Salvador Perez homered and Brady Singer took a no-hitter into the fifth inning as the Kansas City Royals beat the visiting Chicago Cubs 6-0 on Friday evening.
Singer (7-6) retired the first 11 batters before walking Seiya Suzuki with two out in the fourth.
Dansby Swanson’s broken-bat single in the fifth broke up the no-hitter but Kyle Isbel kept the game scoreless, throwing out Mike Tauchman trying to score on Miguel Amaya’s fly to shallow center to end the inning.
Singer allowed two singles and two walks and also hit a batter while striking out five in seven innings. He escaped jams in the fifth and seventh innings with inning-ending double plays and has thrown 14 straight scoreless innings.
Kyle Hendricks matched Singer with four scoreless frames before the Royals collected six straight two-out hits in the fifth, taking a 6-0 lead.
Isbel’s perfectly placed hit-and-run single and stolen base set the stage for Adam Frazier’s two-run bloop hit, breaking the scoreless tie.
Vinnie Pasquantino drilled an RBI single before Perez lined a three-run homer to left, his team-leading 19th.
Hendricks (2-9) allowed six runs on eight hits in five innings, striking out four.
Frazier was hit by a pitch leading off the first, but home plate umpire Junior Valentine ruled that he moved his right elbow into the pitch, denying him a free pass. Frazier subsequently lined out as second baseman Nico Hoerner made a highlight-reel play, diving to his right.
Relievers Will Smith and Chris Stratton allowed two hits while completing Kansas City’s fifth shutout.
Pasquantino and Nick Loftin each had two singles for the Royals, who have won five of seven since the All-Star break.
The crowd of 36,351 was Kansas City’s largest since opening day.
Suzuki had two of the Cubs’ four hits. Chicago suffered its 10th shutout — third in its last six games. The Cubs have scored nine runs while losing five of seven since the break.
The Cubs’ loss snapped their four-game win streak in interleague play.
–Field Level Media