The Royals jumped all over Miami in the opening inning, built a multi-run cushion, and still walked away with a 9-6 loss in a game that turned one loud frame into a long, frustrating night.
Kansas City’s five-run first looked like the kind of start that can bury a team. It began in a messy way for Noah Cameron, who hit the leadoff man on the back foot with a breaking ball.
Otto Lopez followed with a hard grounder down the third-base line that John Rave misplayed into a triple and an RBI, and Kyle Stowers then poked a single up the middle to make it 2-0. But the Royals answered immediately.
Carter Jensen opened the bottom half with a solo homer, Bobby Witt Jr. singled, and Jac Caglianone ripped a double down the first-base line and into the corner to tie it at 2-2. Salvador Perez then took over, launching his 18th home run of the year to drive in two and put Kansas City in front. Vinnie Pasquantino flew out, Nick Loftin drew a walk, and Michael Massey, back in the lineup, doubled to right-center to stretch the lead to 5-2.
Eury Perez needed 34 pitches just to get through that first inning, and the Marlins had already started stirring the bullpen before the frame was over. Still, the game was nowhere near finished.
Cameron settled in after those first three hitters and retired the next eight Marlins in a row before Miami got to him again in the third. With two outs and nobody on, Stowers hit a solo homer to left-center for his second RBI of the night. The pitch before, it looked like he might have gone down on a check swing, but the call on appeal was no swing.
Kansas City answered again in the fourth. Jensen punished another mistake and drove it 110 mph into the Royals bullpen for his second multihomer game of his career, pushing him to and then past the 20-homer mark. That made it 6-3.
Cameron ran into trouble in the fifth as the heat seemed to start affecting his stuff. He walked Jared Serna to lead off the inning, then Joe Mack singled to right.
Heriberto Hernandez followed with a ground-rule double to left-center that hopped the fence and brought in another run. Jose Cuas was warming up, but Cameron still had something left.
He struck out the next three hitters, including Stowers on a full-count pitch after Stowers challenged and lost. That finish kept two runners stranded and showed real poise from the rookie right-hander.
The lead, though, did not last much longer. Eury Perez got two outs in the bottom of the fifth, but Nick Loftin singled and stole second, and Rave worked a 10-pitch walk.
That pushed Perez past 100 pitches and brought Cade Gibson in to strike out Isbel and end the inning. Miami also lost a second challenge and would have none left for the rest of the night.
Cuas came on in the sixth after warming up the previous inning, and Cameron’s night ended with the win still in reach. But the Marlins erased it fast.
A single and a walk opened the inning, then Griffin Conine, the son of former Royal Jeff Conine, came off the bench and punched an RBI single through the right side. Kyle Isbel made a long run and a diving play against Serna, but the run scored anyway from third to tie it 6-6.
Cuas was gone after recording just one out, and Connor Thomas entered. He struck out Mack, then gave up the go-ahead run when Hernandez doubled to put Miami back on top 7-6.
After that, the scoring vanished for a while. Kansas City had chances in the sixth and seventh but stranded runners in both innings, and Conine made two strong plays in right field to rob Vinnie and Massey on hard-hit balls.
Then the ninth turned ugly. Alex Lange took over for the Royals and got Stowers and Ramirez to start the inning, but Miami broke it open with back-to-back home runs to make it 9-6.
The Royals never put anyone on in the bottom of the ninth.
For Miami, it was a big win as it kept pace with Arizona and gained ground on San Diego in the race for the third NL Wild Card spot. The Marlins have already won the series and will try for the sweep tomorrow, with Michael Wacha set to face Sandy Alcantara.
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Jensens night included a leadoff homer that kept setting the tone early, and he later went deep again against Eury Perez. For a Kansas City club still sorting out where the future truly begins, performances like this are exactly why Jensen is starting to look like more than just a nice story from a single game. [Read more 🡒]