Final Score CLE 1 | KCR 2

Overall Record 45-38 (3rd Place, 8 GB)

Winning/Losing Pitcher 

• W: Sam Long (2-1, 1.98 ERA)
• L: Ben Lively (7-4, 3.03 ERA)
• SV: James McArthur (14)

Royals Player of the Game

Sam Long – 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, BB, 4 K

It’s not often you give a Player of the Game award to a reliever, but man, it is hard not to give it to Sam Long. Long came into the game in the top of the 6th with the Guardians having 1st and 3rd with only one out. The Guardians were already leading 1-0, and Long decided to keep it that way. He got both Bo Naylor and Tyler Freeman to strike out swinging, which allowed the Royals to come back in the bottom of the 6th and take the lead 2-1. Long came back out for the 7th to face the top of the lineup. He got both Jhonkensy Noel and Jose Ramirez to strikeout and Josh Naylor to ground out softly. He played a massive part in helping the Royals seal the victory in game one of this series. 

Key Highlights 

It was another quiet game, as it was a pitcher’s duel between Guardians starter Ben Lively and Royals starter Michael Wacha. Wacha dominated the Guardians until the fifth inning, where he gave up a single and a double back to back, eventually leading to the Guardians scoring their first run thanks to a Daniel Schneeman sacrifice fly. Ben Lively matched Wacha’s dominance until he ran into trouble at the bottom of the sixth, giving up back-to-back triples to Kyle Isbel and Maikel Garcia. That scored one run, and then Vinnie Pasquantino capped it off by driving in the second run with a sacrifice fly. 

That’s all the offense the Royals needed as Sam Long, John Schreiber, and James McArthur shut down the Guardians’ offense out of the bullpen. It was nice to see some flashes of April Schreiber in his dominating eighth inning, which notched him his 17th hold. 

Summary of the Next Game

The Royals will head into the second game of the four-game series with the Cleveland Guardians. RHP Triston McKenzie (3-4, 4.66 ERA) will take the mound for the Guardians against RHP Alec Marsh (5-5, 4.40 ERA). The Royals hope to continue their winning momentum and at least guarantee a split in this series.