Cameron counters with 8 punchouts while Royals' offense stalls vs. M's

KANSAS CITY – A long first inning in which Noah Cameron had to work around a double and a walk with one out on Friday night looked like many of his starts this season, grinding his way through it with inconsistent results.

But back-to-back strikeouts got him and the Royals back in the dugout, and Cameron made the necessary adjustments from there, tossing six scoreless innings. His eight strikeouts matched a career high that he’s done three times (previously against the Guardians on Sept. 9, 2025). Working around four hits and two walks, it was a start he and the Royals really needed to see.

The only other thing they would have liked to see was a win for their starter, but Kansas City managed just four hits -- all singles -- in its 2-0 loss to Seattle at Kauffman Stadium. It's the Royals’ fourth consecutive loss and ninth in their last 10 games.

“We’re definitely feeling it, but definitely looking forward to getting back in the win column,” Cameron said.

As the losses pile up and the Royals continue to search for answers, Cameron’s start was a positive. It’s been a trying sophomore season for Cameron, who burst onto the scene in 2025 as a rookie and solidified his spot in the rotation coming into ‘26. But in his first eight starts this season, he posted a 5.40 ERA.

The Royals knew Cameron might face some challenges in year two; the test would be to see how he adjusted back.

“What kind of adversity did he have last year? Not much, right?” pitching coach Brian Sweeney said. “He maybe got hit around a couple of times, but it was his rookie year, and he had a great year. This league adapts. And not only that, but the ABS [Challenge System] came in, so hitters have different approaches now. They understand his pitch mix a little bit more, where he misses and where he throws strikes. Across the league, walks are up. They’re being more selective. So that kind of messed with his game. The league counterpunched against him, and he has to make his counterpunch.”

The counterpunch came on Friday. As Cameron worked his way through six innings, he found a groove with his curveball, generating five whiffs on six swings on the pitch. The Mariners hit some balls hard, but the Royals’ defense was there for Cameron like it was so many times last year.

“Got some double plays, which I was getting a lot last year, and I haven’t really been getting a whole lot of ground balls for them to be able to work,” Cameron said. “They came up big.”

Cameron has worked extensively on his mechanics this season, trying to get back in sync like he felt last year. According to Baseball Savant, Cameron’s arm slot has dropped from 58 degrees last year to 50 degrees this year, entering Friday’s start. The Royals think that has more to do with Cameron’s torso plane rotation -- how he’s rotating his shoulders -- and he’s been working with biomechanical data to improve it.

“He’s picking himself up, getting more consistent with his mechanics, getting the arm slot in the right spot more consistently, so the pitches behave the way that he’s used to,” manager Matt Quatraro said.

There’s still some work to be done; Cameron’s velocity was a tick down Friday, perhaps a result of how he felt with his back leg, he said.

“But I’ll take it -- whether I feel good or not, or throw hard or not, I’ll take it and give the team a chance to win,” Cameron said.

The Royals, though, lacked the punch they needed, and they fell to 14-12 this year when posting a quality start. Reliever Nick Mears entered for the seventh inning, walked Cole Young and served up a two-run homer to Mitch Garver.

That was the game. The Royals were shut out for the fourth time this year. They took some good swings -- 15 balls were hard-hit (95+ mph) between the two teams, and the Royals accounted for seven of them, including Vinnie Pasquantino’s lineout to right field with two runners on base to end the eighth inning.

But results eluded them. Again.

“We just got to stay right there,” Pasquantino said. “This game is about adjustments and things like that, but you also got to know when to be stubborn and when to keep the approach. ... Things haven’t been going well for us, but the only way we can turn it around is by showing up here every day, ready to go, and we’re going to do that.”