Kris Bubic loses no-hit bid for Royals on official scoring change but enjoys fantastic homecoming

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Kris Bubic’s no-hit bid for the Kansas City Royals ended with an official scoring change Monday night.

The left-hander hardly let that bother him.

Bubic made a run at an historic homecoming before settling for seven shutout innings of two-hit ball in a 3-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

“I knew it was happening, but I wasn’t nervous about it,” Bubic said. “I wasn’t really thinking about it. In my head I was just thinking, hey, keep attacking guys. Keep getting ahead of guys.”

Bubic initially got through six innings without allowing a hit — only to have an error charged to Royals second baseman Michael Massey changed to a single before the start of the seventh.

With two outs in the sixth, Wilmer Flores hit a grounder toward second base. Massey moved to his left and was in position to make the play but slipped to the ground at the edge of the grass as the ball rolled past him into the outfield.

The play was initially ruled an error by official scorer Michael Duca, and Bubic then struck out Jung Hoo Lee to end the inning.

But moments later, after reviewing video, Duca changed his call to a base hit for Flores.

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Casey Schmitt’s clean double down the left-field line with one out in the seventh was the only other hit off Bubic (5-2). He struck out five, walked three and lowered his ERA to 1.47.

That’s the second-lowest mark for a Royals pitcher through his first 10 starts of a season. Zack Greinke was at 0.84 in 2009, when he won the AL Cy Young Award.

Vinnie Pasquantino, who hit a two-run homer off reliever Tyler Rogers (2-2) to break a scoreless tie in the eighth, raved about Bubic.

“Hitters getting to first base, talking about how frustrating it is facing him,” Pasquantino said. “That’s what you’re looking for. He was ridiculous again tonight.”

In his past four starts, Bubic has permitted one run over 25 1/3 innings.

This outing came in the ballpark where Bubic grew up rooting for the Giants. He went to Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose and then to college at Stanford.

“I’ve probably sat in every area in this ballpark,” he said.

The 27-year-old Bubic estimated he had 30-40 family members and friends in attendance.

“You always want to do well in front of them. It makes life a little easier for everybody,” Bubic joked.

He referenced the fact that he had made two previous starts at Oracle Park, including when he pitched six scoreless innings in a 3-1 loss on April 9, 2023. Bubic said that experience kept away the jitters Monday.

“I treated this like any other game,” he explained. “It’s cool to be able to pitch in front of friends and family and I’m glad they got to see a win.”

Bubic underwent Tommy John surgery in 2023 and was strictly a reliever in 27 appearances last season.

He made one start with a longer no-hit bid: On Aug. 21, 2021, Bubic threw six hitless innings against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

After a weather delay, he allowed a walk and then a home run to Patrick Wisdom. Bubic gave up just that one hit over 6 1/3 innings in the Royals’ 4-2 win.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB