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3Bplay · 09-12-2025, 03:56 PM

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ROYALS HEADLINES
Royals keep pace in wildcard race with series win

By artoodeetoo
09/12/2025

9/8 -- Jac plays hero as Royals win in extras: With perhaps the biggest hit of his young career to date, Jac Caglianone cleared the bases against former Royal Carlos Hernandez in the top of the 11th with two outs, hitting a double just over the head of first baseman Jhonkensy Noel to bring home all three runners as the Royals secured the first game of their series with the Guardians on the road by a 6-3 count.

Carlos Estevez, who pitched the 10th, stayed on for two hitters in the 11th before giving the ball to Angel Zerpa, who picked up the final out for the save. Skipper Matt Quatraro noted he made the move since Estevez had thrown two-dozen pitches, and he would likely be needed later in the series.

"We want to throw our best guys, but we're going to need to give Carlos some rest, so he's likely to be unavailable tomorrow," he said. "We've thrown four additional bullpen innings over the last two games, and that includes a plane trip in between that."

The two teams each scored once in the first, with Vinnie Pasquantino hitting his 26th homerun of the season with two out in the top of the frame. Cleveland countered with an RBI double from Lane Thomas, recently activated off the injured list.

It was 2-2 after four innings, with Ryan Bergert getting the start in place of Michael Wacha, who was moved from the paternity list to the restricted list. He's expected to be back in Kansas City tomorrow, and is likely to start in Wednesday's game. Cole Ragans is tabbed for the start on Tuesday night, his first since June 5th.

9/9 -- Royals hold Guardians' late rally off for fourth straight win: With a depleted bullpen, the Royals had to rely on converted starter Bailey Falter to close out the victory, and he pulled it off thanks to some good defense in the ninth inning of their 4-3 win over Cleveland.

Falter came in with two outs in the eighth, and promptly gave up a pair of singles to Nolan Jones and Lane Thomas, but was able to get out of trouble with a fly ball to center to end that inning. In the ninth, he once again gave up back-to-back baserunners with a hit and a walk, but brought the game to a close in a hurry with a strikeout of pinch-hitter Brayan Rocchio before getting a 6-3 double play.

Jose Ramirez hit a line drive right at Bobby Witt Jr for the second out, but Greg Jones, who had walked two hitters ago, got a bit too far off first base and Witt doubled him up after Jones stumbled trying to get back to the bag.

Needing to steal a couple of wins on the road after going just 5-4 on their most recent homestand, the Royals are still in a strong position for a wildcard berth as they've seen their playoff chances increase to almost 20 percent per FanGraphs, up from ten prior to the beginning of the Angels series last week.

Making his first start in the bigs since June, Cole Ragans looked very strong in the early going with seven strikeouts over his first four innings. He ended up leaving the game with one out and the bases loaded in the seventh, but John Schreiber was able to get out of the inning with just one of those three inherited runners scoring.

"He looked in control, had everything working for him pretty well throughout, just looked a little gassed around the 85-pitch mark," said manager Matt Quatraro. "His velocity was down, but the movement on all of his stuff looked great still. Stamina-wise, he probably isn't quite all the way back, but one or two more starts should have him back at full strength."

The offense got off to a strong start with a two-run Vinnie Pasquantino homerun; adding single tallies in the second and fourth. Adam Frazier's sac fly in the second to score DJ LeMahieu accounted for the third run, and Frazier did it again in the fourth, scoring LeMahieu from third on a sac fly.

Cleveland would start chipping away at the lead in the sixth as David Fry led the inning off with a solo homerun, and added two more in the seventh. Ragans was eventually charged with all three Cleveland earned runs, but scattered just six hits and a walk to pick up his third win of the season.

9/10 -- Late homerun spells doom in Cleveland: Arriving back in Cleveland prior to last night's game, Royals starter Michael Wacha didn't get the normal preparation time as he is accustomed to, having been at the birth of his son over the weekend.

"I arrived back here a day later than anticipated, but I wouldn't have missed it for anything," he said. "I was able to do a little bit while I was away, but obviously it wasn't going to be as intensive as if I was here the whole time."

Wacha wasn't sharp in the early going, as he allowed three hits and a walk in the first two innings (although no runs). In the third, however, the Guardians were finally able to break through with three tallies to take their first lead of the game, 3-2.

In the top of the fourth, Kansas City re-claimed the lead with a two-run John Rave homerun, followed by a two-out RBI double from Maikel Garcia to put the Royals back up by two. Those runs finally chased Gavin Williams from the game in favor of Joey Cantillo, who threw one pitch to Vinnie Pasquantino and got him to fly out to right.

