Wacha keeps game close but Royals' rally in 8th falls short

LOS ANGELES -- For a team that’s 23 games under .500, the Royals are still fighting until the very end.

With their backs against the wall in the eighth inning after falling behind two runs the previous frame, the Royals rallied for three runs to take the lead.

In the end, it was a 5-4 walk-off loss Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium. But it was another game in which the Royals’ young core stepped up when the team needed it most.

“These guys have a ton of character,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said.

It was a close game the whole night. The Royals were deadlocked at 1-1 until the seventh inning, in large part because of the pitching.

The Royals had no answers for left-hander Blake Snell, who tossed six innings of one-run ball with 10 strikeouts in his first start back from elbow surgery.

On the Royals side, right-hander Michael Wacha pitched a quality start, going 6 2/3 innings and allowing three earned runs, but he was more effective than the baseline stats may show.

Wacha’s only blemish on the night before the seventh inning was a cutter left over the middle of the plate to Mookie Betts, who deposited it into the seats in left for a solo shot. Wacha was a strike-throwing machine, landing first-pitch strikes and strikes overall at a 70% clip.

“Those guys feast in plus counts for them,” Wacha said. “As a pitcher, you try to stay on the offensive mindset and work on getting ahead and making quality pitches, and being able to kind of expand after that. But, I thought we were able to get ahead pretty well tonight.”

Things fell apart for him in the seventh when he allowed three doubles that scored two runs. But that’s when the bats finally woke up for the Royals against reliever Evan Phillips.

It started with a walk to Nick Loftin with one out in the eighth. Bobby Witt Jr. followed with a two-strike single that sent Loftin to third.

It was the start of three consecutive singles by the Royals, including an RBI single from Jac Caglianone and a two-strike RBI single by Salvador Perez to tie the game.

Witt and Caglianone each finished with multihit games.

The Royals then got some help when Carter Jensen flied out to the warning track in center field with runners on first and second. After catching the ball to record the out, Andy Pages dropped it on the transfer, allowing Caglianone to score from second base to take the lead.

“The good thing about this group, we're going to compete every day when things aren’t going the way we want,” Perez said.

They weren’t in the clear yet, though.

In the bottom of the frame, a walk, a fielder’s choice and a hit-by-pitch put runners on first and second with two outs for the Dodgers. Betts notched his third hit of the game with a line drive to right field to tie the game.

After a scorless ninth inning, the game shifted to extra innings.

After getting the starting runner to third with only one out, the Royals failed to cash in the run, and the Dodgers made them pay.

With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom half of the 10th, Max Muncy delivered the final blow with a single to end it.

“It was a game the whole time,” Quatraro said. “It was 1-1 in the seventh inning. They scored two runs, and we come right back and tie it in the 8th. So it was never not a game. The guys compete. They didn't quit. And to get walked off, it's really tough.”