PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bobby Witt Jr. homered and stole a base, Michael Massey also went deep and the Kansas City Royals won their seventh straight game with a 7-5 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night.
Witt became the first player in MLB history with at least 20 home runs and 30 stolen bases in each of his first two seasons.
Dairon Blanco drove in three runs and stole three bases for Kansas City. The Royals are in last place in the AL Central and have the second-fewest wins in baseball but followed three-game home sweeps of the Mets and AL Central-leading Twins with a series-opening defeat at defending NL champ Philadelphia for their longest winning streak since July 2017.
Nick Castellanos homered for the Phillies, who opened a 10-game homestand. Philadelphia began play holding the second wild-card spot in a tightly bunched playoff race.
Witt hit his 20th homer of the season to tie the game at 2 in the third, driving an 85 mph cutter from Aaron Nola (9-8) into the seats in left. He also stole second after singling in the fifth, his 32nd steal, before getting caught trying to swipe third later in the inning. He is batting .531 with four homers, 15 RBIs and four steals during the Royals’ winning streak.
Blanco broke a 4-all tie in the sixth with a one-out, two-run single off reliever Yunior Marte after Nola managed just one out in the inning.
Nola was charged with five runs on eight hits in 5 1/3 innings. The right-hander tied Curt Schilling for seventh all-time in Phillies starts with his 226th outing.
Jordan Lyles (3-12) gave up five runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings but earned the victory.
Austin Cox pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save.
STILL STEALING
The Royals’ streak of 14 consecutive steals without getting caught was snapped in the fifth when Witt was caught, but Kansas City upped its season total to 103 with four stolen bases. They entered third in the AL in the category.
WINNING BASEBALL
This is the Royals’ longest streak since winning nine in a row from July 19-28, 2017. They have outscored their opponents 47-26, and Kansas City starters have a 2.59 ERA over the stretch. Kansas City had lost 29 of 33 series before their winning streak.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Royals: Placed RHP Taylor Clarke (right elbow inflammation) on the 15-day IL and recalled RHP James McArthur from Triple-A Omaha.
UP NEXT
Royals RHP Alec Marsh (0-5, 6.75) opposes Phillies LHP Cristopher Sánchez (0-3, 2.66) in the second contest of the three-game set on Saturday night at 5:05 central. The game is on KFEQ (680, 95.3) in St. Joseph.