KANSAS CITY -- Jac Caglianone exited Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Blue Jays at Kauffman Stadium with left elbow soreness, the team announced, but the severity and concern will be unknown until Caglianone is able to get testing done on Sunday.
Caglianone made two throws from right field on Saturday, but the soreness began after the second one, when he unleashed a 95.2 mph throw on Ernie Clement tagging up from second base in the second inning. The throw was cut off by Bobby Witt Jr., and the Royals got out of the inning a batter later.
“Right after that inning, he came down, said something to [head athletic trainer Kyle Turner],” manager Matt Quatraro said. “They went down below. [Caglianone] was left on deck. We were going to see if he could throw in the cage prior to sending him out, but we’re going to be more cautious than just if he could make one throw in the cage.”
Nick Loftin took over in right field instead of Caglianone in the top of the third inning.
Quatraro said he didn’t have much more of an update, as Caglianone will be further evaluated Sunday morning ahead of the series finale.
The other throw Caglianone made on Saturday was in the first inning. Third baseman Josh Rojas made a throwing error on Alejandro Kirk’s single, with the ball skirting past first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino and bouncing off the dugout suite wall in foul territory. Caglianone was coming in anyway but had to chase it into shallow right field, and that extra time allowed Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to slide in safely at home.
“I think the only reason [Rojas] threw that ball was because of who was running,” Quatraro said. “He knew Kirk was running. He thought if there was a chance to get somebody, it was going to be him, and just pulled the throw. The unfortunate thing for us is Cags was doing a great job backing up, but the ball [bounced off the wall] more at a 90 [degree angle] instead of going down the line. If it goes down the line, either he doesn’t go or he has a better shot of throwing him out.”
Rojas’ error was one of two the Royals made Saturday, and both were consequential. Witt’s throwing error in the seventh led to the game-winning run when the throw pulled Pasquantino off first base, putting runners on first and third with two outs. Kazuma Okamoto immediately made the Royals pay with a single that scored George Springer, who had led off the inning with a walk against Craig Kimbrel.
“Just a bad throw,” Witt said. “Babied it over there. … It’s unacceptable for me to do that.”
The Royals still had their chances in the one-run game. Caglianone was part of the Royals’ early comeback Saturday after starter Seth Lugo allowed two runs during a 35-pitch first inning. Carter Jensen was hit with the first pitch from Max Scherzer -- which the Royals thought was intentional after Daniel Lynch IV had hit Brett Bateman on Friday night. It backfired when Witt doubled Jensen over to third and Caglianone brought him home with an RBI single -- his team-leading 70th RBI of the year.
Salvador Perez followed with a game-tying single. The Royals were left wanting more after the first four batters reached without an out, but Caglianone made a baserunning blunder caught in between third and home, and the Royals weren’t able to capitalize on anything else.
“You got to get greedy there and punch more of them across when you have the opportunity,” Quatraro said.
John Rave accounted for the rest of the Royals’ offense with a solo home run off Scherzer in the fourth. But the Royals’ best chance to come back late was in the eighth inning, when they put two on with nobody out against Tyler Rogers, only for Pasquantino to ground into a double play and Michael Massey to ground out to end the inning.
The loss marked the Royals’ 80th of the season and fifth in their last six games on the heels of a Major League-best 13-2 stretch from Aug. 14-29.