Last time out, Noah Cameron pitched a one-hitter and allowed only a single run in seven innings, but his team lost because Lucas Erceg blew a one-run lead in the ninth inning. Today, Cameron pitched six innings and allowed no earned runs. He struck out seven and walked no one. Thanks to an offense that put in some more work, they were able to survive Erceg’s ninth-inning struggles to complete a 6-5 victory. That finishes their series in Minnesota with three wins to only one loss, and results in a .500
road trip.
Almost exactly a month ago, Noah Cameron seemed on the verge of being demoted to the minor leagues due to his struggles on the mound after his arm angle shifted drastically this season. To that point, he had a 5.55 ERA, and while his 12.8% K-BB% last year had been a cause of mild concern, it had dropped all the way to 11% this year. Since then, he has lowered his ERA to 3.84, and his K-BB% has spiked all the way up to 16.7%! That fits him firmly in the top 50 starting pitchers in MLB in both categories. Last year, he was surprisingly good, and we hoped he could continue to be mostly that good. This year, he dipped down to being quite bad and has ascended to basically ace-level pitching, even when you include the awful starts.
If the Royals do accomplish some sort of miracle comeback in this season’s playoff hunt, a lot of it is going to be because Noah Cameron is able to join a healthy Kris Bubic and Cole Ragans in pushing this team forward. That’s a lot of ifs, but at least Cameron is doing his part, bless him.
The offense showed up today, too, thankfully. Through the first three innings, it looked like in the previewed battle of the immovable baserunners versus the unstoppable run-giver, the Royals were going to be defeated by simply not putting any runners on. Then, with two outs in the fourth, Vinnie Pasquantino went the other way for a two-out double, and Nick Loftin mirrored him to tie the game. Things got really exciting in the fifth inning, though, though it didn’t immediately look good.
Carter Jensen managed a lead-off single from the 8-spot, but Tyler Tolbert missed a bunt with two strikes and was sent back to the dugout. Tolbert needs to get much better at bunting if he’s going to find a way to stick in the big leagues beyond his pre-arb years. Lane Thomas singled! Yay! Bobby Witt Jr. struck out. Boo! Things were looking dire with the injured Maikel Garcia coming to the plate.
The Royals had a lead! And you’d be justified in wondering if that’s all they were going to manage, given their season and who was up next, Starling Marte.
Marte seemed to sell out his power for the ability to hit singles early in his Royals’ tenure; he wasn’t using his legs very much. He started incorporating them more into his swings of late, and while that didn’t lead to any more power, it did lead to fewer hits and more strikeouts. He had started today with a pair of strikeouts and I began wondering if it might be time for the Royals to move on from him.
Maybe he can stick around for a little bit longer.
The Royals added another run in the eighth on what has become a patented bases-loaded sacrifice fly; this one was performed by Carter Jensen, who just might be heating up. At the time, it extended the Royals’ lead to 6-1 and hardly seemed necessary. At least, if you hadn’t watched the 2026 Royals’ bullpen.
Now, to be fair, John Schreiber pitched a clean seventh. And Mason Black had a clean eighth with a strikeout. Beck Way was tasked with finishing the game, staked to that five-run lead. I had been hoping to see the rookie after his dazzling debut Friday night while behind. Three batters later, the Royals had only a two run lead off a Josh Bell three-run blast and I was reminded we must always be careful what we wish for.
Way got the next batter out, but then allowed a double, and Matt Quatraro knew he had no choice but to go back to the bullpen. Alex Lange-xiety had closed three of the last four games, so he wasn’t available. Danny Drips had done the same. Matt Strahm had only pitched three of the last five, but he’d also not gone back-to-back days since returning from the IL and had given up a run in two of those appearances, including yesterday afternoon. Schreiber, Way, and Black had already pitched. That left Quatraro with basically Lucas Erceg and Steven Cruz. Given those choices, he went with Erceg and you can argue that it was the wrong choice, but I don’t know that there was a right one.
Erceg gave up a lineout, a pair of singles to allow one to score, and put the go-ahead run on, but Brooks Lee hit a deep flyout to left that Isaac Collins was able to corral to finish the game. Suffice to say that Erceg may have earned the save, but he did little to convince anyone he should resume the closer’s role.
More bad news in this one, as the Royals, who couldn’t blame injuries for their earlier struggles, might be able to blame near-future struggles on them. They lost yet another key player to injury. As you know, Ragans and Bubic are still on the IL and progressing toward rehab assignments. During the broadcast, Joel Goldberg indicated both would likely need to at least two rehab starts and that Bubic is a hair closer to starting his than Ragans. Closer Carlos Estévez is still nowhere near his own rehab. Garcia is playing through two different injuries. The Royals lost Salvador Perez and Jac Caglianone to injuries sustained in Friday night’s contest. And today Bobby Witt Jr. left early with right knee soreness. Fingers crossed it was mostly precautionary with a moderately-sized lead and a day off tomorrow because the Royals aren’t going anywhere without Bobby in the lineup.
As I said, tomorrow is a well-earned day off for KC. They’ll play the Rangers Tuesday night. Stephen Kolek (3.32 ERA, 12.8% K-BB%) will return from the family emergency list, and one of the Rangers’ aces, Nathan Eovaldi (4.10 ERA, 18.2% K-BB%), will pitch for them. The game will start at 6:40 p.m. Central.
