Carter Jensen keeps looking like a guy who’s about to need some hardware of his own.
A day after Jac Caglianone was handed his AL Player of the Month Award by general manager and president of baseball operations J.J. Picollo, Jensen delivered the kind of night that could put him in that same conversation next month. His RBI triple and two-run homer carried the Royals to a 7-3 win over the Miami Marlins on Thursday at Kauffman Stadium, helping Kansas City avoid a sweep.
Jensen has been locked in all month. He homered twice Wednesday, added three hits Monday, and now has three straight multi-hit games in September. He also finished Thursday a single shy of the cycle after his double sparked a three-run ninth inning that broke the game open.
The Royals got on the board with Jensen’s triple in the third. He hammered a ball to the right field wall, bringing home Kyle Isbel, who had singled ahead of him. Caglianone followed with a two-out double to score Jensen and tie the game at 2-2.
When the Marlins grabbed the lead again, Jensen answered in the fifth with Isbel once more on base. This time, he turned on Sandy Alcantara’s slider and sent it 444 feet over the right field wall.
That gave Kansas City a lead it would not give back, and the Royals’ bullpen backed it up after a rough outing the night before, when it allowed five runs in a 9-6 loss despite the Royals leading 5-2.
Craig Kimbrel supplied the only real tension in the late innings. He got the first two outs in the seventh before feeling nauseous. Kimbrel stayed in, then hit Kyle Stowers in the foot with his first pitch and left the game.
Nate Pearson handled the seventh and eighth, and Steven Cruz worked the ninth behind starter Michael Wacha.
Wacha’s night began badly. He gave up a homer to Heriberto Hernandez on the first pitch of the game, and Agustin Rameriz matched that in the third. But Wacha settled in from there and lasted six innings, leaving with a quality start and a lead that Jensen helped build.
The homestand rolls on Friday, when the Toronto Blue Jays come to Kauffman Stadium. Daniel Lynch is set to start for the Royals in a game scheduled for 7:10 p.m.
In Other News...
Royals Suddenly Have A Jac Caglianone Concern They Can't Ignore
Jac Caglianones latest appearance for the Royals ended much sooner than anyone wanted, with the young hitter leaving the game against the Blue Jays because of left elbow soreness before the third inning. Kansas City still ended up in a tight 4-3 loss in a game that featured a solid pitching duel and timely hits on both sides, but the bigger concern was clearly the health of one of the organizations most intriguing players.
For a team trying to keep momentum in a competitive stretch, any issue involving Caglianone is worth watching closely, especially when the discomfort is in the throwing arm area that can affect more than just one at-bat. The Royals are set to move on with Randy Dobnak taking the ball next, while Toronto has not yet named its starter, but the real storyline will be whether Kansas City has to manage through a situation it cannot afford to let linger. [Read more 🡒]
Royals May Have Found A Bullpen Answer They Desperately Needed
The Royals needed help in the bullpen, and Nate Pearson has given them exactly the kind of late-inning stability they were hoping to find when they claimed him from the Astros after he was designated for assignment. Since arriving in Kansas City, Pearson has settled into a setup role and made himself one of the more important arms in the relief mix, giving the club a dependable option in front of the ninth inning.
Pearson has worked 17 innings with a 0.53 ERA, a stretch that has changed the tone of the bullpen conversation around the Royals. Both general manager J.J. Picollo and Pearson have spoken about the fit and the role he has carved out, and for a team still searching for answers in a lot of places, the bigger question now is whether this level of production can keep holding as the season goes on. [Read more 🡒]
Craig Kimbrels Royals Exit Was More Alarming Than It First Looked
Craig Kimbrels night in Miami looked like a routine bullpen hiccup at first, the kind of mid-game exit teams sometimes have to manage in the middle of a long season. But the Royals veteran reliever was dealing with more than a brief stumble, leaving the game after just two outs in a matchup with the Marlins, and the scene on the mound made it clear this was not the usual kind of in-game adjustment.
The game-time conditions were punishing even by South Florida standards, with the temperature at 97 degrees and humidity around 50 percent. Kansas City still went on to win 7-3, but Kimbrels departure added a different kind of concern to the result, especially for a club that has leaned on every healthy arm it can get. [Read more 🡒]