KANSAS CITY -- The Royals don’t have a large margin for error in their pursuit to chase down an American League Wild Card spot -- and they certainly didn't have room for mistakes against reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal.
But Sunday’s finale against the first-place Tigers was spoiled by some costly blunders and failed execution, resulting in a 5-0 series-clinching loss at Kauffman Stadium.
The defeat dropped Kansas City (70-67) back to three games behind Seattle (73-64) for the third and final AL Wild Card spot with only 25 games left to play.
Every game, and every play, is as important as ever -- and Sunday simply wasn’t good enough to take down a Detroit club destined for the postseason.
The deciding moment in Sunday’s matchup was the fifth inning. Starter Michael Wacha -- who welcomed his second child on Thursday with his wife, Sarah -- began the frame with a leadoff walk to Spencer Torkelson, followed by a one-out single from Zach McKinstry. Jake Rogers opened the scoring with a Statcast-projected 411-foot rocket off the center-field wall that Tyler Tolbert had trouble reading off the bat.
“Felt like I was in a little groove there the first four innings,” Wacha said. “Going out there for the fifth, started off with a leadoff walk, and then just kind of lost command, I would say, of that fastball. Gave up a bloop single there, and after that it was a lot of pitches in the middle of the zone.”
Tolbert took a wide route and collided with the wall, allowing Rogers to get to third. Two more singles followed to make it a four-run frame as Wacha, who had allowed one baserunner in the first four innings, was replaced with two outs in the fifth.
Wacha believed Rogers’ laser was going to drop, and manager Matt Quatraro said it would have been a "remarkable play” if Tolbert had been able to snag it. But the Royals’ center fielder believed he had a chance.
“It was going to be tough, but at the end of the day, you want to help out your pitcher and you want to catch anything. So I take accountability of it,” Tolbert said. “ .. If I do catch it, they only score one and that limits the big inning. So I take full responsibility of it.
“He hit it pretty well. I should have known the wind was pushing it a little bit more.”
Defensive miscues continued in the seventh, when Tolbert and left fielder Nick Loftin both called for Rogers’ routine fly ball to left-center field. Tolbert called off Loftin, who was settled under the ball, but he could not extend quickly enough to make the play, allowing a double to drop. Jonathan Bowlan came in and pitched around it with a pair of strikeouts.
“We were both calling for it at the same time, we just didn’t hear each other,” Tolbert said. “We got really close and we let one drop, and I take responsibility again because I’m the center fielder and I got priority, so that’s all on me. … I’ll be better for it. Keep working and be better.”
But even if Tolbert does make the miraculous catch in the fifth, the Royals were still kept quiet by Skubal -- in addition to a passed ball by catcher Luke Maile, which allowed the Tigers’ fifth run to score in the eighth.
Maikel Garcia had a pair of doubles, including one to lead off the third inning, but Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez were unable to give Kansas City the early lead. The Royals went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
“[Skubal’s] kind of a buzzsaw, to be honest,” Quatraro said. “The guy’s a really good pitcher.
“His stuff is good enough to try to get you out in the zone, so you got to be ready to hit because if you want to stand there and take, you’re going to be down 0-2, and that doesn’t do anybody any good. I thought we put some decent swings on it, but to no avail.”
It was a frustrating end to a series that had the Royals feeling confident after a late-inning victory the night before. Kansas City will face the Angels (64-72) and Twins (62-74) at The K the next six games before a tough stretch against the Guardians (68-67), Phillies (79-57), Mariners and Blue Jays (79-58) that will more likely than not paint a clearer picture in the Wild Card race.
“We’ve got some important games, and I wanted to come out here and win the series for the guys,” Wacha said. “And that fifth inning kind of got away from me.”