One of the reasons the Royals were ecstatic when University of Florida right-hander Brady Singer fell to them at No. 18 in the 2018 MLB Draft was obviously his talent.

Kansas City also saw an inner fire in Singer it simply had to have. In fact, Royals area scout Jim Buckley, who began scouting Singer in high school in Eustis, Fla., said the righty was “probably the most competitive [pitcher] I’ve seen on the mound.”

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That talent and competitiveness was on full display Thursday night for the 24-year-old Singer at Progressive Field as the rookie nearly no-hit the Indians in just his ninth big league start in the Royals’ 11-1 win.

Singer carried a no-hitter into the eighth when with two outs, Indians catcher Austin Hedges drove a 3-2 fastball on the ground into right field. Right fielder Whit Merrifield raced in with hopes of fielding it in time to make a play at first base, but Merrifield couldn’t scoop the baseball cleanly.

Hedges’ hit came off the bat at 94 mph and had an expected batting average of .380, per Statcast. Singer finished with eight shutout innings, throwing a career-high 119 pitches (80 strikes).

Royals manager Mike Matheny said he was prepared to let Singer go as long as it took to get the no-hitter.

“Not many guys get an opportunity like that,” Matheny said, “and we know he’s going to get extra rest with a couple of off-days coming up next week.”

Singer was all in as well.

“I was going to give him everything I had,” Singer said. “I don’t know if he would have let me go 130 or whatever.”

Hedges and the Indians were impressed all night.

“I thought, on the video, he had a really good four-seamer and a lot of run on his ball,” Hedges said. “Today, he was throwing not only at the bottom of the zone, but he had some nice carry at the top of the zone as well. That was something that maybe he was working on. He hadn't done that a lot in the past, and obviously had a lot of success.”

Singer displayed a dominating four-seam fastball with late life and a knee-buckling slider. He walked two batters and struck out eight on the night. After walking Mike Freeman with one out in the first inning, Singer then retired the next 19 hitters he faced.

Singer’s four-seamer, which he threw 71 times, got 26 called strikes or swings and misses.

“I felt really good from the start,” Singer said. “It was probably a bad thing, but I kind of noticed there were no hits after the third inning. I felt sharp from pitch one. I stayed focused the whole time.

“Command was huge -- low in the zone and elevated it when I needed to. And I kept the slider away from the heart of the plate.”

Added Matheny, “The slider was tunneled so evenly with the heater that [the Indians] had a hard time picking it up. I thought it was going to be a special night, and it was a special night.”

There were some close calls before Hedges’ hit that Singer can thank his defense for:

• With one out in the seventh, Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor, on the ninth pitch of the at-bat, hit a 97 mph liner toward left-center. But Royals third baseman Matt Reynolds, the only player on the left side of the infield, made a leaping grab. The expected batting average from Statcast was .680.

• With two outs in the sixth, Cesar Hernandez roped one toward the fence in center field at 101.5 mph off the bat. But Royals center fielder Edward Olivares raced back and made the catch. That play had a .550 xBA.

The Royals haven’t had a no-hitter since Aug. 26, 1991, when Bret Saberhagen stifled the White Sox in Kansas City.

The Royals’ offense gave Singer all the support he would need, hitting three home runs -- one each by Oliveras, Maikel Franco and Adalberto Mondesi. Franco had three hits and five RBIs.