KANSAS CITY – With the Royals offense trying its best to find its footing and start building momentum with the bats in 2026, the weight rests on the pitching staff to keep the Royals in as many games as possible.
Luckily, the Royals boast a very strong staff. And on Friday, starter Kris Bubic was about as good as it gets.
Bubic tossed seven scoreless innings and struck out a career-high 11 batters in the Royals’ 2-0 win over the White Sox at Kauffman Stadium, debuting the new City Connect uniforms with a victory that snapped a three-game losing skid.
Last time Bubic took the mound, he generated a ton of whiffs against the Brewers but said he’d much rather sacrifice a few of those for fewer walks (three), hits (four) and runs (four).
On Friday, Bubic didn’t have to sacrifice any of it.
The White Sox whiffed at a 38% clip against Bubic, who allowed just two hits and one walk during his outing. His four-seam generated seven of those whiffs, but it was his two breaking balls that shined the most, with his slider and sweeper generating four whiffs on seven swings apiece and the two pitches responsible for seven of Bubic’s 11 strikeouts.
Bubic didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning, when Lenyn Sosa led off with a double, but never moved off second base as Bubic retired the next three batters in order. Derek Hill led off the sixth with a single, but never left first, with Bubic retiring the top of the White Sox lineup in order and striking out Chase Meidroth and Munetaka Murakami both for the third time Friday night.
Bubic had achieved his previous career-high of nine strikeouts five times, the last being June 1, 2025, in Detroit.
Friday marked double digits for the first time in his career.
There was probably a case to be made for Bubic to keep pitching, given that he finished the seventh at 87 pitches. But Matt Strahm and Lucas Erceg closed out the shutout.
And the Royals offense did just enough to ensure Bubic earned the win Friday, unlike Seth Lugo in Thursday’s start. Bobby Witt Jr. hit an RBI double in the fourth inning, scoring Maikel Garcia from first base, and Carter Jensen gave the Royals a much-needed insurance run with his team-leading fourth home run of the season in the seventh.
Jensen sent a first-pitch cutter 425 feet out to right field, over the Royals’ bullpen, with the ball coming off his bat at 113.7 mph – becoming the only player so far in this young season with multiple 111+ mph home runs (three). He’s the first Royals player with three-plus in a calendar month since Jorge Soler in September 2019 and the first rookie with three-plus in a month since Elly De La Cruz in July 2023.