Want to guess who has the longest active streak of starts lasting at least six innings?
Blake Snell? Justin Verlander? Jacob deGrom?
Strike one, strike two and strike three, you’re out.
The answer toes the mound Wednesday at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago. Kansas City Royals right-hander Brad Keller tries for his 10th straight start of six innings or longer when he tries to slow down the Chicago White Sox in the teams’ series finale.
Looking for a sweep after 5-4 and 5-1 wins on Monday and Tuesday night, respectively, Chicago will face Keller for the second time this year. The first time didn’t go so well, as Keller ceded just two hits and a walk in seven scoreless innings on Opening Day in a 5-3 Kansas City win.
In his last start on Friday night, Keller (2-1, 2.45 ERA) stopped the Royals’ 10-game losing streak in an 8-1 win over Cleveland, fanning a career high 10 in 6 2/3 innings while allowing only three hits and a run. The only thing which stopped him from lasting longer was five walks.
“Maybe if I don’t walk anyone, I get deeper into that game,” Keller said to mlb.com. “That was the one downfall.”
Keller became the first Kansas City starter to whiff 10 in a game since Danny Duffy did it on June 9, 2018 in Oakland. He also set a career high with 118 pitches, the most for a Royals starter since James Shields threw 124 in a July 2014 outing.
Another interesting aspect of this matchup will be Keller’s stinginess in giving up the long ball against an offense which has lived off them of late. A Tyler Naquin homer in the second inning Friday night snapped Keller’s 54-inning streak of not yielding one.
The White Sox have gotten going on offense during their first stretch of winning play this year. The long ball has keyed a 4-1 stretch over the last five games. In Tuesday night’s victory, Yoan Moncada cracked two homers, while Leury Garcia and Yonder Alonso also went deep.
At 7-9, Chicago has a good chance at climbing over the .500 mark sooner instead of later. This series started a stretch of 16 consecutive games against Kansas City, Detroit and Baltimore — teams considered further back on the rebuilding chain than the White Sox.
It also helps that Chicago has gotten better starting pitching on this turn through the rotation. Reynaldo Lopez was strong Tuesday night, going six innings and allowing one run for his first win. The White Sox also got quality starts from Ivan Nova and Carlos Rodon in Yankee Stadium on Saturday and Sunday, although Nova was a tough-luck loser.
“These guys really don’t quit,” Chicago manager Rick Renteria said to mlb.com. “I think the reality is, you have to play clean baseball.”
Lucas Giolito (2-1, 6.19) got the win in his last start Friday night against the Yankees, although he was tagged for six hits and six runs, four earned, over five innings. Giolito’s one quality start so far was a 6-2 victory March 31 in Kansas City, where he fanned eight and allowed only three hits over 6 2/3 innings.
