KANSAS CITY -- Royals rookie left-hander
Newberry said he didn’t have any nerves in the eighth inning. But in the ninth?\n\n“A little bit,” Newberry said. “I knew it was my first legitimate opportunity \\[for a save\\]. But I just went out there and tried to compete.”\n\nBubic was staked to a lead throughout his outing, but he could not survive the fifth inning. He left after 4 2/3 frames, having allowed eight hits, three walks and four runs. He struck out five.\n\n“He came out and looked pretty good in the first,” Matheny said. “He was challenging guys, getting ground balls. Then he just got in a little bit of trouble. Overall, he’s continuing, in my mind, to make better pitches with his fastball. To me, it’s all about controlling the count for him. When he can do that, he’s going to have better luck.”
Indeed, if the old adage is true that strike one is the best pitch in baseball, it’s no secret why Bubic struggled. Falling behind hitters has been an issue for him this season, and of the 23 Detroit hitters he faced, he threw 16 first-pitch balls.\n\n“Still my Achilles heel, falling behind too much and putting me in some tough spots,” Bubic said. “I think they took away my changeup, either they spit on some of them or put good swings on them. That kind of made me a two-pitch pitcher with my fastball and curveball.”\n\nBubic’s inability to get ahead set up the Tigers in favorable counts.
It helped Willi Castro, who blasted a 1-0 changeup that was down the middle from Bubic for a two-run home run in the third.\n\nIn the fifth, Bubic fell behind Miguel Cabrera 3-0, fought back, but then served up a 3-2 four-seam fastball that the slugger belted to dead center for a 450-foot two-run homer.\n\nBubic finished his rookie season with a respectable 4.32 ERA and an 8.82 K/9 ratio in 10 starts.\n\n“I felt I got better as I went along this season,” Bubic said. “I made some adjustments as we went along. The experience was invaluable. You can’t put a metric on that.”
Meanwhile, there is another Royal who would rather the 2020 season never end -- catcher