One of the reasons the Royals were ecstatic when University of Florida right-hander Brady Singer fell to them at No. 18 in the 2018 MLB Draft was obviously his talent.

The Royals also saw an inner fire in Singer they simply had to have. In fact, Royals area scout Jim Buckley, who began scouting Singer in high school, said the 24-year-old righty was “probably the most competitive [pitcher] I’ve seen on the mound.”

That talent and competitiveness was on full display Thursday night for Singer at Progressive Field as the rookie nearly no-hit the Indians in just his ninth big league start in the Royals’ 11-1 win.

Singer carried a no-hitter into the eighth when with two outs, Indians catcher Austin Hedges drove a 3-2 fastball on the ground into right field. Right fielder Whit Merrifield raced in with hopes of fielding it in time to make a play at first base, but Merrifield couldn’t scoop the baseball cleanly.

Hedges’ hit came off the bat at 94 mph and had an expected batting average of .380. Singer finished with eight shutout innings, throwing a career-high 119 pitches (80 strikes).