Singer tosses gem; Salvy hits No. 41 in win

KANSAS CITY — One of the goals the Royals had entering 2021 was to play the White Sox better after winning just one of 10 games against the American League Central juggernaut last season.

The Royals will end this year with a season-series win against the team that is on its way to winning the division title.

Brady Singer pitched seven scoreless innings to lead the Royals to a 6-0 victory on Sunday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium, taking the series finale to win the season series, 10-9.

Singer turned in his best start of the season, allowing just four hits and striking out six. He didn’t walk a batter, and while he needed 106 pitches to get through seven innings, he relied on his defense with weak contact, averaging 90.2 mph exit velocity with all his pitches Sunday.

Singer has now allowed two runs or fewer in his last four starts and 15 of his 24 starts this season.

The Royals’ offense backed him up with four runs off White Sox starter Dylan Cease and two more off reliever Matt Foster. One day after Salvador Perez hit two homers and reached 40 on the season, he took Cease deep in the first inning for a three-run, opposite-field blast. Perez hit his 40th home run on Saturday on a 98.8 mph fastball on the inside part of the zone that he yanked over the left-field fence. His 41st home run came on a 99 mph fastball on the outside part of the zone that Perez powered 448 feet over the right-center-field fence.