It was a bad, bad day to be Hunter Brown.
The 25-year-old Houston Astros pitcher woke up on Thursday ready to bounce back from a brutal second start of the season in which he gave up five runs on eight hits before getting pulled in three innings against the Texas Rangers on April. 5.
Destiny had other plans.
Brown ran into an absolute buzzsaw in his early start against the Kansas City Royals, as the righty got lit up to the tune of 11 hits and nine runs before he could even register his third out.
It was right out of the gate for the Royals, as leadoff hitter Maikel Garcia started the party with a single, Bobby Witt Jr. followed it up with one of his own and Vinnie Pasquantino batted them both in with a single, living up to his nickname as Brown was left pinching himself hoping he would wake up from this "Italian Nightmare."
Though catcher Salvador Perez would pop out on the next batter, the Royals were nowhere near done, as they followed it up with hits from MJ Melendez, Nelson Velazquez, Nick Loftin and Ferrdy Fermin to establish a nice 5-0 lead before Brown could record his second out.
Following a groundout from Kyle Isbel, the fearsome top of the lineup reared their head once more, with Garcia getting his second base knock and Witt Jr. put the icing on the cake with a wicked homer to right field. 9-0.
The Royals wouldn't plate any more runs after the bases were cleared with Witt Jr.'s bomb, but they would load up the bases once more with singles from Pasquantino and Perez and a walk from Melendez before Astros manager Joe Espada finally showed some mercy, pulling Brown from his disastrous start.
All-in-all, Kansas City would register nine runs on 11 hits in the inning, effectively putting the game out of reach right off the bat.
Those 11 hits would tie a Royals franchise record that was reached twice before on Aug. 23, 2006 and Aug. 2, 1986. Meanwhile, the 15 batters that stepped up to the plate in the inning would fall one short of the club's inning record of 16.
Brown, meanwhile, would also make history as he would become the first pitcher in AL/NL history to allow 11-plus hits in less than a full-inning pitched. Espada doing him a bit dirty with that one.
This electric performance feels like it could be the start of something special for the young upstart Royals. Though they've finished with 106 and 97 losses in the last two seasons, this squad seems primed for more as they've come out the gates blazing to a 9-4 start, good for second in the AL Central and third-overall in the American League.
They're currently in the midst of a seven-game win streak and their eight wins in April have already surpassed the seven they had in the month last season. They also had a wicked eight-run inning against the Baltimore Orioles on April. 4.
It's still early goings this season and in recent years that luxe hasn't been for them. But on Thursday they ruled. Let them live that fantasy.
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