Noah Cameron gave the Royals everything they could have asked for and more, and it still wasn’t enough.
Kansas City fell 4-3 to the Minnesota Twins on a walk-off grand slam by Kody Clemens off Matt Strahm, marking the ninth time this season the Royals have lost on a walk-off and the second time the bullpen has allowed a walk-off grand slam.
For most of the afternoon, Cameron made the game feel comfortably under control. It was his first start since July 19, when the Royals were blown out by the Padres, 19-2, and this one looked nothing like that.
He attacked the zone from the start, throwing first-pitch strikes to 20 of the 22 batters he faced. By the time he was done, he had logged a career-high eight innings, allowing just one hit - a single in the seventh - while walking two and striking out seven.
That came after his previous outing against Detroit, when he entered in the second inning and never gave the ball back. In that game, the Royals lost, but Cameron worked seven scoreless innings on two hits, three walks and eight strikeouts. Over his last two road starts against divisional opponents, he has thrown 15 innings, allowed three hits, issued five walks and struck out 15 without giving up a run.
The Royals still lost both games.
Offensively, Kansas City gave Cameron a cushion early. Jac Caglianone opened the scoring with his 17th home run of the season, a 438-foot shot that came off the bat at 113.7 MPH and also brought home John Rave. It even hit the American flag blowing in right field.
Kansas City added to the lead in the fifth. With two outs and Carter Jensen on first, Rave doubled for the second time.
Clemens, playing right field, tried to get Rave at second, but the ball got away. Jensen kept moving and scored on the errant throw, pushing the Royals ahead 3-0.
At that point, it felt like Cameron had done enough. He kept Minnesota quiet, the Royals had some traffic on the bases, and nothing suggested the game was about to tilt.
Then Cameron exited, and everything changed.
Lucas Erceg got the first two outs he needed in the ninth, striking out one batter and inducing a soft liner. After that, he hit Ryan Jeffers, then got Royce Lewis into a two-strike count before Lewis singled. Josh Bell followed and, after Erceg again got to the last strike, he walked him on four straight pitches to load the bases.
That brought Matt Quatraro to the mound for a change that turned heads: Matt Strahm came in with the game on the line. Strahm got Clemens to 0-2, but the next pitch ended the night in the worst possible way for Kansas City.
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