KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ In a sparsely attended game Monday night at Kauffman Stadium, where Royals center fielder Brett Phillips could be heard in the press box calling "Got it!" for a fly ball in the first inning, there seemed to be little to care much about.
Some 60 miles north at Missouri Western State, the Kansas City Chiefs had wrapped up one of their final preseason practices shortly after a brief shoving match broke out between offensive lineman Andrew Wylie and defensive end Jarvis Jenkins.
Here, a rookie battery was making its major-league debut together for the visiting Toronto Blue Jays. Alcides Escobar was starting at third base for the 82-loss Royals.
It's easy to forgive this perceived lack of interest.
But the portion of the 14,721 who bought tickets and chose not to find a way to the Truman Sports Complex on Monday night missed out on a few positive developments a scuffling club like the Royals, who beat the Jays 3-1, can take pride in.
_Rookie starting pitcher Brad Keller, who entered Monday's start with the sixth-lowest home runs per nine innings ratio (0.31) among all rookie pitchers, allowed a one-out homer to Jays second baseman Devon Travis and subsequently issued a four-pitch walk to first baseman Justin Smoak in the first inning. But Keller settled down, retiring 17 of the next 21 batters he faced and getting through the seventh inning with 101 total pitches. The Royals defense was solid behind him as his two- and four-seam fastballs led the way. The pitches hovered around 93 mph and 94 mph, respectively, and helped him get 12 called strikes and swinging strikes.
Keller yielded four hits, one run and two walks and earned his fifth win. The only base runners to reach third base were Travis and Russell Martin, who was thrown out by left fielder Alex Gordon when he tried to score from second on a two-out single stuck by catcher Danny Jansen in the second inning. It was Gordon's ninth outfield assist of the season and 91st since he moved to the outfield in 2010.
_Rookie first baseman Ryan O'Hearn, who was the Royals' designated hitter Monday, drilled an opposite-field, two-run home run 412 feet. It bounced into the visiting bullpen in left field and gave the Royals a 2-1 lead in the second inning.
In his next at-bat, O'Hearn drew a bases-loaded walk one pitch after fouling a ball back into the Royals dugout that nearly hit team trainer Nick Kenney in the torso.
O'Hearn hit a home run in his second major-league at-bat on July 31 and had done little since. He snapped an 0-for-16 skid that dated to his debut against the White Sox with a hit in Saturday's loss to the Cardinals.
_Catcher Salvador Perez cut down his 19th would-be base stealer of the season. He is now 19 of 37 behind the plate; his 51.3 percent rate ranks first in the major leagues.
_Whit Merrifield logged his eighth three-hit game of the season.
_Embattled pitcher Brandon Maurer relieved Keller in the eighth inning. He fell behind leadoff hitter Aledmys Diaz but caught him looking at a slider on the inside corner for a strikeout. Kevin Pillar then struck out whiffing at Maurer's eighth pitch. Maurer yielded an infield hit to Jansen, who along with Jays starting pitcher Sean Reid-Foley made his major-league debut Monday night, and a walk to Curtis Grandson before pitching Cal Eldred emerged for a mound visit.
With Tim Hill warming hurriedly in the bullpen, Travis launched a line drive to center field 384 feet. Maurer, who has six scoreless outings in his last seven, emerged from the inning unscathed.
_About 36 hours after allowing three runs on three hits in the ninth in Sunday's series-ending loss to the Cardinals, Royals closer Wily Peralta worked around a leadoff walk to record his seventh save in seven tries. He and Toronto's Ken Giles are the only pitchers in the major leagues with a 100 percent save percentage and at least six saves.
The Royals, who improved to 36-82, won for just the third time in August.
