The Royals were sitting in decent shape in the sixth inning, tied 2-2 after squandering a handful of chances. Then the game unraveled in a hurry. Matt Strahm came in and turned a tight one into another loss, and Baltimore finished off an 8-2 win to complete the sweep heading into the All-Star Break.
Kansas City actually struck first. In the second inning, with two outs, Josh Rojas reached on an error and came around when Isaac Collins ripped a triple down the right field line.
Baltimore answered right away. Seth Lugo gave up a two-run homer to Leody Taveras in the bottom of the inning, and the Royals were back in chase mode almost immediately.
They tied it again in the third. Bobby Witt Jr. opened the inning with a double to right, moved to third on a Jac Caglianone ground out and scored on Lane Thomas’s RBI single.
Lugo wasn’t sharp, but he kept the Royals in it long enough to hand off a game that was still there for the taking. He worked four innings, allowing four hits, two runs, two walks and striking out six. It wasn’t a clean outing, but inefficacy really held him back today.
Steven Cruz handled the fifth efficiently, needing just six pitches to hit the first batter, get a flyout to right and finish the inning with a double play ball. With four days off coming, though, he didn’t get a chance to keep going.
Instead, manager Matt Quatraro went to Strahm, who had already blown one for the Royals on Friday. This one went sideways fast.
He struck out the first hitter, then issued a walk. Caglianone lost a pop-up in the sun, putting runners on first and second with one out, and the inning kept snowballing from there.
An RBI single, a ground-rule double, a balk and an infield single followed, and four runs crossed before Strahm could get another out. Even if Caglianone doesn’t lose the ball in the sun, Strahm still never gets another out in the inning.
John Schreiber came on to clean up the mess, but an inherited run scored before the inning finally ended. Strahm’s line was ugly: 0.1 inning, four hits, five runs. His season ERA climbed to 7.18 in 31.1 innings.
Lucas Erceg took over in the seventh and immediately gave up a homer to the first batter he faced. After that, he hit the next hitter, which brought both benches out for no real reason. Beck Way worked a scoreless eighth.
The Royals’ offense never answered. That wasn’t much of a surprise, and the final numbers say plenty about where this team stands.
Kansas City is 38-59 at the All-Star Break, tied for the worst record in baseball. They’re also 3-19 against the AL East.
When they score three runs or fewer, they’re 7-42. When they score four or more, they’re 31-17. In 50.5% of their games, the Royals have scored three runs or less.
The Royals don’t play again until Friday at home against the Padres. Until then, there’s at least the Home Run Derby tomorrow with Cags, plus Jr. and Michael Wacha in the All-Star Game.
In Other News...
Ted Lasso Cast Just Gave Kansas City Fans Another Reason To Beam
Jason Sudeikis has never been shy about where hes from, and Kansas City keeps finding its way back into the spotlight whenever his world does. With some of the fourth season of Ted Lasso filmed around town, the shows connection to the area only got stronger, and the production leaned into familiar touchstones that local fans will recognize right away.
Those scenes reportedly wove in nods to Gates Bar-B-Q, Arthur Bryants, the Country Club Plaza, the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and the KC Currents CPKC Stadium, a list that should make any Kansas City sports fan grin. The cast has also sounded genuinely taken with the citys role in the show and in Sudeikis own story, which only adds to the sense that this is more than a passing stop for a hit series. [Read more 🡒]
Royals Just Made Another Pitching Bet Fans Will Want To Watch
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Yehl gives the Royals a different kind of pitching bet than some of the high-school arms and upside plays that can dominate draft talk. At 22, he has already shown he can miss bats and handle a big role, and the next question is how Kansas City wants to shape him once he gets into its system. The Royals have now added Yehl alongside Zion Rose, Taylor Rabe and Jack Slightom, giving this class a little more depth and another name worth tracking as development begins. [Read more 🡒]
Royals Just Sent A Clear Draft Message About Their Pitching Future
The Royals kept leaning into pitching on the first day of the 2026 MLB Draft, adding three more names after opening with Zion Rose and Taylor Rabe. Among the new arms was Jack Slightom, a right-hander from Lyons Township High School in the Chicago area, giving Kansas City another developmental project with plenty of room to grow as the draft unfolded.
Kansas City also came back for Maxx Yehl out of West Virginia, a left-hander whose college track record made him one of the more polished pitchers in the group. Yehl brings the kind of strike-throwing profile that can move quickly if everything holds, and the Royals willingness to keep stacking arms early says plenty about how they view the shape of their pitching pipeline. [Read more 🡒]