Ragans shines, but bats and bullpen falter as Royals drop series finale

KANSAS CITY – A day after a 13-run, 15-hit barrage against the Twins, the Royals scored just one run on seven hits in Thursday’s 5-1 loss to the Twins at Kauffman Stadium, underscoring the old adage that momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher.

In this case, momentum was Twins starter Taj Bradley, who shut the Royals down for six scoreless innings. And just as quickly as the Royals cut their deficit to one in the eighth inning did the Twins add on in the ninth with three solo home runs to put the finale out of reach.

The positive? Kansas City still left with a series win and will enter this weekend’s series against the Brewers at an even .500 (3-3).

“We just got to keep fighting from the offensive side,” first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino said. “We won the series. That’s the goal of these things.”

The real positive the Royals can take out of the series is that their rotation continues to roll. No one was ever worried about Cole Ragans after his four-run, four-inning start on Opening Day, but it was good to see him return to form on Thursday with six innings, one unearned run and eight strikeouts – and it solidified once again how much of a strength this rotation can be for the Royals.

“It’s been fun to watch,” Ragans said. “I feel like we take pride in our preparation and stuff like that, and it’s been fun to watch these guys do their thing.”

Watching Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo, Kris Bubic and Noah Cameron pitch so well the past five games made Ragans eager to get back out there and put his Opening Day start behind him. He flushed that one pretty quickly, he said, and turned his focus to the Twins. Of their 11 batted balls in play against Ragans, only one was hard-hit (95+ mph): Byron Buxton’s 105.2 mph lineout to right field, caught by a leaping Lane Thomas to get Ragans out of his final inning of the day.

Ragans registered a 40% whiff rate Thursday, helped quite a bit by his changeup and slider.

“I thought he locked it in as he went more and more,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “We’re going to take that result every time – six innings, and it looked like he was probably going to get five, but then the fourth, fifth and sixth were really good.”

The only run the Twins tacked on Ragans and the Royals on Thursday came in the second inning, when Kody Clemens looked like he was about to get picked off of second base but catcher Salvador Perez’s throw was too high, hitting second baseman Jonathan India’s glove and ricocheting into center field.

The final three innings of Ragans’ start were the most efficient, allowing him to get through six.

As the Royals begin their second turn through the rotation, the starters have combined for a 1.62 ERA in the first six games of the season.

“I mean, to be honest, that’s what we expect of them,” Pasquantino said. “When they revamped the pitching department here a few years ago and they brought Lugo and Wacha in, and I think that was the year after we traded for Ragans, it’s kind of the expectation for these guys. Not to necessarily give up no runs, one run, but these guys are ridiculous. So we just follow their lead.”

Now the Royals' offense needs to find a way to be as consistent as its pitching staff. They were hitless Thursday until Kyle Isbel singled with two outs in the third inning. Maikel Garcia followed with a walk, but Bobby Witt Jr. was rung up on a 100 mph fastball over the plate to leave the two runners stranded. The Royals loaded the bases in the fourth with three singles, but Thomas struck out on a check swing call.

There was an opportunity in the eighth after Pasquantino’s sacrifice fly cut the deficit to one, but the Twins barely got Witt out at second on Perez’s fielder’s choice and then brought in lefty Taylor Rogers to strike out Jac Caglianone.

Finding consistency goes for the bullpen, too, because for as much as the Royals have relied on their rotation, their relief corps has been shaky. With Carlos Estévez on the injured list, someone will have to step up elsewhere as Quatraro leans on Matt Strahm and Lucas Erceg for the highest-leverage spots.

The ninth was a big opportunity for Steven Cruz on Thursday, hoping to keep the Royals within one run, but he allowed three homers and threw 27 pitches. Walk-off hopes diminished.

“Not close enough,” Pasquantino said. “... We fought. It wasn’t enough today.”