KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Bobby Witt Jr. ended his much-anticipated big league debut with a two-out go-ahead double in the eighth inning to lead the Kansas City Royals to a 3-1 win over the Send Cleveland Guardians.
Driving in Witt, Andrew Benintendi gave a cushion to Royals remover Scott Barlow (1-0). And after a perfect eighth, Barlow beat Myles Straw with runners in the corners in the ninth to end it.
The hit was Witt’s first in the majors. The 21-year-old finished the game 1st of 4 with an RBI.
“You couldn’t have written that better,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said of Witt’s debut. “He won’t forget that, and I probably won’t either.”
In a duel between former Cy Young Award winners, Cleveland ace Shane Bieber and Royals star Zack Greinke dueled in a 1-1 draw before handing the game to the Bullpens on a cold day at Kauffman Stadium.
It remained a tie until the eighth game when the Royals’ Michael Taylor worked off a walk in front of Triston McKenzie (0-1) and then finished second with Nicky Lopez’s Victim Bunt. McKenzie beat Whit Merrifield before Witt, considered by many to be the No. 1 in the game, clinched a brace down the left field line to give Kansas City their first lead.
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“I saw it coming a bit, the way the game went,” said Greinke, who signed a one-year contract to return to the club that drafted him 20 years ago. “It felt like running would be a special day.”
Lopez also drove a run for Kansas City. Jose Ramirez had an RBI double for the Guardians a day after agreeing to a five-year, $124 million deal to stay with Cleveland.
Many famous fans braved the wintry weather to enjoy opening day.
Several members of the Kansas City Chiefs, including coach Andy Reid, dressed in Royals gear. So did members of the Kansas basketball team that defeated North Carolina in the national title game Monday night in New Orleans.
The first climb was 47 degrees, and a storm blowing out into right field made it feel even colder. Then there was the occasional drizzle that turned into shooting balls of ice during the national anthem, likely resulting in everyone wearing a jersey long crying for the sun and warmth of Arizona spring training.
Except maybe Greinke, who wore short sleeves in a Kansas City uniform on his first run since September 30, 2010.
He didn’t have the same dominant fastball as he did in 2009 when he won the Cy Young, but he made up for it with the wisdom of 18 years in the big leagues – and a beguiling curveball at 69 mph. Greinke made it by 5 2/3 innings, allowed a run for five hits and a walk while hitting one, and then got a standing ovation from the crowd.
Bieber, whose Cy Young came 11 years after Greinke’s win, allowed a three-hit run in 4 2/3 innings for Cleveland, who were playing their first game with a new nickname for the first time since 1915.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.