Baseball can be cruel that way: one night you’re riding a shiny ERA, the next the whole thing comes apart in a hurry. Randy Dobnak found that out the hard way on Harry Potter night at the ballpark, when his run of good fortune vanished in a 6-3 Royals loss to the Miami Marlins.
Dobnak came in carrying a 1.92 ERA, but the warning signs were there all along. His expected ERA sat at 4.55, and the strikeouts weren’t piling up while the ball still wasn’t leaving the yard.
That changed quickly. Graham Pauley, the Marlins’ third baseman, launched a two-run homer in the second inning, and later Kyle Stowers - now up to 17 on the year - added another massive shot.
The rest of Dobnak’s outing never really stabilized. Miami kept pushing, and in the seventh inning he allowed three straight hits, all of them eventually coming around to score. He didn’t get an out in the frame and was charged with six earned runs.
Kansas City’s offense didn’t do much to help early. The Royals managed just four baserunners through the first seven innings and looked like they were counting the minutes until the September heat let them go home.
They finally broke through in the eighth. Josh Rojas singled, Isaac Collins walked, and Carter Jensen doubled.
Bobby Witt Jr. then followed with a near-home run that still produced an RBI and moved Jensen to third.
That’s when the night turned into a full-on mess. Marlins pitcher Victor Vodnik stepped awkwardly off the mound and was initially called for a balk, which allowed Jensen to score and briefly gave the Royals their third run of the inning.
But after the umpires huddled, the call was overturned - something that doesn’t happen every day. Matt Quatraro was livid, got ejected, and kept after second-base umpire Chris Guccione as the frustration spilled across the field.
The crowd gave Quatraro a loud ovation before he eventually headed back to the dugout. Kansas City did get that third run back anyway, on a solo homer from Nick Loftin, but the damage was already done. A 6-3 loss still feels plenty like a loss.
The Royals have now dropped two straight, and whatever faint playoff hope they had left has taken another hit. At least the manager’s ejection gave the night some spark.
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