Cantillo pitched two more clean innings, allowing just a hit and a walk while striking out four. Hunter Gaddis, Tim Herrin, and finally Cade Smith were able to combine for three innings to keep the Royals off the scoreboard the rest of the way out.

"We fought really hard in this one, changed leads a few times, but that homerun in the seventh against us was a big one," Royals skipper Matt Quatraro mentioned, referring to Gabriel Arias' solo homerun to lead the seventh off. "We never really threatened with the bats after that one."

Taylor Clarke, who replaced Wacha in the fifth with two men on and no one out, retired all six he faced in those two innings, and then came out for the seventh. Arias, a right-handed hitter, took a 2-2 fastball deep for his 14th homerun of the season. Quatraro immediately went to Angel Zerpa, who pitched two scoreless innings of his own.

9/11 -- Royals promote Mitchell to Double-A: Despite not having overwhelmingly impressive offensive numbers in High-A, the Royals are nonetheless promoting their top prospect, catcher Blake Mitchell, from Quad Cities to Double-A NW Arkansas for the remainder of the season, as noted by GM JJ Picollo on a Wednesday local talk show.

In his weekly spot with 610 AM in Kansas City, Picollo gave an update on Mitchell when asked by the hosts about his progress, and said that later in the week Mitchell would be 'moving on up' to Double-A to finish out the season. In 105 plate appearances with the River Bandits, he has a .748 OPS (103 OPS+) at that level, although he shows an elite ability to get on base (.371 OBP) despite a low-ish BA; and has more extra-base hits (9) than singles (7).

Picollo also said that Mitchell has drawn rave reviews for his work behind the plate, as coaches and teammates alike have been complimentary of his work ethic and his ability to call a game.

"We're in constant communication with the minor league staffs and even some of the more experienced, leadership-type players on those teams, and we get very positive reports on Blake all the time," he said. "Of course, there are still some soft spots in his game that will continue to need work, but everything that we've seen and know of him has been nothing but positive so far."

It's an interesting move given his lack of experience, even at the High-A level, and the fact that the Royals now have Carter Jensen on the big-league roster and contributing. But it was reported that the Royals were asked about Mitchell in trade talks, and the Royals wouldn't even entertain any offer that included Mitchell going to another organization, so it appears that the Royals still think very highly of him and see him as a part of the future -- for now.

Jensen could take off and become the heir apparent to Salvador Perez, and render Mitchell expendable. Additionally, Jensen is also athletic enough to potentially move to a corner infield or corner outfield spot, especially with his plus-arm and above-average speed. Mitchell is athletic as well (career 37-for-46 on steals), but is widely regarded as not only the best defensive catcher in the entire organization, but one of the best in the entire minor leagues.

9/11 -- Four pitchers combine to shut Guardians out: Behind seven strong innings from Noah Cameron, the Royals put some considerable distance between them and the Guardians with a 4-0 win that also saw three other pitchers contribute to the shutout victory.

Lucas Erceg worked a scoreless eighth inning, and appeared to be staying on for the save when the Royals took a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth, but a leadoff walk chased him from the game in favor of Angel Zerpa, who sandwiched a strikeout and a flyout around a walk before Carlos Estevez got the final out for his 34th save.

"Things got a little hairy late in the game, but Carlos came in and shut the door rather quickly," skipper Matt Quatraro said out in front of the locker room after the game, looking a little relieved. "We were able to get three of four in Cleveland, and we're going to be on the way to Philly in a matter of hours, and that will be another tough series for us."

Randal Grichuk was responsible for the first two Royals runs, hitting an RBI double in the second, followed by an RBI single in the fourth. Bobby Witt Jr inched closer to another historical milestone with his 19th homerun in the fifth inning. He needs just one more homerun to become only the sixth full-time shortstop in MLB history to reach one hundred career homeruns before the end of their age-25 season.

His next homerun would put him in even more exclusive territory, being the third player along with Bobby Bonds (1972-5) and Carlos Beltran (2001-4) to have four straight 20 HR/30 SB seasons. His 100th homerun last week also gave him the honor of being the fastest player in team history to reach 100 career homeruns.

"He's at the center of everything we do," Quatraro went on to say about the two-time All-Star. "I've talked with other managers around the league, and they all say that we don't want him beating us if we can help it. I would say the same if I were managing against him."

