Colorado’s Ryan McMahon will aim to continue his torrid stretch at the plate on Sunday afternoon when the Rockies bid for a three-game series sweep of the struggling Kansas City Royals.
McMahon hit his fifth homer in eight games during Colorado’s 7-2 victory in the series opener on Friday in Kansas City. He added two hits on Saturday, including an RBI single as part of a five-run first inning to lift the Rockies to a 6-4 victory.
McMahon is batting a sizzling .487 (19-for-39) with 15 RBIs during his last 10 games overall.
Ezequiel Tovar has done quite well for himself to boot. He is batting .346 (18-for-52) during his last 15 games for Colorado, which has won two in a row following a four-game skid.
“When you put the ball in play, a lot of good things can happen,” Rockies manager Bud Black said.
Catcher Elias Diaz added two hits and a pair of RBIs in Friday’s series opener. He also threw out Bobby Witt Jr. on a stolen-base attempt in the third inning.
Kansas City’s Nick Pratto has been swinging a hot bat since returning from Triple-A Omaha on April 28. Pratto, who homered to lead off the first inning on Saturday, is batting .302 (32-for-106) with 11 extra-base hits and 14 RBIs during that stretch.
Witt had three hits; however, he committed an error on a routine ground ball from Jurickson Profar in the first inning.
“Bobby tried to be too quick on the double-play ball. I don’t know if we get two on that with Profar running, who knows?” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “I think he just picked his head up a bit.”
Salvador Perez added two hits for Kansas City, which has lost three in a row and 10 of its last 13 games. The Royals also fell to 8-23 in Kansas City, although Colorado’s 11-20 road record is nothing to brag about.
Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland (4-6, 4.22 ERA) will look to snap a three-start winless stretch when he takes the mound on Sunday.
Freeland allowed five earned runs for the second time in three outings in a 5-1 setback to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday. He surrendered three homers in that contest after being taken deep just once in his previous five trips to the mound.
Freeland was gashed for eight runs (six earned) on 12 hits in 4 2/3 innings in a loss in his only career encounter against Kansas City on May 13, 2022.
Royals right-hander Brady Singer (3-4, 7.12) will provide the opposition on Sunday.
Singer, 26, received his second straight no-decision on May 27 after allowing two runs on four hits in five innings against the Washington Nationals.
Singer has yet to face the Rockies in his career.
It’s not immediately known if Singer will square off against Mike Moustakas, who has yet to play in the series. He played the first seven-plus seasons of his career with the Royals after Kansas City selected him with the second overall pick in the 2007 draft.
He is hitting .232 with two homers and 13 RBIs in 33 games in his first season in Colorado.
–Field Level Media
