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👑 Tuesday, April 15 • Astros Series Game 1 👑

The Rally Didn’t Rescue Us

Houston Astros at Kansas City Royals | Kauffman Stadium
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 50° | Wind blowing right to left (10 mph) | Attendance: 28,126 | First pitch: 6:40 PM CT

Pregame Memo (Manager's Desk)

We had a day off between the sweep and tonight’s opener, and the “off” day still had work in it. Nick Loftin has been on the IL since March 28 with no clear return date, so I want him headed to Omaha on a rehab track as soon as the trainer green-lights it. Massey’s been exceptional at second, and with Haggerty and (soon) Schneider as utility cover, Loftin’s path back to everyday reps is getting narrower by the day.

Schneider’s calf is still a few days out, so Pratto keeps the DH runway—and honestly, he’s made that decision harder in the best way. Also got official word: the Jacob Lopez claim (Rays) went through. He’s in the org now, assigned to the secondary roster, and earmarked as a bullpen option for the upcoming road swing.

Houston Astros Series Snapshot

Houston came in 4–7 (.364), 2nd in the West, 1.5 GB, and the underlying numbers still look like a club that can bite: 57 runs (5th AL), .265 AVG (3rd AL). The run prevention has been the leak: 69 allowed (15th), 4.88 starter ERA (11th), 6.26 bullpen ERA (13th). This is the type of opponent that can look “off” in the standings and still punish you if you hand them a crooked inning.

Their top end is still their top end: Yordan Alvarez, Framber Valdez, Kyle Tucker, Lance McCullers Jr., Josh Hader—names you don’t sleepwalk through.

Here are the projected pitching matchups, our pitchers listed first:

LHP J. Montgomery (1-1, 3.65 ERA) vs RHP C. Javier (1-1, 10.00 ERA)
RHP Z. Eflin (1-0, 0.69 ERA) vs RHP L. McCullers Jr. (1-1, 4.09 ERA)
LHP C. Ragans (1-1, 2.19 ERA) vs RHP S. Arrighetti (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Series Matchup Board — Houston Astros Series Game 1

• LHP J. Montgomery (1-1, 3.65 ERA) vs RHP C. Javier (1-1, 10.00 ERA)

The matchup looked lopsided on paper with Javier’s early numbers, but the ball doesn’t care about paper. The plan was simple: grind his pitch count, punish mistakes in the zone, and keep the game from turning into a bullpen coin flip. On our side, Monty’s job was to keep the bottom of the zone busy and not let Houston’s left-handed thunder get comfortable.
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Game Day Log — Royals vs. Astros (Game 1)

Manager's Clipboard

• Early traffic matters. First two innings: get on base and make them defend.
• No free innings to the top of their order. Tucker/Altuve/Alvarez can’t be “quick outs + mistake.”
• If the game gets weird, stay in it. Don’t let one inning decide our posture.

Inning-by-Inning Beats (Dugout View)

1st Inning
Montgomery opened clean—Tucker and Altuve contained, Alvarez rung up looking. Exactly the start you want. We answered with a good tone at the plate too: Garcia walked to lead off, but Javier escaped the inning without damage.

2nd Inning
Houston scratched first without a hit parade—walk, HBP, sac bunt, then a hard grounder that brought a run home. 1–0 Astros. Our response was immediate and clean: Massey singled, Renfroe singled, and Isbel drilled a two-run-position double that tied it. 1–1. That was us playing honest pressure baseball—line drives, runners moving, no waiting around.

3rd Inning
Altuve doubled, and Houston used the whole field to manufacture the lead back—an RBI single that plated a run at the plate without hesitation. 2–1 Astros. The part I liked: Montgomery didn’t spiral. He finished the inning and kept it playable.

4th–5th Innings
This was a stretch of missed chances and tightened screws. We had baserunners (Pratto walked, Vinnie singled), but couldn’t land the blow. Houston stayed quiet too—Monty kept them off balance just enough that it still felt like one good inning could flip everything.

6th Inning (The storm)
This is where the game tried to get away from us. Altuve doubled again, walks piled up, and the inning turned into an avalanche. Kyle Wright came in, and Houston cashed it brutally: Jake Meyers' grand slam to break the scoreboard open, followed by more damage—Caratini's two-run homer, Tucker's solo homer—and suddenly we were staring at 9–1 as it happened in fast-forward.
That's the inning you either wear… or you fight through.

7th Inning (The fight)
We fought through. And it wasn't cute—it was loud, fast, and relentless.

• Pasquantino tripled to light the fuse.
• Witt singled to bring him home.
• Perez singled, Massey singled, then Renfroe's sac fly kept the line moving.
• Isbel doubled again, and then Pratto launched a two-run homer that made their bullpen feel the inning, not just survive it.

By the time the dust settled, we'd hung 8 runs and turned a blowout into a one-run game: 10–9 Astros. The dugout felt like it had a pulse again—because it did.

8th Inning
Houston answered with veteran baseball: walk, double, then a run tags up on a fly ball. 11–9. We didn't fold, but we also didn't counterpunch in the bottom half.

9th Inning
Pressly closed it. We put a runner on but couldn't land the final hit. One swing short after an inning that nearly tore the roof off.
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Final

Royals 9, Astros 11
Royals ((15 H, 0 E) | Astros (9 H, 0 E)

Jake Meyers did the damage when it mattered most: grand slam + 5 RBI. Javier got the win (5.2 IP, 1 R), Pressly the save. We left with the loss, but the seventh inning told the truth about our makeup.

Kansas City Pitching Scoreline
Pitcher                  IP     H    R   ER   BB    K   HR    PI  ERA
J. Montgomery L (1-2)    5.1    3    5    5    3    5    0    97   5.09
K. Wright                0.2    4    4    4    0    0    3    23   9.64
B. Bernardino            1.0    2    2    2    4    1    0    38   6.00
H. Brazoban              2.0    0    0    0    0    2    0    21   0.00

Front Office Note / Takeaways

This one hurts because it was two games stitched together: five innings of a tight, winnable opener… and one inning where Houston reminded us what elite lineups do when you hand them traffic. The sixth can’t happen the way it happened—walks + loud contact + one mistake turning into four runs in a blink.

But I’m not letting the seventh get lost in the final score. Pasquantino and Isbel were engines (extra bases, pressure), Pratto stayed ready and delivered a real swing, and the group didn’t quit when the game turned ugly. That matters over 162—especially with roster decisions tightening behind the scenes (Loftin rehab timeline, Schneider returning soon, Lopez joining the bullpen mix).

Around the League

AL Player of the Week: Kyle Manzardo hit .522 (12-for-23) with 3 HR and 6 RBI.
NL Player of the Week: Shohei Ohtani hit .417 (10-for-24) with 4 HR, 12 RBI, 6 R.

MLB Power Rankings snapshot: Royals sitting #3 early. Astros down at #25 (which is exactly why you don’t trust April labels).

Texas League Power Rankings: Northwest Arkansas up top at #1 (186.0).

Down on the farm: Derlin Figueroa (Columbia) went 5-for-5 with two HR and drove in six in an 8–3 win—“see ball, hit ball” in its purest form.

World note (off the field): I keep the headlines light on game days—enough to stay aware, not enough to drag noise into the dugout. Tonight's reminder was right here: baseball already gives you “a little bit of everything.”
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👑 FOR THE CROWN — ALWAYS 👑

Kansas City Royals | Regular Season 2025 - Game 11



(OOTP25 Royals Journey — GM/Manager's Dual Log)