The 27-year-old southpaw scattered just four hits on the evening and didn’t walk a single batter. All four of the hits against him in the contest were singles and only once did the Rockies have a runner reach second base against him. Complete dominance. He exited with a one-run lead intact, but Carlos Estévez was unable to protect it for him in the ninth inning. Bubic generated 14 swings and misses on 91 pitches on the night — half of those on his fastball — while registering a CSW of 31 percent. Still 2-1 on the season, he’ll carry a pristine 1.45 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and a 33/9 K/BB ratio (31 innings) into Sunday’s battle against the Astros.

A Gabriel Arias homer in the fourth accounted for the runs tonight (and the first runs allowed by Bubic this season). It was preceded by a leadoff walk and then a potential double play ball that third baseman Jonathan India made a bad throw on, resulting in no outs. Bubic took his first loss, but he’s 3-for-3 in delivering quality starts for the Royals. He’ll carry a 0.96 ERA into a tough assignment in the Bronx on Wednesday.

Bubic was electric in this one, posting a 33 percent whiff rate and 36 percent CSW. Following up on his debut start, Bubic continued to get elite vertical movement on his four-seam fastball, which led to four whiffs and a 30% CSW even with a drop down to 92 mph. His changeup ate the Orioles hitters up with eight whiffs while his new sweeper performed well with a 31 percent CSW of its own. Command of the secondaries is crucial for Bubic’s success, and when they’re on, like today, he’s going to be tough to hit. He gets another tough test next week against the Guardians, but he’s worth starting in all league types right now.