BALTIMORE (AP) — Taking a break from their usual small-ball style, the Kansas City Royals flexed their muscles during an unprecedented display of power.
The Royals smashed a franchise-record seven home runs Sunday in an 11-6 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. It was a surprising performance by a team that entered with a major league-low 18 homers in its first 34 games.
Maikel Garcia went deep twice in his first career multihomer game. Jonathan India hit his first homer with Kansas City, and Luke Maile, Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino and Michael Massey joined the fun by depositing balls over the wall at Camden Yards.
Rather than work runners around the bases with bunts and singles, the Royals took the slugger’s route to victory.
“Pretty remarkable,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “We made so much how we struggled offensively. A day like that is very satisfying.”
The Orioles hit four homers of their own in a see-saw duel, but in the end, the Royals — for a rare change — simply overpowered their foes.
“It was definitely the first game we’ve had like that this year, the back-and-forth slugfest,” Quatraro said. “Guys just had to focus, and they didn’t miss their pitches. … It was a fun game, but nerve-wracking.”
The Royals hadn’t hit as many as six homers in a game since 2020. On this day, however, the elements and the shorter fence in left field proved to be no challenge for a Kansas City team that had scored four runs or fewer in 29 of its first 34 games.
“First thing I saw when the game started with the wind was blowing out to left-center, and they had brought the fences in from last year,” Quatraro said. “It’s a hitter’s park. We know that.”
It sure was for the Royals, who pulled away in the eighth when Witt and Pasquantino connected against Yennier Cano, who hadn’t allowed a run all year. Not surprisingly, it was the first time this season that Kansas City went deep on back-to-back trips to the plate.
The Royals got homers from their leadoff hitter (India) and No. 9 hitter (Maile). For India, the trip around the bases after he cleared the left-field wall in the fifth inning was nothing short of delightful.
“It felt great,” said India, who hit 63 homers in his first four seasons with Cincinnati before he was traded to Kansas City in November. “I put a good swing on a good pitch. Thank goodness they have a short fence out there. I thought it was just a ball in the gap.”
On this day, he was merely one of many Kansas City starters to hit the ball out.
“Everybody was on today,” he said.
___
AP MLB: MLB ‘ Latest News, Stats, and Scores
