After concluding an epic 12-pitch at-bat with his first career grand slam, Kansas City Royals left fielder MJ Melendez will look to carry the momentum into Sunday’s meeting against the host Los Angeles Dodgers.
Melendez and the Royals will face the Dodgers in the rubber match of their three-game series after winning 7-2 on Saturday.
Melendez entered Saturday’s game in a 4-for-41 slump before recording two hits, including his grand slam, which came in the sixth inning against Blake Treinen.
“It feels great to have him have that success because he’s battling, he’s been working,” Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro said of Melendez. “To pick the team up like that in a huge spot was something. I’m really happy for him.”
After Treinen walked the bases loaded, Melendez fouled off six two-strike pitches and took a ball during his lengthy at-bat before depositing Treinen’s 3-2 offering into the right-field seats.
“Obviously an incredible at-bat,” Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino said. “I know that’s something he’s been looking for and something that we’ve been looking for from him. It was awesome to see him just be able to battle. At the end of the day, even if he had lost that at-bat, that’s still an incredible at-bat.”
The pitching matchup for the series finale will feature two right-handers — Kansas City’s Brady Singer (4-3, 3.30 ERA) and the Dodgers’ Tyler Glasnow (6-5, 3.24).
Singer is looking to bounce back after allowing seven runs (six earned) over 5 2/3 innings in a 10-1 loss to the New York Yankees last Tuesday. He has given up a total of 10 runs (eight earned) across 9 1/3 innings in June after posting a 2.63 ERA and a 2-1 record in five outings last month.
Singer is 2-0 with an 0.69 ERA in two career starts vs. Los Angeles.
After a 6-1 start this season, Glasnow has lost his past four decisions and is searching for his first win since an 11-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves on May 4. He yielded five runs with 12 strikeouts over six innings in a 6-4 loss to the New York Yankees last Sunday.
Glasnow is 1-0 with a 1.88 ERA in four career starts against Kansas City, including two outings last season.
The Dodgers could use a long outing from Glasnow after Yoshinobu Yamamoto exited Saturday’s game following two innings due to triceps tightness. Yamamoto’s early departure forced the Dodgers to use five relievers to cover the final seven innings.
Los Angeles has a total of nine runs in its past four games and could use a spark from the top of the order.
Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman have combined to go 6-for-22 in the first two games of the series, but manager Dave Roberts pushed back on the idea of shaking up the first three spots in the order.
It’s an order every manager would love to have, with Betts hitting .307, Ohtani .305 and Freeman .297. Each one has driven in at least 40 runs.
“I don’t see that ever changing for me this year, as far as at the top of the order,” Roberts said.
–Field Level Media