By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
The Kansas City Royals extended their win streak to six games and posted back to back shutout wins for the first time since 2015, shutting out the Houston Astros 2-0 for a second consecutive night at Kauffman Stadium Saturday night.
The scoring started in the first inning after Jonathan India's leadoff walk was followed by a Bobby Witt Jr double, extending Witt Jr's career best hit streak to 18 games. After Salvador Perez popped out, Mark Cahna's deep fly ball to right field allowed India to score, moving Witt Jr to third base, but he would wind up stranded there after Maikel Garcia popped out to end the inning.
Astros starting pitcher Framber Valdez kept the Royals bats quiet for most of the game however, despite the win, giving up just two more hits after the Witt Jr double, the biggest coming in the fifth inning as Vinnie Pasquantino hit a solo home run over the right field bullpen, sailing 412 feet. A single by Cahna in the seventh would be the final hit by Kansas City.
Michael Wacha earned his first win of the season, moving to 1-3 on the year, pitching six shutout innings and giving up four hits while striking out six and walking two. Carlos Estévez earned his seventh save, striking out one batter in a hitless ninth inning.
Kansas City and Houston wrap up their series today, before an off day on Monday for the Royals. Kris Bubic (2-1, 1.45 ERA) starts the series finale for the Royals against Hunter Brown (3-1, 1.16 ERA) for the Astro. First pitch is at 1:10pm, pregame coverage begins at 12:30 on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM).
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