Kansas City Royals manager Mike Matheny was asked if Brady Singer had earned another start last week after the right-hander tossed seven scoreless innings in his first start of the season.

Although Matheny said it was “too fresh” to gauge that, the smile on his face made it clear that Singer had done just that.

Singer will get the chance Sunday to prove that his first start was not a fluke when the Royals host the Minnesota Twins in the finale of a three-game series.

The Twins will send right-hander Bailey Ober (1-1, 2.75 ERA) to the mound to face Singer (1-0, 2.84).

The Twins followed a 6-4 win over the Royals on Friday with a 9-2 victory Saturday.

Walks hurt the Royals, as they issued three leadoff walks Saturday, and all three runners scored. In the series, the Royals have been outscored 15-6, and more than half the Twins’ runs came after hitters reached base on a walk.

The Royals will need Singer to keep away from the free bases.

Singer’s two-pitch arsenal of a sinker and a slider had helped him garner attention and progress through the minors. But his lack of a developed changeup caused him to struggle, eventually leading to his demotion.

But in his last start, against the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday, Singer mixed in his changeup among his 93 pitches and kept the White Sox off balance all game long.

“That was one of those when they come back (they say), ‘I’m going to show you something,'” Matheny said after Singer’s last outing. “That’s exactly how you’re supposed to handle this. He came back with a purpose. He looked like a completely different pitcher.

“Every one of his 17 changeups had effectiveness on the following pitch.”

Singer said he wasn’t doing anything differently with the changeup, other than using it more often.

“I felt like all three pitches were there,” he said. “Obviously I wanted to go out there and throw well. The changeup felt really good. I felt like I threw some quality ones.”

Singer has struggled in his career against the Twins, going 1-5 with a 6.00 ERA in seven starts.

Ober has not pitched for the Twins since suffering a right-groin strain on April 28.

He has been pitching off the mound for the past several weeks. He recently made a rehab start at Triple-A St. Paul and allowed five runs (four earned) on four hits and no walks while striking out seven in five innings.

Ober said he felt “pretty good, just a little sore” after leaving the game against the Tigers in late April.

“(Manager) Rocco (Baldelli) came out and asked what was going on,” Ober said. “I said the groin was a little tight. He said, ‘You’re not going any more.’ It’s early in the season and it’s cold out. It’s probably the right decision.”

Little did Ober know that it would be almost a month before his next outing in the majors.

Ober has faced the Royals twice in his career. He is 0-0 with a 4.32 ERA in two starts.

–Field Level Media

Guardians right-hander Shane Bieber will look to continue to have his way against the Detroit Tigers on Sunday in Cleveland.

Bieber (1-2, 3.72 ERA) has mowed down American League Central opponents in his career, starting with the Tigers. Against them, he’s 6-2 with a 2.28 ERA in eight starts, striking out 76 in 55 1/3 innings.

Against the AL Central overall, the former Cy Young Award winner is a dominating 21-5.

Rookie right-hander Alex Faedo (0-1, 2.87) will conclude the series for the Tigers on Sunday. The Guardians won the first game 6-1 on Friday. Their game Saturday was rained out and will be made up July 14.

Both managers are expected back in the dugout for Sunday’s game. Detroit’s A.J. Hinch missed Friday’s game with an illness. He has taken numerous COVID-19 tests, but his results continue to come back negative. He said he spent Thursday’s off-day in bed, and bench coach George Lombard stepped in for him on Friday.

“I gave him my thoughts on specific things,” Hinch said, adding: “I’ve never spent a game where I’ve been the manager in a hotel room.”

Tigers right-handed reliever Will Vest tested positive for COVID-19 before Friday’s game and went on the injured list.

Cleveland manager Terry Francona missed Friday’s game when he announced he was having a minor surgical procedure.

“He was back at the ballpark today and ready to manage (Saturday),” Guardians president Chris Antonetti said.

DeMarlo Hale stepped in for Francona, who missed four games last week when he tested positive for COVID-19.

Antonetti said he’s encouraged by the progress of this young Cleveland team this season. He said when he looked recently, the average age of the Guardians was lower than that of all the Triple-A teams combined.

“We want to see this team develop and grow,” he said. “We think our best baseball is ahead of us. I’m so excited about our future.”

Antonetti said if the pitching staff continues to improve, the Guardians could have a fun second half of the season. Especially with the way the offense has ben producing.

Cleveland shortstop Amed Rosario has hit safely in nine of his 13 games in May, batting .288 (15 for 52), for the month with four RBIs.

