his career at 443 feet.
鈥淚t was a great feeling,鈥 Melendez said. 鈥淭rying to find a pitch I could hit and be on time with it.鈥
鈥淗e crushed that ball,鈥 Quatraro said. 鈥淗e got us going with the leadoff double. The home run was more separation. (Toronto) can score in a heartbeat, so any separation you can get is huge.鈥
Witt also had Kansas City鈥檚 first stolen base of the year, while five Royals collected their first hits and RBIs.
鈥淛ust getting the first win of the season was a huge thing for us,鈥 Melendez said. 鈥淚 think we were pressing a little bit. We got the offence started early and continued throughout the game.鈥
Four consecutive singles off Royals relievers led to a pair of seventh-inning runs, but the Blue Jays left the bases loaded. Toronto (1-3) stranded seven in scoring position, going 2-for-11 in those situations.
Bo Bichette drilled Toronto鈥檚 first homer of the year leading off the ninth. The Blue Jays had gone without a long ball in their first three games 鈥 their longest drought to begin a season.
UP NEXT
Toronto鈥檚 Yusei Kikuchi and Kansas City鈥檚 Kris Bubic will make their season debuts Tuesday evening.
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