Since the All-Star break, it’s been the performances of rookie starting pitchers carrying the Royals, as for the third straight game, a Royals rookie starter went 6 or more innings, allowing three or fewer earned runs, and striking out six or more batters. Good for baseball history.
Brad Keller, Heath Fillmyer & Burch Smith are the 1st trio of rookie pitchers in MLB HISTORY with 3 straight 6+ IP, 3 or fewer hit, 6+ strikeout starts.
— Dave Holtzman (@DHoltzy) July 25, 2018
The story of the night was easily Burch Smith, who picked up his first major league win since 2013, firing off 6.