Kansas City Royals lost Game 1 of Rays doubleheader, but this young pitcher stood out

Kansas City Royals rookie Alec Marsh said he felt more comfortable in his second MLB start on July 5. On Saturday, Marsh erased any lingering jitters with a dominant performance against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Marsh struck out 11 batters across six innings of work. He threw 92 pitches and relied primarily on his fastball. The heater averaged 94.3 mph and generated 29 swings, nine whiffs and six called strikes.

“It’s exciting to see all the work I put in,” Marsh said. “I did a lot of work over the All-Star break coming into this start. (I was) tweaking some things with the slider. Mixing with some grips and stuff like that. It was really cool to see the results happen right away.”

In the fourth inning, Marsh began a streak of five consecutive strikeouts. He fanned Rays trio Luke Raley, Josh Lowe and Jonathan Aranda in the frame. An inning later, Marsh got Taylor Walls and Jose Siri on strikes as well.

Marsh allowed five hits and two runs in the start. However, the Rays added three late insurance runs to win 6-1 in Game 1 of Saturday’s split doubleheader.

“I think after striking out the side, I was kind of pumped up a little bit,” Marsh said. “It was a reminder that my stuff is good enough and it doesn’t matter who we are playing.”

In the eighth inning, the Rays drew three consecutive walks against Royals reliever Collin Snider. The free passes turned into a three-run frame.

Raley hit a two-run single to extend the Rays’ lead. Siri hit his second home run of the game in the ninth. He finished 2 for 4 with two home runs and two RBIs.

“He just lost the zone right from the get-go,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said of Snider’s relief appearance. “A couple pitches were borderline but it didn’t locate.”

The Royals collected seven hits in the game. However, they couldn’t overcome Rays starter Tyler Glasnow. The veteran allowed one run and struck out seven batters in six innings of work.

The Royals fell to 26-66 on a day they introduced their first-round MLB Draft selection to media.

Here are more notables from Game 1:

Bobby Witt Jr. hits 15th home run

Bobby Witt Jr. picked up where he left off prior to the All-Star Break. In the fifth inning, Witt hit his 15th home run to put the Royals on the board.

Witt drilled a 96.6 mph fastball to straight-away center field. The blast traveled 424 feet and registered a 104.7 mph exit velocity.

Witt is now tied with Perez for the Royals’ home run lead. Witt also leads the team with 48 RBIs and 27 steals as he continues his torrid streak.

“The first at-bat, he hit a ball well to right field,” Quatraro said. “It was a fastball, and I know he wanted to get the (bat) head out on it a little bit more. He did the third time around, so that was a very encouraging sign for him.”

Salvador Perez reaches career milestone

The Royals captain recorded his 500th extra-base hit in the fifth inning. Perez hit an 88.5-mph slider off Glasnow. The ball nearly cleared the center-field wall but was deemed a double due to fan interference.

Perez surpassed Royals Hall of Famer Mike Sweeney for sixth place in franchise history. He is one of 28 active players with 500 extra-base hits.

Royals Hall of Famer George Brett holds the franchise record with 1,119 extra-base hits.

Perez went 4 for 4 in the game. It was his 11th career game with at least four hits.

“Four hits, regardless of who you get them off of, is impressive,” Quatraro said. “I wish we had another foot on the one to left-center (Perez’s double) to tie it up.”

Prior to the All-Star Break, Perez — the Royals’ representative in the game — had recorded just four hits since June 24.

What’s next: The Royals will play Game 2 of their split doubleheader against the Rays at 6:10 p.m. Central. Cole Ragans is slated to start and make his Royals debut.