Late homer dampens Strahm’s service-time milestone

BALTIMORE – Ten years of service time is one of the rarest and most celebrated accomplishments for a baseball player because of the longevity it signals. And on Friday, Matt Strahm reached the milestone with the team he originally broke into the big leagues with, debuting for the Royals in 2016 and now back in their bullpen in ‘26.

Across those 10 full years and parts of 11 seasons, Strahm has seen and done it all. He’s been a starter, a swingman and a reliever. He’s pitched in many big moments for postseason teams and experienced the highs and the lows.

That experience still doesn’t make a night like Friday any easier, when Strahm gave up the go-ahead two-run home run to Orioles designated hitter Samuel Basallo in the eighth inning of the Royals’ 5-3 loss at Camden Yards.

“When that [slider] left my hand, I didn’t like it,” Strahm said. “Just because that’s probably one of my worst-executed pitches of the year, just how high up it was in [the] zone, ahead in the count. Got to be better.”

The moment was even more deflating after the jolt that Isaac Collins had given the Royals with his game-tying homer in the top of the eighth inning, a Statcast-projected 415 feet to straightaway center field. But it also wasn’t the first time Friday that a Royals pitcher gave the O’s the lead right after the offense had battled back to tie it. Starter Luinder Avila, who allowed three runs in five innings, gave up a homer after the Royals scored two in the top of the fourth inning.

“That’s tough,” Collins said. “That’s how you win ballgames, putting up zeroes after you score. But credit to [the Orioles]. They have a good offense. This game’s tough. Ruthless game to play. But [we’ve] got to show up tomorrow and make the adjustment.”

The Royals acquired Strahm this past offseason to add another high-leverage lefty reliever and veteran presence to their bullpen after he had emerged as one of the best during three seasons with the Phillies. Strahm was originally selected by the Royals in the 21st round of the 2012 Draft – so reuniting with the team that gave him his first opportunity has been “like a movie,” Strahm has described several times.

“I’m very thankful and grateful for the opportunity that the Royals gave me 14 years ago,” Strahm said pregame. “To be able to achieve [10 years] is special. A lot of people put a lot of work into it, to help me get to where I am. I’m sure I’ll reflect on it more when I decide to hang ‘em up, but for now, we’re still trying to compete against the best every night and keep a job and win a ring. That’s the goal.”

This season hasn’t gone exactly the way that Strahm and the Royals had envisioned, individually and as a team. Their bullpen has struggled, with a 5.22 ERA that ranks 28th in the Majors. And individually, Strahm has a 5.81 ERA across 31 innings. He endured a rough patch after he came off the injured list in June, when he allowed 10 runs in 6 1/3 innings from June 2-19, but mechanical tweaks in his delivery helped him lately; he entered Friday with a 1.23 ERA (one run in 7 1/3 innings) over his last eight games since June 21.

Which also doesn’t make Friday night’s loss any easier. The long ball has specifically hurt Strahm this year, with his 2.4 home runs allowed per nine innings entering Friday already a career high.

After tying the game in the eighth, the Royals turned to Strahm to try to keep it intact. They had just gotten two scoreless and efficient innings from Steven Cruz in the sixth and Daniel Lynch IV in the seventh, and manager Matt Quatraro didn’t want to send Lynch out for a second inning.

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“[Lynch] was one-plus a couple of days ago, and we’re also trying to play the rest of this series and have those guys available as much as possible,” Quatraro said. “That was a good situation for Strahm to come in there.”

Pete Alonso – who was just 1-for-10 against Strahm entering Friday – singled to lead off the inning, followed by the homer from Basallo. Strahm executed afterward, but the damage was done.

“That’s kind of been my season,” Strahm said. “Every miss of mine has kind of gotten the spotlight. … As a reliever, the only thing you can do is show up tomorrow and get three outs. It’s been a rough go this year. Struggled to keep the ball in the yard. But homers are like taxes, I say. They happen. Got to pay them.”