KANSAS CITY -- A strong start from Michael Wacha and a clutch two-run homer from catcher Elias Díaz had the struggling Royals on the verge of a desperately needed win Wednesday night.
A gut-punch seventh inning brought them back to reality.
Jarren Duran’s go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh off reliever Steven Cruz handed the Royals a crushing 4-3 defeat to the Red Sox on Wednesday at Kauffman Stadium, their ninth loss in the last 10 games and fourth series sweep of the season, matching five other teams (Giants, Mets, Tigers, Mariners and Angels) for the most in MLB.
At 20-30, the Royals are a season-high 10 games under .500. What was once a tight American League Central race has become wider and wider with the Royals and Tigers tied at the bottom, 8 1/2 games back of the Guardians (29-22), a hole that’s become increasingly difficult to climb out of even with 112 games left to play.
Now they head into Thursday’s off-day to reset before the Mariners come to town this weekend, followed by the Yankees early next week to finish out the homestand. Perhaps the off-day offers a reset for the clubhouse.
“I hope it’s that easy, right?” manager Matt Quatraro said. “You play a good team coming in on Friday, and we’ve got to play well. That’s been a challenge for us, to put it all together. Obviously there’s a tremendous amount of pride in what we do and how we do it, how they compete and how they work. And when you don’t get results, it’s frustrating. Because that’s what you’re measured on.
“Feeling a tremendous amount of responsibility to get things going in the right direction.”
The Royals are feeling the frustration in all corners of the clubhouse, from the manager’s office to the coaches’ room to the players’ lockers, because this is not the way a season with high expectations was supposed to begin. Not after the elation of making the 2024 playoffs and the disappointment of missing out in '25.
“This is not the way we want to play right now,” team captain Salvador Perez said. “... It’s just about the losses. No one wants to lose. I think we play hard, I think we prepare. I just think it’s not the way we want to go. The only thing we can do is keep fighting, keep preparing, control what we can control and try to do the best we can do to help the team win.”
For six innings Wednesday, it seemed like the Royals were headed that way. Wacha had allowed two runs (one earned) in a long second inning, but he grinded through the sixth even with a rising pitch count. After Díaz’s homer flipped a one-run deficit into a one-run lead in the fifth, he and Wacha navigated their way through a gritty sixth inning, working around a one-out double to keep the lead intact.
“They were making me work there early on, and the pitch count was getting up there,” said Wacha, who matched a season high with 105 pitches. “I was able to mix in a couple efficient innings to get through that sixth, but just a little frustrating on my end. Salvy gets us a lead [with a home run], and I give it right back there to them. I got to be a little bit better on those shutdown innings.”
With a few relievers unavailable after Tuesday’s bullpen game, including Nick Mears after two innings Tuesday, the Royals had to turn to Cruz in the seventh. A leadoff single from Carlos Narváez set up Duran’s homer two batters later, with Cruz falling behind in the count before zoning a fastball that Duran mashed to the opposite field.
“We brought Cruz in at the bottom of the order there,” Quatraro said. “They get a guy on. Duran made us pay for it.”
So how do the Royals move on from another sweep? Exactly that: Move on. Wholesale changes remain unlikely right now. Royals officials have stated their belief in the coaching staff and roster construction, including the confidence in the lineup despite the lack of production with runners in scoring position and the early season struggles from two of their key hitters in Vinnie Pasquantino, who didn’t play Wednesday, and Perez, whose homer in the first inning Wednesday brought a spark the Royals couldn’t capitalize on.
But at some point, results must follow that confidence.
“We’re all doing a pretty good job,” Perez said. “We prepare ourselves before every game. We have what we need. I think the hitting coaches are doing a pretty good job with us, giving us the information. We just need to win more games.”