Royals get surprising power boost, find ninth-inning formula in clutch win

CINCINNATI – The Royals found their resilience to go with a few desperately needed bullpen answers Wednesday night at Great American Ball Park.

Nick Loftin belted his first home run of the season in a three-run ninth as the Royals claimed the rubber game of the three-game series with a 5-2 win over the Reds.

It was just the sixth series-finale win in 20 tries this season for the Royals, who won their first road series since sweeping the Mariners in Seattle from May 1-3.

Loftin’s home run came after Michael Massey’s 10-pitch at-bat that ended with a tiebreaking single to right, scoring pinch-runner Tyler Tolbert – who was attempting to steal third on the pitch – to make it 3-2. All three runs in the ninth came off Cincinnati fill-in closer Tony Santillan (1-3), who took the loss.

“Obviously with Tolly on second, keeping his attention really good out there, and knew I was going to get something to hit, and knew it was probably going to be hard, so [Santillan] probably didn't want to mess around in the dirt,” Massey said. “He's probably going to score if it gets past somebody [in the infield], so try to stay on him, put the ball in play and have a good at-bat.”

“Michael’s at-bat was one for the ages, for sure,” Loftin said. “It was massive, took the wind out of their sails, for sure. To get that run in the ninth from Michael’s great swing, and Tolbert able to run around the bases and do what he does best.”

Most importantly, the Royals found solutions at the end of the game, with Daniel Lynch IV pitching a scoreless eighth and Alex Lange pitching out of trouble in the ninth for his first save in two years. It was a nice change from 24 hours earlier, when the Royals were three outs from a one-run win in the ninth only to have it slip out of their hands, losing, 4-3, in 10.

Before the game, Royals manager Matt Quatraro announced a shuffling of bullpen responsibilities, with Lynch and Lange getting more late-game chances and giving Lucas Erceg some other opportunities.

Lynch pitched around a two-out double by Dane Myers to earn the win. Lange earned his first save since May 1, 2024, with Detroit with a scoreless ninth. Lange allowed a leadoff double by Spencer Steer and a two-out walk to pinch-hitter Noelvi Marte before retiring Blake Dunn on a fly to center to end the game.

“It's always cool ending ballgames,” Lange said. “It’s something I dreamed of doing as a kid, and it's pretty cool to do it for your hometown team.

“I'm excited that this team comes away with a 'W.' This team's working really hard, people growing, we're learning, we're getting better, and this is a big series win for us. I think we're going to look back in a couple months and look back here and kind of how we've been grinding, and know this is where it's starting to really come together.”

The Royals were lining rockets off Cincinnati starter Chase Burns all over Great American Ball Park in the first four innings but couldn’t break through for anything more than a first-inning homer from Vinnie Pasquantino, a laser down the right-field line that landed on the netting covering the Royals’ bullpen. It came after Bobby Witt Jr. worked a four-pitch walk.

Pasquantino drove Burns’ 98 mph fastball over the wall for his sixth homer to give the Royals a 2-0 lead. Kansas City scored first in all three games in the series.

Stephen Kolek kept the Reds scoreless until the fifth, when Matt McLain singled with two outs and Blake Dunn connected for his second homer, a shot to left on a slider that got too much of the plate. Kolek’s only costly mistake meant he would receive a no-decision after firing seven innings, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks and striking out eight.

With their first road series win in a month in the books, it’s onto Minnesota for four games to round out a 10-game trek through Texas, Cincinnati and Minnesota.

“We're trying to win series,” Quatraro said. “We let one slip away [Tuesday], but that's all we could do, was come back and win today. So we'll turn our focus to Minnesota now and get ready to get ready to get after them [Thursday].”