Rojas tallies 2nd career 4-RBI day ... after entering game in the 6th

CLEVELAND -- For about three minutes in the Royals’ 8-3 win over the Guardians on Saturday at Progressive Field, Josh Rojas waited.

After Rojas had his name announced as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning, Guardians manager Stephen Vogt bounded out of Cleveland’s dugout to bring in left-handed reliever Erik Sabrowski against a fellow lefty.

So, as Sabrowski took his warm-up pitches, Rojas stood adjacent to home plate and waited. As he took his practice swings, the stadium jumbotron cycled through various shots of fans before eventually settling on rapper Don Toliver, who was relaxing in a suite before his performance at the adjacent Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Throughout the wait, Rojas was trying to figure out whether he wanted to isolate on Sabrowski’s sinker or slider.

By the time he dug into the batter’s box, there was some extra energy among the 31,509 gathered at Progressive Field who were ready to watch Rojas and Sabrowski battle with the bases loaded.

It ended up being a quick battle.

Even if Vogt made the right move on paper (Rojas entered with an OPS of just .302 against left-handed pitchers this season), Rojas countered on his side by dropping a two-run, check-swing single into left field that had an exit velocity of just 74.9 mph. It came on a first-pitch slider.

“I decided to focus on the slider at the last minute,” Rojas said. “I tried to lay off late, but I touched it late. It was nice to see that one land.”

He brought in two more runs two innings later with a more conventional, Statcast-projected 360-foot home run that was the final cherry on top of a Royals victory that guaranteed them a series win.

Rojas’ electric day at the plate marked his second career four-RBI day, with the first coming on May 20, 2022, when he was a member of the Diamondbacks.

“Clearly he wasn’t trying to check-swing one down the line, but we’ll take it,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “You need some luck every now and then.”

Rojas’ bloop single finished off a four-run sixth inning that came one frame after Isaac Collins tied the game on a two-run double off Guardians starter Foster Griffin.

While Cleveland struck first on a second-inning two-run home run from Angel Martínez, nobody on the Royals' roster blinked.

“We’re always going to fight for the last out,” Salvador Perez said. “We’re always going to compete and make adjustments.”

Perez got a chance to show off those adjustments in the sixth when he staked the Royals to the lead with an RBI double off Colin Holderman. They added another run on a José Ramírez error that set up Rojas’ game-breaking check-swing single.

Kansas City's bullpen answered the call in relief with 5 2/3 quality innings that ensured the offense's outburst was more than enough to secure a win.

“They were really efficient,” Quatraro said.

No pitcher encapsulated that idea of efficiency more than Anthony Gose, who threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings behind Daniel Lynch IV to pick up his first win since June 17, 2022 (which he ironically got when he was with the Guardians).

After starting his career as an outfielder, Gose made a mid-career transition to become a pitcher and ended up spending parts of three big league seasons in Cleveland’s bullpen before being released in 2024.

He pitched for three Minor League affiliates, two winter ball teams and one independent league team in between the end of his stint with Cleveland and his recent big league callup with the Royals.

“I have a ton of respect for guys like that,” Quatraro said. “The guy loves to work and has a lot of talent. Just an incredible human being.” ​

Gose was followed by Craig Kimbrel, who pitched a scoreless sixth.

While no one associated with the Royals imagined at the start of the season that they’d have a game where the first two pitchers out of their bullpen would be a converted position player (Gose) followed by the man with the fifth-most saves in MLB history (Kimbrel), that’s where the club is at right now.

And it’s working.

“That’s baseball,” Quatraro said. “What it says to me is that they're selfless. Craig doesn’t care when he pitches, and he’s said that. He’s getting outs.”