The Royals had been riding a wave of offense for two straight games, but Wednesday brought a very different kind of night. This one stayed tight for most of the way, then blew open in the eighth when New York put up five runs and rolled to a 6-2 win.
New York struck first in the opening inning when Steven Cruz missed with a 2-0 pitch to leadoff man AJ Ewing, and Ewing sent it over the wall a little right of center. Cruz settled in after that, striking out two and limiting the damage to just the one run.
Christian Scott gave New York exactly what it needed on the other side. Bobby Witt opened the game with an infield single, but there was no real threat behind it.
The only serious trouble came in the second, when Scott walked Nick Loftin and then allowed an Isaac Collins single that pushed Loftin to third. He escaped that jam, then breezed through three more innings.
The pitch count from those first two frames kept him from going deep, though. Scott needed 49 pitches to get through the first two innings, including eight pitches to strike out Lane Thomas in the first and seven apiece on the walk and single in the second.
Still, he was sharp over five innings.
That early work mattered because New York’s bullpen was already stretched thin, enough that the club had brought up two arms from the minors earlier in the day. One of them, Tobias Myers, handled the sixth and seventh.
Jac Caglianone hammered a 113 MPH double off the wall in right-center in the sixth, then advanced to third on Lane’s groundout to third that pulled Bichette into foul territory and opened the bag for Cags to take. Salvador Perez kept battling Myers and finally broke through on the ninth pitch of the at-bat, lining a single that brought Caglianone home and tied it at 1-1.
Randy Dobnak, who took over for Cruz in the second, gave New York far more than a short bridge. He worked 5 2/3 innings as the bulk guy and got a little help from his defense.
His biggest trouble came in the third, when Juan Soto drew a two-out walk and Bo Bichette followed with a single to center to put two aboard. Francisco Lindor then drove a ball to right, but Tyler Tolbert made a running catch at the wall to end the threat.
That was about as close as the Mets came to cashing in against Dobnak. He finished with 5 2/3 IP, 3H, 3BB, 2K, 0ER before Matt Strahm finished the seventh on a strikeout call that Ewing wanted to challenge.
From there, it turned into a bullpen game, and the eighth inning was where everything unraveled for the Royals.
Lane Thomas doubled off Brooks Raley to give Kansas City a shot at taking the lead, but the inning ended with Starling Marte pinch hitting for Michael Massey with two outs. Marte then moved to right field, Tolbert shifted to second, and Alex Lange came on for the eighth with Soto, Bichette and Lindor due up.
Lange retired the first two, but Lindor singled to right and Carson Benge followed with a long at-bat walk. Jorge Polance then sent a roller to Jac at first in a strange play that made it tough for Lange to cover the bag, leading to an awkward late flip that loaded the bases.
Jared Young was next, and Lange hit him on the elbow to force in the go-ahead run. Brett Baty added to it right away with a single into the right-center gap for a 4-1 Mets lead, which brought in Jose Cuas to try to stop the inning.
He couldn’t. Cuas’ first pitch sailed way outside for another run, and the inning still wasn’t done.
Franciso Alvarez singled to left to score Baty, Ewing followed with a double, and Soto was intentionally walked to load the bases again.
Xzavion Curry made his Mets debut and his 2026 debut in the ninth, and the Royals at least made him work for the finish. New York got two outs quickly and looked in control, but Josh Rojas walked as a pinch hitter with two down, Carter Jensen doubled him in, and suddenly there was a flicker of life. Bobby struck out to end it, though, and the Mets closed out the 6-2 win.
In Other News...
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Pasquantinos return would likely send Jac Caglianone back to right field after covering first base in his absence, a move the Royals have been anticipating as they try to piece together the lineup. There is also a broader injury picture to monitor, with Maikel Garcia and Kyle Isbel both working their way back and possibly helping in the coming weeks, which could make the roster look a lot deeper before long. [Read more 🡒]
Royals Hold More 2026 Draft Power Than Most Fans Realize
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What makes that especially interesting is how much flexibility it gives the front office once the board starts taking shape. The early picks around the league could influence the Royals approach, and their own range of possibilities is broad enough to include prep position players or collegiate pitchers, with slot and underslot considerations likely to matter as the draft unfolds. [Read more 🡒]