KANSAS CITY -- In their postgame celebration on Wednesday night, captain Salvador Perez quieted the group for a quick moment so he could shout out one big number and the hero of the Royals’ 2-1 win over the White Sox at Kauffman Stadium.
1,500.
That’s the number of innings Michael Wacha has thrown in his career, reaching the mark with seven scoreless innings and leading the Royals to their fifth consecutive win and 14th in their last 16 games -- setting them up for a potential four-game sweep with Thursday’s matinee finale on deck.
Only 20 active pitchers have reached that innings mark, and Perez wanted to make sure the clubhouse knew what a big number that was for Wacha.
“That number is mind-blowing to me,” said reliever Lucas Erceg, who has logged 132 career innings after another scoreless eighth on Wednesday. “The guy has been there, done that, he’s played the game long enough to show us the ropes of how we want to go about our business and be around the game for so long. That’s what makes the big leagues so cool.”
A veteran of 13 seasons, Wacha certainly knows how to be crafty and compete to help his team win. He’s been one of the best additions to this Royals team since he signed his first contract with the club ahead of 2024 and a new deal this past offseason. He has a 3.27 ERA since becoming a Royal and a 2.98 ERA in eight starts this year.
And Wacha seems to be hitting his stride right now.
After posting a 4.35 ERA in his first four starts of the year, Wacha has logged a quality start in each of his past three outings and pitched into the seventh inning in each of his last two. Wednesday was the first time he finished seven this season. He was only at 84 pitches and could have gone back out for the eighth.
“I was ready to keep going there,” Wacha said.
But manager Matt Quatraro had his best relievers rested in Erceg and Carlos Estévez for the eighth and ninth. Estévez got into and out of trouble in the ninth -- allowing the White Sox only run -- to notch his 11th save.
“You don’t want to mess up a perfect Wacha start, right?” Erceg said of his mentality in the eighth.
Indeed, Wacha dominated the White Sox for seven innings. He allowed only three hits with one walk and five strikeouts. He cruised through with his pitch count and found a good mix with catcher Luke Maile that relied heavily on his changeup, but Wacha mixed in a fair amount of cutters and sliders, too.
“Things are starting to come around where I’m starting to throw stuff for strikes in any counts, and then be able to expand on it whenever I need to,” Wacha said. “I feel like I got some weapons that I can stay unpredictable [with] and on the attack.”
The slider was especially good early, when Jorge Palacios struck out swinging on one and Wacha got two outs on that pitch against Miguel Vargas and Luis Robert Jr. in the first inning.
Wacha mixed in the cutter later and worked out of the very few jams he found himself in, including in the fourth when he responded to a walk by striking out the next two batters to end the frame.
Wacha has now faced the White Sox five times since becoming a Royal and has a 1.06 ERA against them in those five starts. He completed at least six innings and allowed two runs or fewer in all five starts, too.
While the Royals’ bats have had a tough time backing Wacha up this year -- the offense has provided two runs or fewer of support in his eight starts -- two runs were enough on Wednesday. And it came on one swing: Bobby Witt Jr.’s homer in the fifth.
That’s all the Royals needed with Wacha on the mound. That’s all they’ve really needed with this entire rotation on the mound. Kansas City starters rank second best in MLB with a 3.02 ERA after Wacha’s latest gem.
“We got pretty much five aces, five horses out there throwing,” Witt said. “... You just got to do your job, get a couple of runs, and then we’re in a good spot because of how they work and how they do things. It’s just really, really special.”