The Kansas City Royals led for most of the game but couldn’t build on the lead or hold the advantage as they lost 6-3 to the Texas Rangers tonight at Kauffman Stadium.
Texas spent little time getting things started in the first. Wyatt Langford worked the count full before getting a four-seamer from Noah Cameron that got way too much of the plate. Langford crushed it over the bullpen in left field for a solo homer. Corey Seager worked another full count before taking ball four. Cameron managed to bear
down and retire the next three batters to end the inning, but needed 28 pitches to do so.
The Royals needed little time to answer. Mike Yastrzemski led things off by slapping a single into right and Bobby Witt Jr. ripped a first pitch fastball right back up the box for a single of his own. Vinnie Pasquantino then went down 0-2 to Caleb Boushley before taking balls one and two. Boushley then tried to backdoor a slider and Pasquantino got the barrel to it, swatting it over the porch in right-center for a homer that gave Kansas City a 3-1 lead. They had the potential for even more when Maikel Garcia walked. Jonathan India did the same with two outs, but both would be stranded as Boushley escaped the jam.
After a clean top of the second, Boushley came back out for the bottom of the inning. Kyle Isbel went down 0-2 before lining a single through the hole on the right side of the infield. Yastrzemski had Boushley on the ropes by working a full count, but disaster struck for the Royals — Yastrzemski whiffed on a backdoor cutter for strike three, while Isbel took off for second and was gunned down by Kyle Higashioka. The caught stealing hurt even more when Witt followed by lining a double into the left field corner, his league-leading 39th double. Pasquantino would get ahead 3-0 before being intentionally walked, but Garcia grounded out to end the inning without a run scoring.
Texas got one back in the third. With one out, Langford blooped a single into center and moved to second on a Seager groundout. Marcus Semien then slapped one into right center and Langford, running on contact, scored easily to make it a 3-2 game. Higashioka followed with a walk, but Cameron managed to get a groundout from Josh Jung to end the threat. Despite needing 59 pitches to grind through two innings, Boushley came out to pitch the third and retired the side in order.
Cameron and Jacob Latz each managed to retire the side in order in the fourth. In the fifth, Cameron walked Langford with one out before getting Seager on a flyout. With a right-handed hitter coming up and his starter already at 89 pitches, Matt Quatraro elected to pull the plug and call for a reliever. Taylor Clarke was summoned and got Semien 6-4 to end the inning.
After failed rallies by each teams, Texas mounted a successful one in the seventh. Daniel Lynch IV faced Jonah Heim to lead off the inning. Heim went with an outside fastball the other way and it off the base of the wall in right field for a double. Cody Freeman then flew out to right for the first out, allowing the tying run to advance to third. That brought up Evan Carter, who has a career 13 wRC+ against left-handed pitching. He hit a soft groundball to short and was thrown out as Heim remained at first. Lucas Erceg was brought in to face Langford, who had reached base in all three plate appearances to that point. He reached again, working the count full before drawing his second walk of the evening. Erceg then fell behind Seager 2-1 before throwing a changeup that split the plate. Seager ripped it into right, scoring Heim to tie the game. With a chance to take the lead, Semien slapped a ball into the 5-6 hole. Witt speared it but didn’t have a play to any base… until Langford ran into an out. Sprinting with his head down, he didn’t see the stop sign from his third base coach and rounded the bag. Witt threw home and Langford was caught in a pickle and tagged out to end the inning.
Kansas City nearly blooped their way to the lead in the bottom of the seventh. With one out, Witt dunked a flare into center field. Pasquantino then jammed himself just enough to drop the ball in no man’s land in shallow right. Witt read it the whole way and moved to third on the knock, bringing up Garcia with runners on the corners. He fell behind 0-2, worked the count full, then struck out on a front door slider that Shawn Armstrong was definitely not trying to throw. Armstrong didn’t challenge Salvador Perez, throwing four non-competitive pitches to bring up Nick Loftin. He bounced one back to the pitcher to strand the bases loaded.
Neither team managed to break the tie in the eighth. Texas got a couple singles with two outs but saw their rally end when Ezequiel Duran was picked off second base by Sam Long. Kansas City struck out in order. The Rangers mounted another two out rally off Sam Long in the ninth. Long got the first two outs before walking Langford. Seager then pulled a bouncer towards Pasquantino at first base. He was unable to field it cleanly, with the ball ricocheting back towards Long. Seager reached easily and Pasquantino was charged with an error. Semien then reached on what was effectively a check swing bunt to load the bases. Long was left in to face Higashioka. That proved to be a mistake. He hung a splitter and Higashioka ripped it down the left field line and into the corner, clearing the bases and giving Texas a 6-3 lead. The offense had one last chance with the top of the order coming up in the bottom of the ninth, but they went down in order to end the game.
The loss drops Kansas City to 65-62. They can still win the series with a victory tomorrow afternoon in the finale of this four-game set.
Noah Cameron: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 HR
Caleb Boushley: 3.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 1 HR
Vinnie Pasquantino: 2-3, HR, 1 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB
Wyatt Langford: 2-2, HR, 3 R, RBI, 3 BB
