KANSAS CITY – This version of Noah Cameron is what he and the Royals have wanted to see all year, what they hope to see the rest of this season – and what they need to see next season.
Cameron tossed eight innings of one-run ball in the Royals’ 2-1 win over the Twins on Wednesday night, matching his career high in innings that he set last week against this same Twins team and matching his career high in strikeouts (nine) that he set on July 11 against the Orioles.
It also marked back-to-back starts of eight innings for Cameron and just one earned run in his last 23 innings since July 24.
At 95 pitches when he ended the seventh inning, it seemed like Cameron’s outstanding night was over – until he jogged back out to the mound and made it an even more impressive night. Cameron needed 11 more pitches to strike out the side and get a nice ovation from the crowd as he strutted off the mound for the final time Wednesday.
Cameron walked Josh Bell to lead off the fourth inning, but it was about to be erased when Kody Clemens hit what should have been a double-play ball. Instead, second baseman Michael Massey double-clutched as he fielded it near second base, then threw to first base too late, so no outs were recorded. Royce Lewis bunted to load the bases. Then the Royals turned a double play, but Bell still scored.
That snapped a 19-inning scoreless streak for Cameron – 18 of which all came when he started calling his own pitches on July 24 against Detroit. That was the turning point in Cameron’s season; these three dominant outings come on the heels of a seven-start stretch in which he posted a 7.97 ERA. Clearly, something had to change, and Cameron has been lights out since that outing in Detroit.
Massey’s defensive gaffe might have led to the run, but his go-ahead home run in the seventh inning handed the Royals the win. His Statcast-projected 422-foot blast to the Fountain Deck broke a 1-1 tie and came off new Twins lefty reliever A.J. Minter.