Well, when you acquire a hitter before the trade deadline, you put in a good process, you put in the work, you put in the scouting, make a decision, and hope it pays off for the rest of the season. I think it is kind of unusual for it to pay off so quickly though.
In his first plate appearance as a Royal, former Giant Mike Yastrzemski hit a two-run homer off righty Kevin Gausman for the first Royals runs of the game, putting them in the lead early. That kind of set the tone; while obviously not every
fair ball was a base hit, the Royals were smacking the ball all over the park all game.
The very next inning, Bobby Witt Jr hit an absolute laser to the upper deck beyond the left field wall for a three-run homer. That was after a Kyle Isbel single and a Jonathan India double in the gap.
To me, Gausman was just leaving a lot of hittable balls over the middle of the plate. It looked like he was mostly trying to keep the ball down, and he elevated only with two strikes. Salvador Perez fell victim to this strategy (more on that later though), and Adam Frazier too, but otherwise I think the strategy of “if it’s elevated at all, swing” led to loud contact for the Royals hitters against Gausman.
Gausman made it through six innings, giving up five runs, but I think he was lucky to get through that much. Outside Vlad Guerrero Jr, who hit a home run in the bottom of the first, and a little bit Royal-blaster Ty France, all the loud contact in the game was from the Royals, and it was multiple guys, not just Bobby and Yaz.
For his part, Michael Wacha was not overpowering, as usual, but he was in fact on his game. He was just doing his thing keeping guys off-balance. He threw six different pitches and induced a lot of popups/weak flyouts on his way to eight complete innings. Yes, he gave up the loud home run to Vladdy, but that was...it. That was all. He went over 20 pitches in an inning only in the 1st and the 8th innings. He was efficient and quick, and he was still managing to reach back for nearly 96mph in the 8th. He struck out five and gave up just one run. No walks.
Back to Salvy - the guy was doing his thing, swinging at all the low stuff and generally just missing. He finally got ahold of one, sort of, in the 9th. He hit a line drive that was barely fair and barely cleared the wall in left field for a dinger. Good for him. Just keep doing your thing man. Never change.
For good measure, the other hitting acquisitions, Adam Frazier and Randal Grichuk, combined to add even more insurance runs after Salvy’s homer. Grichuk singled, and Frazier took a 91mph pitch over the right field fence to make it 8-1. After the Frazier experience last season, it was kinda nice to see him hit a dinger.
But the Royals weren’t even done. They lay down another run - a single, a walk, and a walk loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth. Maikel Garcia reached low and managed to hit a line drive single to bring in one more run to make it 9-1.
Thomas Hatch finished out the ninth, giving up a two-run homer to a guy named Addison Barger in the process. He did get France to strike out the end the game, which is something I’m happy to see.
Every starter got a hit. Every starter scored a run, except for Vinnie Pasquantino. When the Royals hit like this, they’re nigh unbeatable. Let’s hope this is the start of a massive run toward the playoffs.
The Royals record is 55-55. At press time, the Twins-Guardians game was in extra innings.
The Blue Jays record is 64-47.
The Royals and Blue Jays will play again tomorrow at 2:07pm US Central.
More from royalsreview.com:
- Royals designate Rich Hill for assignment
- Royals Rumblings - News for July 29, 2025
- TWitM: Ben Kudrna strikes out a season-high
- Vinnie Pasquantino sets offensive tone in 9-6 win over the Braves
- Royals Rumblings - News for July 29, 2025
- Kris Bubic to miss the remainder of the 2025 season
- Monday’s loss a microcosm of 2025 season
