ARLINGTON -- Carter Jensen didn’t realize until he took a seat on the dugout bench that the electrifying catch he had just made -- an all-out diving, “How did he catch that?” grab on a bunt popup in foul territory -- had knocked the wind out of him.
Adrenaline had taken over, Jensen’s teammates were fired up, and the Royals were set up as well as they could have been for a massive, much-needed win on Saturday afternoon.
Twenty minutes later, it felt like the wind had been knocked out of everyone walking off the field and back into the visitors' clubhouse following a 7-6 walk-off loss to the Rangers at Globe Life Field as closer Lucas Erceg suffered his fifth blown save of the season, and his second in as many appearances.
“The momentum was there,” Jensen said. “Everybody was fired up. But at the same time, it’s just a sucky game sometimes. Just kind of think everybody’s a little bit at a loss for words. What we’ve been going through, still going through it now with a tough loss like that. It’s about how we bounce back. We have a great clubhouse of guys in here. Fighters. People who aren’t going to give up.”
The Royals had scored six runs between the seventh and eighth innings, starting with a four-run rally in the seventh that saw them flip a three-run deficit into a one-run lead with four consecutive hits from the top of the order with runners in scoring position. Jensen, who contributed a single in that rally, added on a two-run homer in the eighth.
The Rangers got a run back against reliever Daniel Lynch IV in the eighth and had two runners on base with one out, but John Schreiber entered and got the Royals out of it -- helped by Jensen’s catch.
With a two-run lead in the ninth, the Royals turned to Erceg, who has been the closer since Carlos Estevez hit the injured list in early April. Erceg had yielded a run in five of his previous six games since May 14 entering Saturday, including a blown save on Monday against the Yankees, but the Royals have maintained their confidence in the right-hander.
One home run, four singles and zero outs later, the Royals were handed their fifth consecutive loss.
“Not good,” Erceg said. “I’ve been terrible lately. Kind of just trying to search for some answers. ... It starts with me. Got behind early, and we did a good job of getting back the lead, I think it was six [straight runs], and it’s up to me to close the door. I didn’t do that.”
While Erceg has 11 saves on the season, his ERA has ballooned to 6.33, and he’s allowed eight runs in his last three appearances alone.
“I mean, he’s got good stuff,” manager Matt Quatraro said, when asked what his confidence level was in Erceg moving forward. “We’ve seen him at his best with us, and he’s a competitor. That really hurts, you know? You feel like when you give him the ball, you like your chances.”
The Rangers on Saturday whiffed just once on seven swings against Erceg and pounced when he was in the zone. He also fell behind to three of the five hitters he faced, which is proving to be an issue for him. When Erceg gets ahead, 0-1, to hitters, they were hitting .167 against him entering Saturday. When he falls behind, 1-0, the average jumped to .333.
“Coaching staff gave me a sheet the other day that basically, in black and white, was saying when I get behind, 1-0, that hitters hit .3-something,” Erceg said. “And when I get ahead, they hit .1-something. So pretty cut and dry what my No. 1 job is.”
This is just the way things are going for the Royals right now. They got a quality start from Seth Lugo, who allowed three runs (one earned) in six innings, but they weren’t able to close it out with the rest of the staff. They finally saw the offense knock some hits with runners in scoring position in the seventh, although the nine left on base -- including two in that seventh -- certainly sticks out.
The pieces are there. Fitting it all together has been the most puzzling part.
“We were right there in it,” Lugo said. “We put up good at-bats. Made some good pitches. It’s just a matter of finding a way to have the confidence and come out and play the way we know how to play. It’s obviously there. Little harder said than done having confidence when things are going like this.
“But it’s there. Just keep fighting.”