A Walk-Off Bunt Seals the Royals’ Fate as They Fall in Series Finale

Record: 2-4

Winning/Losing Pitcher:

W: Jared Koenig (1-0 | 5.40 ERA)

L: Sam Long (0-2 | 9.00 ERA)

Key Highlights

This one didn’t end the way we wanted. Getting walked off via a bunt is definitely a tough pill to swallow. Especially after struggling on offense yet again early in this season. But, this is what happened last year, it was a rollercoaster at times. I just hope that a couple of these guys can make the jump and shake off the rust. An interesting nugget today was no Maikel Garcia in the starting lineup, he got in later in the game on the basepaths and defensively, but he is probably your hottest bat right now in a lineup that is inconsistent. He needs to be there. On to the actual matchup: Cole Ragans did come to pitch today which is not unexpected, but always a treat to see. Ragans struggled with his pitch count today, only letting him go five innings, but he did strike out ten. Nothing to scoff at, a bit of an explanation on how that pitch count got high. He gave up a bomb in the first to Jackson Chourio on a floating off-speed pitch, but after that he got through each inning. He had some stray baserunners that also didn’t help the pitch count. But that doesn’t matter, it’s how you pitch and Ragans proved yet again that he is one of the best starters in the league.

But Ragans was matched by Freddy Peralta. Who proved his ace tendencies in this one, going 8 scoreless with only allowing a run in the process. Just some naughty work against a Royals offense that is sputtering at times to start the year.

There was only one time before extras that the Royals ended up scoring, and that was via Michael Massey and Cavan Biggio. Massey doubled to be in scoring position and Biggio singled right by him to get him in. A little bite on Biggio…that rocks, I’m coining it, so if you see it anywhere you know where it came from first. Anyway, “a little bite on Biggio” has to be that he will forever be a better option than Adam Frazier. Also, given MJ Melendez’s recent struggles, we’re about to see him and Mark Canha out there as much if not more. But I digress, the Royals offense has not been it to start the year. They really need the bottom of the lineup to produce more, and Biggio helped that, but today it was the stars. 1-4 of India, Witt Jr., Pasquantino, and Perez amounted for one hit in an 11 inning game. Legitimately are not going to win games if that keeps up. I expect it won’t, it’s not impossible to win if those guys aren’t playing but it sure as hell helps. And I don’t expect these guys to go out there and be perfect every day, but my point still stands. If it’s 11 innings and those guys only have one hit, it’s gonna be a long night.

Lucas Erceg came out in a high level situation and pitched out of it, continuing his successful run as the Royals stressful situation guy. But Angel Zerpa once again, got in trouble needing Erceg to come save the day.

Michael Massey delivered with an RBI single in extras to give the Royals the lead, but it was cancelled out by Maikel Garcia pinch running and getting thrown out at second. Killing all the momentum pent up. So the Royals had the lead in the 10th with Carlos Estevez on the mound to close it out. He did blow the extra innings save, but was still really great. I’ll get to him in more detail in a second.

But once the Royals didn’t make anything happen in the 11th I knew there was trouble. Sam Long came into the bottom of the 11th already in a tough spot because of the extra inning rule. What happened next was baseball. No other way to describe it. Just didn’t have enough outs to control anything and a walk off safety squeeze off the bat of Brice Turang ends up being the deciding factor in this one. Just outsmarted, and honestly pretty unstoppable given the circumstances the boys were in. Sam Long will get a lot of slack for this but honestly it’s not deserved. He didn’t execute sure, but other than: “there’s no one left in the pen” there’s no reason for anyone to expect Long to get out of that given the way he’s pitched so far this year. Like, sure the player didn’t execute, but was he put in a situation to succeed? No. That’s just how I see it. Toss this one in the toilet bowl and flush it away, there are 150+ games left. And you’re inevitably going to lose one like this at some time.

Royals Player of the Game

Carlos Estévez

I wasn’t going to have a player of the game for this one since pretty much nothing happened offensively, and Cole Ragans was done after five. Say what you want about Estevez giving up the game tying run in the 10th. I don’t care about that at the moment. I know some of you will say: “but he was out there to close the game and he didn’t”. Yes, but did you see the buffoonery that happened to him behind the plate? And the way he pitched out of the inning. Resilience. The most important trait when it comes to a reliever, especially a closer type like Estevez.

After getting called for a balk, that was ridiculous mind you, he lost his cool and had to calm down. But the amount of pitching that happened after that was like a clinic. You could say that it was a great managerial move, to intentionally walk two batters in a row to load the bases. But if you watch, William Contreras got away from Estevez, forcing him to put him on base. I think that echos a little louder since he got out of his own mess. Especially the six pitch at bat to strikeout Jake Bauers looking. Just so much focus, finesse, and power behind Estevez’s arm. And the emotion coming off the mound! I love watching emotional baseball players man, I love when it means something to them. That makes him just that much more valuable. That energy is infectious. A couple members of the bullpen have struggled, but Estevez is proving the money is worth it for a big-time reliever. 

Summary of Next Game:

The Royals come back to the K for a three-game series with the opponent they beat out of the playoffs last year, the Baltimore Orioles. Seth Lugo will head to the mound to try to put an end to the skid that the boys are on right now. Seth wants to be the ace, now is his time to shine and prove it against a solid opponent. Lugo kept it competitive his last time out, going five innings and allowing a few runs. Still stretching out Lugo, so hopefully we’ll see that extend in this one. I hope Seth can find that magic he had early last year that really propelled him into his career season. Baltimore hasn’t officially announced a starter for Friday since they play Thursday, but if we go by the order they’ve done so far, it’ll be Dean Kreamer on the mound for the O’s. It’s a 6:40p start for a 2024 Wild Card Round rematch. This series will really show how the Royals respond to adversity, I think. Since the offense has been abysmal lately.