Kansas City Royals at Cincinnati Reds

· Major League Baseball

Kansas City Royals

67-55, 29-30 Away

Final
7 - 1

Cincinnati Reds

60-62, 31-32 Home

Bobby Witt Jr. collects 3 hits to up his league-leading average to .352 as Royals beat Reds 7-1

Witt, the Royals' All-Star shortstop, hit a four-seam fastball from Nick Martinez 430 feet into the upper deck for his 25th homer in the fourth inning. He doubled and scored on a fielder’s choice in the sixth and had an infield single in the seventh.

The Reds intentionally walked him with two outs in the ninth, just before he trotted home on Vinnie Pasquantino's 18th homer.

Witt became the third Royals player to hit 25 homers and steal 25 bases in consecutive seasons.

“It's special any time you kind of say that word 'history,'” Witt said. “I've just got to keep preparing the way I'm preparing and keep trying to get these wins. This team is a lot of fun, and we're just having a blast here.”

Lorenzen (6-6), acquired by the Royals in a July 29 trade with Texas, started his third game after two no-decisions. He allowed a run and two hits in 5 2/3 innings and departed after 83 pitches.

“Truthfully, it was tough,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said of Lorenzen’s outing. “He was behind a lot of those guys but was able to execute pitches when he needed to. It’s probably not the way he would have liked to go about it, but he really made pitches when he had to.”

Lorenzen is just glad to be on Witt's team instead of pitching against him.

“You know, I see it on MLB Network every night, and you kind of get sick of it, to be honest, because he’s on it every night, his highlights and stuff," Lorenzen said. “And playing with him, it’s the real deal. There’s not many people you can say that about. You can say that about Bobby. It’s the real deal. It’s incredible.”

Salvador Perez, Adam Frazier and Freddie Fermin also drove in runs for Kansas City, helping snap Cincinnati's four-game win streak.

Martinez (6-6) pitched six innings, allowing three runs and three hits with four strikeouts.

“I could have held them a little closer,” Martinez said. "It is a good lineup.”

Tyler Stephenson had an RBI double in the sixth, one of only four hits by Cincinnati.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Royals: RHP John Schreiber (knee) is on a rehab assignment at Single-A Quad Cities. He landed on the 15-day injury list July 29.

Reds: LHP Brent Suter pitched live batting practice Friday. He went on the 15-day injured list July 20 with a partially torn muscle in the back of his left shoulder.

The Royals send right-hander Michael Wacha (9-6, 3.50 ERA) to the mound to oppose Reds lefty Nick Lodolo (9-4, 3.99) as the series continues Saturday night.

How can I watch Kansas City Royals vs. Cincinnati Reds?

TV Channel: Royals at Reds 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on ESPN+.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Reds: 59.4%

Royals: 40.6%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Candelario struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Steer struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Friedl struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Stephenson doubled to center.
	9th Inning	Hernández relieved Long
	9th Inning	Blanco in right field.

Statistics

KC		CIN
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
0	Hit By Pitch	0
12	Ground Balls	10
9	Strikeouts	9
7	Runs Batted In	1
2	Sacrifice Hit	0
13	Hits	4
0	Stolen Bases	0
1	Walks	3
0	Catcher Interference	0
7	Runs	1
0	Ground Into Double Play	0
0	Sacrifice Flies	0
37	At Bats	30
2	Home Runs	0
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
12	Runners Left On Base	13
0	Triples	0
1	Game Winning RBIs	0
1	Intentional Walks	0
4	Doubles	4
18	Fly Balls	11
0	Caught Stealing	0
125	Pitches	133
0	Games Started	0
0	Pinch At Bats	1
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	0
23	Total Bases	8
40	Plate Appearances	33
324.0	Projected Home Runs	0.0
6	Extra Base Hits	4
8.0	Runs Created	1.5
.351	Batting Average	.133
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.622	Slugging Percentage	.267
.297	Secondary Average	.233
.368	On Base Percentage	.212
.990	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.479
0.7	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.9
8.3	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	1.6
55.0	Batter Rating	16.0
18.5	At Bats Per Home Run	0.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.00
3.13	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	4.03
.270	Isolated Power	.133
0.11	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.33
.025	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.091
-.054	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	.100
14.0	Runs Produced	2.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.6	Patience Ratio	0.3
0.4	Balls In Play Average	0.2
101.5	MLB Rating	65.0
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0