Jose Ramirez, who hit a three-run homer and a triple on Friday, recorded his 20th game of the season with multiple extra-base hits this season. He enters play Sunday leading the majors with 37 RBIs, one more than the New York Mets’ Pete Alonso.

Ramirez also leads the AL with three triples.

Owen Miller has eight RBIs in his past six home games, when he’s batted .286 (6-for-21), with two doubles and two homers.

Tigers rookie first baseman Spencer Torkelson had his first career sacrifice fly and drove in the Tigers’ only run Friday. He’s had doubles in back-to-back games. During his current three-game hitting streak, he’s gone 4-for-8 with a home run and two RBIs.

He still is batting only .179 for the season.

Javier Baez is batting .306 (15-for-49), with six extra-base hits in 12 career games vs. Cleveland. He’s in a season-long slump, however, hitting just .205 — well off his career .262 mark.

–Field Level Media

Houston right-hander Justin Verlander continues to pitch to a level of exceptionality that not only belies his two-year absence following elbow surgery, but the Astros’ unwavering commitment to utilizing him judiciously with each start.

Verlander produced his third consecutive scoreless start in leading the Astros to a 2-1 victory over the visiting Texas Rangers on Saturday in the third contest of this four-game weekend series that concludes on Sunday. He allowed six hits — all singles — and recorded eight strikeouts over six innings while lowering his ERA to 1.22 and WHIP to .072, both of which lead the major leagues.

After making just one start in the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, Verlander has returned to post six consecutive winning decisions. Over his last three starts, he has allowed nine hits and issued five walks while notching 18 strikeouts in 19 innings.

After tossing a season-high 107 pitches in his previous start, Verlander threw 95 pitches against Texas, part of a routine that showcases his excellence while also keeping an eye on maintaining his health all season.

“He labored a little bit the last start but this start, he was good,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “His start before this, that 30-pitch inning in Washington took a lot of out him and he’s usually very efficient with his pitches, especially early in the game. We take that (pitch count) into consideration big time because we want him for the whole duration. Knock on wood he’s been excellent.”

Right-hander Jose Urquidy (3-1, 4.81 ERA) is the scheduled starter Sunday as the Astros pursue the series win.

Urquidy became the first Houston pitcher in 15 years to earn the victory despite allowing 12-plus hits in his previous start, surrendering four runs while notching one strikeout over five innings in the Astros’ 13-4 win against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday. He is 2-0 with a 4.01 ERA over his last five appearances.

Urquidy is 3-0 with a 1.67 ERA over four career starts against the Rangers. In his previous start against Texas on Sept. 15, 2021, he allowed one run on two hits and one walk with six strikeouts over six innings in a 7-2 road victory.

Left-hander Taylor Hearn (2-2, 5.46 ERA) has the starting assignment for Texas in the series finale.

Hearn is 2-0 with a 3.21 ERA over three starts this month, limiting opponents to a .196/.317/.353 slash line. He did not factor into the decision of his last start after allowing three runs on five hits and three walks with two strikeouts over four innings in Texas’ 10-5 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday.

Hearn is 2-1 with a 2.78 ERA over eight career games (three starts) against the Astros, including a 1-1 record and 3.68 ERA as a starter. He took his first loss against Houston on April 26, allowing four runs on five hits and one walk with four strikeouts over five innings in a 5-1 setback. He has yet to record and decision and owns a 1.35 ERA in three career appearances (one start) in Houston.

After failing to record an extra-base hit off Verlander, the Rangers managed a leadoff double in the seventh inning and a one-out double in the eighth that subsequently resulted in their lone run. Texas would strand eight runners in the one-run loss.

“Those are games you wish you win,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. “We had our chances.”

–Field Level Media

The Toronto Blue Jays will bid for their first series sweep of the season Sunday afternoon when they start left-hander Yusei Kikuchi against the visiting Cincinnati Reds.

The Blue Jays posted a 2-1 win in the series opener on Friday and a 3-1 victory the following day.

Kikuchi (2-1, 3.38 ERA) will face the Reds for the first time in his career. He will oppose right-hander Graham Ashcraft, who is scheduled to make his major-league debut. Right-hander Connor Overton was scratched from the start because of a sore back.

Kikuchi has improved after making adjustments suggested by pitching coach Pete Walker. After posting an 0-1 mark with a 5.52 ERA in four starts in April, he is 2-0 with a 1.56 ERA in three outings in May.

He said he uses his four-seam fastball with more confidence and has made an adjustment with his slider.

“About three weeks ago is when Pete and I first kind of had some deeper conversations, and that’s when he really pushed the usage of the fastball,” Kikuchi said through interpreter Kevin Ando. “To be honest with you, at times, I definitely didn’t have the most confidence in that pitch. But really building off each start recently, I definitely have more confidence in that pitch now.”