09-12-2025, 03:56 PM	#15
3Bplay Major Leagues Join Date: Jun 2018 Posts: 326	Royals News (09/08 -- 09/11) Team Roster/Records \| Statistics \| Standings ROYALS HEADLINES Royals keep pace in wildcard race with series win By artoodeetoo 09/12/2025 9/8 -- Jac plays hero as Royals win in extras: With perhaps the biggest hit of his young career to date, Jac Caglianone cleared the bases against former Royal Carlos Hernandez in the top of the 11th with two outs, hitting a double just over the head of first baseman Jhonkensy Noel to bring home all three runners as the Royals secured the first game of their series with the Guardians on the road by a 6-3 count. Carlos Estevez, who pitched the 10th, stayed on for two hitters in the 11th before giving the ball to Angel Zerpa, who picked up the final out for the save. Skipper Matt Quatraro noted he made the move since Estevez had thrown two-dozen pitches, and he would likely be needed later in the series. "We want to throw our best guys, but we're going to need to give Carlos some rest, so he's likely to be unavailable tomorrow," he said. "We've thrown four additional bullpen innings over the last two games, and that includes a plane trip in between that." The two teams each scored once in the first, with Vinnie Pasquantino hitting his 26th homerun of the season with two out in the top of the frame. Cleveland countered with an RBI double from Lane Thomas, recently activated off the injured list. It was 2-2 after four innings, with Ryan Bergert getting the start in place of Michael Wacha, who was moved from the paternity list to the restricted list. He's expected to be back in Kansas City tomorrow, and is likely to start in Wednesday's game. Cole Ragans is tabbed for the start on Tuesday night, his first since June 5th. 9/9 -- Royals hold Guardians' late rally off for fourth straight win: With a depleted bullpen, the Royals had to rely on converted starter Bailey Falter to close out the victory, and he pulled it off thanks to some good defense in the ninth inning of their 4-3 win over Cleveland. Falter came in with two outs in the eighth, and promptly gave up a pair of singles to Nolan Jones and Lane Thomas, but was able to get out of trouble with a fly ball to center to end that inning. In the ninth, he once again gave up back-to-back baserunners with a hit and a walk, but brought the game to a close in a hurry with a strikeout of pinch-hitter Brayan Rocchio before getting a 6-3 double play. Jose Ramirez hit a line drive right at Bobby Witt Jr for the second out, but Greg Jones, who had walked two hitters ago, got a bit too far off first base and Witt doubled him up after Jones stumbled trying to get back to the bag. Needing to steal a couple of wins on the road after going just 5-4 on their most recent homestand, the Royals are still in a strong position for a wildcard berth as they've seen their playoff chances increase to almost 20 percent per FanGraphs, up from ten prior to the beginning of the Angels series last week. Making his first start in the bigs since June, Cole Ragans looked very strong in the early going with seven strikeouts over his first four innings. He ended up leaving the game with one out and the bases loaded in the seventh, but John Schreiber was able to get out of the inning with just one of those three inherited runners scoring. "He looked in control, had everything working for him pretty well throughout, just looked a little gassed around the 85-pitch mark," said manager Matt Quatraro. "His velocity was down, but the movement on all of his stuff looked great still. Stamina-wise, he probably isn't quite all the way back, but one or two more starts should have him back at full strength." The offense got off to a strong start with a two-run Vinnie Pasquantino homerun; adding single tallies in the second and fourth. Adam Frazier's sac fly in the second to score DJ LeMahieu accounted for the third run, and Frazier did it again in the fourth, scoring LeMahieu from third on a sac fly. Cleveland would start chipping away at the lead in the sixth as David Fry led the inning off with a solo homerun, and added two more in the seventh. Ragans was eventually charged with all three Cleveland earned runs, but scattered just six hits and a walk to pick up his third win of the season. 9/10 -- Late homerun spells doom in Cleveland: Arriving back in Cleveland prior to last night's game, Royals starter Michael Wacha didn't get the normal preparation time as he is accustomed to, having been at the birth of his son over the weekend. "I arrived back here a day later than anticipated, but I wouldn't have missed it for anything," he said. "I was able to do a little bit while I was away, but obviously it wasn't going to be as intensive as if I was here the whole time." Wacha wasn't sharp in the early going, as he allowed three hits and a walk in the first two innings (although no runs). In the third, however, the Guardians were finally able to break through with three tallies to take their first lead of the game, 3-2. In the top of the fourth, Kansas City re-claimed the lead with a two-run John Rave homerun, followed by a two-out RBI double from Maikel Garcia to put the Royals back up by two. Those runs finally chased Gavin