BALTIMORE (AP) — Bobby Witt Jr. made the most of his much-anticipated playoff debut, driving in the only run Tuesday to back Cole Ragans' six sharp innings and help the Kansas City Royals return from a nine-year postseason absence with a 1-0 victory over the Baltimore Orioles in Game 1 of their AL Wild Card Series. Witt, the 24-year-old shortstop who led the majors with 211 hits and a .
332 batting average this season, singled to left field off a 95 mph, first-pitch cutter from 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes with two outs in the sixth. Maikel Garcia came around to score after drawing a walk, stealing second — Burnes allowed runners to swipe a major league-high 41 bases this season — and moving to third on a groundout. Just after Witt delivered, Kansas City Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes posted on social media : “Let’s go!! Keep it going!!! @Royals” They couldn't keep adding to their lead, but that didn't matter, thanks to Ragans, who was every bit as good, if not better, than Burnes before leaving after 80 pitches because of cramping in his left calf, plus a bullpen that was KC's weakness during the regular season but was more than fine Tuesday.
Sam Long, Kris Bubic and Lucas Erceg, who earned the save, shut down the Orioles the rest of the way. The Royals lost 106 games last season but a 30-win improvement has them back in October for the first time since winning the 2015 World Series. Now they can end this best-of-three series and advance to.