Kris Bubic’s no-hit bid for the Kansas City Royals on Monday ended with an official scoring change.
The left-hander hardly let that bother him.
Bubic made a run at an historic homecoming before settling for seven shutout innings of two-hit ball in a 3-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants.
Photo: AFP
“I knew it was happening, but I wasn’t nervous about it,” Bubic said. “I wasn’t really thinking about it. In my head I was just thinking, hey, keep attacking guys. Keep getting ahead of guys.”
Bubic initially got through six innings without allowing a hit — only to have an error charged to Royals second baseman Michael Massey changed to a single before the start of the seventh inning.
With two outs in the sixth, Wilmer Flores hit a grounder toward second base. Massey moved to his left and was in position to make the play, but slipped to the ground at the edge of the grass as the ball rolled past him into the outfield.
The play was initially ruled an error by official scorer Michael Duca, and Bubic then struck out Lee Jung-hoo to end the inning, but moments later, after reviewing video, Duca changed his call to a base hit for Flores.
Casey Schmitt’s clean double down the left-field line with one out in the seventh was the only other hit off Bubic (5-2). He struck out five, walked three and lowered his ERA to 1.47.
That is the second-lowest mark for a Royals pitcher through his first 10 starts of a season. Zack Greinke was at 0.84 in 2009, when he won the Amercian League Cy Young Award.
Vinnie Pasquantino, who hit a two-run homer off reliever Tyler Rogers (2-2) to break a scoreless tie in the eighth inning, raved about Bubic.
“Hitters getting to first base, talking about how frustrating it is facing him,” Pasquantino said. “That’s what you’re looking for. He was ridiculous again tonight.”
In his past four starts, Bubic has permitted one run over 25-1/3 innings.
This outing came in the ballpark where Bubic grew up rooting for the Giants. .
“I’ve probably sat in every area in this ballpark,” he said.
The 27-year-old Bubic estimated he had 30 to 40 family members and friends in attendance.
“You always want to do well in front of them. It makes life a little easier for everybody,” Bubic said.
He referenced the fact that he had made two previous starts at Oracle Park, including when he pitched six scoreless innings in a 3-1 loss on April 9, 2023. Bubic said that experience kept away the jitters.
“I treated this like any other game,” he said. “It’s cool to be able to pitch in front of friends and family, and I’m glad they got to see a win.”
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