KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Bobby Witt Jr. fell a single short of the cycle, Salvador Perez and Hunter Renfroe also homered, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-4 on Monday night 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.
“It's hard to describe,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “The power he displays, the poise at the plate, it’s like he’s playing a different game.”
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's really unfortunate that he got hit,” Quatraro said. “I don't know what to think about the intent behind it.”
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 Famer George Brett at Toronto on July 25, 1990.
“I definitely wanted to do it for the fans. These fans are awesome out here,” Witt said. “I choked at the end, but whatever.”
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 Johnny Damon in 2000 for the second-best such streak in franchise history, behind only Brett’s six games in 1976.
One inning after Witt was plunked, Royals reliever John Schreiber hit Gabriel Moreno with a pitch. Both benches were warned, and Arizona manager Torey Lovullo was ejected for arguing with plate umpire Jordan Baker and had to be held back. Royals catcher Perez appeared to exchange words with Lovullo during the scrum near the plate.
“I never said a word to Salvador Perez,” Lovullo said. “I just wanted him to hear what I was going to say to Jordan. I told him, ‘If you think in my right mind I was going to ask my team to hit the future of Major League Baseball, one of the best players in the game, you’re crazy. You lost control of this situation, and you got it wrong.’ I wanted Salvy to hear that and take it back to their dugout.”
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 six hits, two walks and three 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.
“Castro is no easy right-hander to face,” Quatraro said. “He comes in there and that first pitch, you don't expect him to hit a homer, but I guess you maybe start trying to expect it. It's incredible, what he's doing right now. Absolutely incredible.”
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.
“He couldn’t locate his secondary stuff and became predictable with his fastball,” Lovullo said.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: Lovullo said LHP Jordan Montgomery (knee) would come off the injured list and start Tuesday. RHP Merrill Kelly (shoulder) and LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (shoulder) will each throw a bullpen session Tuesday and are on track for simulated games, Thursday for Kelly and Friday for Rodriguez.
Royals: OF MJ Melendez (ankle) is close to returning, Quatraro said. Melendez is eligible to come off the IL Friday.
UP NEXT
Alec Marsh (7-6, 3.55) will start for the Royals against Montgomery (6-5, 6.44).