Witt falls 1B shy of cycle after being plunked
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On a night when he was hit by a pitch, firing up his teammates, Bobby Witt Jr. fell a single short of the cycle, Salvador Perez and Hunter Renfroe also homered, and the Kansas City Royals defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-4 on Monday for their fourth straight victory.
Witt tripled in the first inning, doubled in the third and drilled a three-run homer to deep left-center in the fourth to get the hard part out of the way.
The crowd arose chanting “Bobby! Bobby!” when Witt came to the plate in the sixth in anticipation of a single and the first cycle by a Kansas City player in 34 years, but Arizona reliever Humberto Castellanos hit Witt with his first pitch, drawing loud boos.
It also fired up Perez, who was on the top step of the dugout shouting over to the Diamondbacks, and the drama only continued from there.
“I don’t like the way it looks, honest to you guys,” Perez told reporters after the game. “Three-for-three, trying to get a hit for the cycle. …
“I’m going to have Junior’s back.”
In the seventh, Royals reliever John Schreiber hit Gabriel Moreno, and at that point, both benches were warned, and Arizona manager Torey Lovullo was ejected for arguing with plate umpire Jordan Baker after having to be held back. Perez appeared to exchange words with Lovullo during the scrum near the plate, as well.
“What I said was: ‘If you think in your right mind that I was going to ask our team to hit the future of Major League Baseball, one of the best players in Major League Baseball, you’re crazy,'” Lovullo said. “And you’ve lost control of this situation. And you got it wrong. That’s what I said to Jordan Baker, and I wanted Salvy to hear that.
“I wanted him to take it back to their dugout and make sure that he understood that that’s how I felt. And that’s how I feel about Bobby Witt Jr. He’s an unbelievable player.”
Witt appreciated the support from him teammates, especially the 6-foot-3 veteran Perez.
“That’s why he’s the captain,” Witt said. “He’s protecting all the guys, he’s got everyone’s back. … I don’t know if I would want to mess with him.”
Witt got another chance in the eighth but was retired on a fly ball to right field. The last Royals player to hit for the cycle was Hall of Fame standout George Brett at Toronto on July 25, 1990.
Witt joined Brett, Willie Wilson, Carlos Beltran and Johnny Damon as the only Kansas City players with 10 triples in multiple seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
“I’m just having fun, we’re trying to prepare as best we can to try to put some wins together, and just keep taking it day by day,” Witt said in his postgame, on-field interview on Bally Sports.
Witt, who was named American League Player of the Week earlier Monday, is 12-for-15 since playing in his first All-Star Game and finishing as the Home Run Derby runner-up, raising his average to .341. It was Witt’s fourth straight three-hit game, matching Damon in 2000 for the second-best such streak in franchise history, behind only Brett’s six games in 1976.
The Royals (56-45), who are in position for a wild-card playoff berth, matched their win total from last season.
Cole Ragans (7-6) survived a shaky third inning to record his second straight win and his eighth quality start in nine. He allowed 6 hits, 2 walks and 3 runs in six innings.
The Diamondbacks took a 3-1 lead in the third when Kevin Newman and Alek Thomas hit back-to-back doubles and Ketel Marte followed with his 20th homer, a two-run shot to left.
The Royals responded in the bottom half with Witt’s double, Vinnie Pasquantino‘s RBI single and Perez’s two-run homer to center for a 4-3 lead.
Witt’s three-run shot off reliever Miguel Castro in the fourth made it 8-3.
Renfroe homered in the sixth, Kyle Isbel had three hits and two RBIs, and Pasquantino had three hits for the Royals.
After giving up only one run in six innings in each of his first two major league starts, Arizona’s Yilber Diaz allowed seven runs and nine hits in three-plus innings.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