Kikuchi allowed one hit and three walks over six scoreless innings in a 6-2 win over the Seattle Mariners on Monday.

“Typically in the past I have been a little bit against doing that kind of stuff (during the season), but the way Pete came to me with getting rid of the hesitation at the top of my leg kick and a couple of other things — the way he said they weren’t looking for immediate results,” Kikuchi said.

“He really seemed to understand it wasn’t going to be an (overnight) change, and so that really meant a lot to me, and I feel like it’s a big reason why I was able to buy in immediately and be on the same page as Pete.”

Ashcraft, 24, was 3-1 with a 1.65 ERA in seven starts at Triple-A Louisville this season.

Two young pitchers were in a pitching duel Saturday. Toronto right-hander Alek Manoah allowed one run and seven hits in eight innings.

Cincinnati right-hander Hunter Greene, who pitched 7 1/3 no-hit innings last Sunday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, did not allow a hit Saturday until Bo Bichette led off the fourth with the first of his two home runs for the day. Greene allowed one run in six innings.

Coming off a 118-pitch outing at Pittsburgh, Greene was lifted after throwing 84 pitches on Saturday.

“When guys have to work really hard in one start, it can happen pretty fast where they can hit a wall maybe in their next time out,” Reds manager David Bell said. “I said to (pitching coach Derek Johnson) at one point, let’s watch closely, because if it does happen, it could happen quickly. Taking (Greene) to the limit there before that actually happened really sets him up well for his next time out.”

“My biggest focus this season is really not numbers, but for me, it’s my development,” Greene said. “Obviously, up here, it’s all about winning. I understand that and take pride in that.”

Toronto second baseman Santiago Espinal was 1-for-4 to extend his career-best hitting streak to 14 games Saturday. He is 18-for-48 (.375) with four RBIs during that stretch.

–Field Level Media

The visiting Atlanta Braves will aim for a three-game sweep of the Miami Marlins when the teams meet on Sunday afternoon.

William Contreras recorded his second multi-homer game of the season with two solo homers in Saturday’s 4-3 victory as Atlanta won for the third time in its last four games.

Miami has struggled to come up with timely hits in the first two games of the series, going 2-for-20 with runners in scoring position, including 1-for-9 on Saturday.

“We had chances again,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “It’s not something you want to keep talking about. We’re taking good at-bats. We’ve just got to find a way to push those runs across when we get opportunities.”

Miami will monitor two players who suffered injuries in Saturday’s contest.

Shortstop Miguel Rojas exited the game in the seventh inning with left-calf tightness and is listed as day-to-day. Second baseman Jazz Chisholm was hobbled with an apparent knee injury after being spiked in the ninth inning.

The Braves have received a spark this month from outfielder Marcell Ozuna, who is batting .303 (10-for-33) with four home runs during his eight-game hitting streak.

Atlanta has won eight of its last nine games in Miami and will turn to Ian Anderson (3-2, 3.75 ERA) as the starter on Sunday. The right-hander has a 2.70 ERA in his last three starts covering 16 2/3 innings.

Anderson, 24, allowed one run on four hits over six frames in a 1-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday. He struck out three and threw a season-high 103 pitches.

“I feel like I was throwing the ball well,” Anderson said. “The velocity was good again.”

Anderson is 1-2 with a 4.15 ERA in six career starts vs. Miami. He has struggled to contain Chisholm (5-for-13), Jesus Aguilar (4-for-11) and Jesus Sanchez (5-for-6).

Right-hander Sandy Alcantara (3-2, 2.49) will take the mound for Miami on Sunday. He turned in a dominant performance against the Washington Nationals last Monday, allowing one run on three hits over eight innings of an 8-2 victory.

“When he’s rolling like that, it’s fun to watch,” Mattingly said. “He’s in and out of innings quick, throwing strikes. Everything’s working.”

Alcantara, 26, lost his first two starts this month but has allowed a total of two runs and five hits over his last two outings covering 15 innings.

Ozzie Albies is 7-for-22 (.318) against Alcantara, who is 2-1 with a 2.20 ERA in seven career starts against the Braves.

Atlanta outfielder Travis Demeritte is hitless in his last 26 at-bats. The rookie has started in right field in the past two games with Ronald Acuna Jr. serving as the team’s designated hitter.

The Braves are being cautious with Acuna, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee last July 10 on Miami stadium’s synthetic turf.

“If this was a natural surface, he’d be playing the outfield,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “But because of the turf and all, we just wanted to keep him off that.”

–Field Level Media