Williams from the game in favor of Joey Cantillo, who threw one pitch to Vinnie Pasquantino and got him to fly out to right. Cantillo pitched two more clean innings, allowing just a hit and a walk while striking out four. Hunter Gaddis, Tim Herrin, and finally Cade Smith were able to combine for three innings to keep the Royals off the scoreboard the rest of the way out. "We fought really hard in this one, changed leads a few times, but that homerun in the seventh against us was a big one," Royals skipper Matt Quatraro mentioned, referring to Gabriel Arias' solo homerun to lead the seventh off. "We never really threatened with the bats after that one." Taylor Clarke, who replaced Wacha in the fifth with two men on and no one out, retired all six he faced in those two innings, and then came out for the seventh. Arias, a right-handed hitter, took a 2-2 fastball deep for his 14th homerun of the season. Quatraro immediately went to Angel Zerpa, who pitched two scoreless innings of his own. 9/11 -- Royals promote Mitchell to Double-A: Despite not having overwhelmingly impressive offensive numbers in High-A, the Royals are nonetheless promoting their top prospect, catcher Blake Mitchell, from Quad Cities to Double-A NW Arkansas for the remainder of the season, as noted by GM JJ Picollo on a Wednesday local talk show. In his weekly spot with 610 AM in Kansas City, Picollo gave an update on Mitchell when asked by the hosts about his progress, and said that later in the week Mitchell would be 'moving on up' to Double-A to finish out the season. In 105 plate appearances with the River Bandits, he has a .748 OPS (103 OPS+) at that level, although he shows an elite ability to get on base (.371 OBP) despite a low-ish BA; and has more extra-base hits (9) than singles (7). Picollo also said that Mitchell has drawn rave reviews for his work behind the plate, as coaches and teammates alike have been complimentary of his work ethic and his ability to call a game. "We're in constant communication with the minor league staffs and even some of the more experienced, leadership-type players on those teams, and we get very positive reports on Blake all the time," he said. "Of course, there are still some soft spots in his game that will continue to need work, but everything that we've seen and know of him has been nothing but positive so far." It's an interesting move given his lack of experience, even at the High-A level, and the fact that the Royals now have Carter Jensen on the big-league roster and contributing. But it was reported that the Royals were asked about Mitchell in trade talks, and the Royals wouldn't even entertain any offer that included Mitchell going to another organization, so it appears that the Royals still think very highly of him and see him as a part of the future -- for now. Jensen could take off and become the heir apparent to Salvador Perez, and render Mitchell expendable. Additionally, Jensen is also athletic enough to potentially move to a corner infield or corner outfield spot, especially with his plus-arm and above-average speed. Mitchell is athletic as well (career 37-for-46 on steals), but is widely regarded as not only the best defensive catcher in the entire organization, but one of the best in the entire minor leagues. 9/11 -- Four pitchers combine to shut Guardians out: Behind seven strong innings from Noah Cameron, the Royals put some considerable distance between them and the Guardians with a 4-0 win that also saw three other pitchers contribute to the shutout victory. Lucas Erceg worked a scoreless eighth inning, and appeared to be staying on for the save when the Royals took a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth, but a leadoff walk chased him from the game in favor of Angel Zerpa, who sandwiched a strikeout and a flyout around a walk before Carlos Estevez got the final out for his 34th save. "Things got a little hairy late in the game, but Carlos came in and shut the door rather quickly," skipper Matt Quatraro said out in front of the locker room after the game, looking a little relieved. "We were able to get three of four in Cleveland, and we're going to be on the way to Philly in a matter of hours, and that will be another tough series for us." Randal Grichuk was responsible for the first two Royals runs, hitting an RBI double in the second, followed by an RBI single in the fourth. Bobby Witt Jr inched closer to another historical milestone with his 19th homerun in the fifth inning. He needs just one more homerun to become only the sixth full-time shortstop in MLB history to reach one hundred career homeruns before the end of their age-25 season. His next homerun would put him in even more exclusive territory, being the third player along with Bobby Bonds (1972-5) and Carlos Beltran (2001-4) to have four straight 20 HR/30 SB seasons. His 100th homerun last week also gave him the honor of being the fastest player in team history to reach 100 career homeruns. "He's at the center of everything we do," Quatraro went on to say about the two-time All-Star. "I've talked with other managers around the league, and they all say that we don't want him beating us if we can help it. I would say the same if I were managing against him."