By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
The Kansas City Royals started to put together a rally at the end, but the comeback attempt fell short as the Royals dropped a second straight matchup to the Cleveland Guardians, losing 6-3 on Saturday evening.
Vinnie Pasquantino blasted the Royals to the first lead of the game in the top of the fourth inning, a solo home run to right center field. But in the bottom half the Guardians tied the game up, Carlos Santana scoring on an RBI single by Gabriel Arias. Cleveland took the lead in the next inning, Bo Naylor coming home with a sacrifice fly from José Ramírez.
Things went from bad to worse in the sixth inning for the Royals. First, After appearing to tweak something in his lower body while running out a groundout early in Saturday’s game, Jonathan India exited in the sixth inning with right quad tightness, the Royals announced.
India appeared to be grimacing as he ran down to first in the third inning, but he stayed in the game then and continued to play left field. Then in the sixth inning, India worked a walk against Guardians starter Luis L. Ortiz. When Vinnie Pasquantino snuck a ball down the first-base line for a single, India ran from first to third base. After Salvador Perez struck out, unable to capitalize on a scoring opportunity, India walked slowly off the field.
Manager Matt Quatraro went out to meet India as he walked into the dugout, and the Royals made the necessary defensive changes, Drew Waters entered the game in India’s spot in the order and played right field, while MJ Melendez shifted over to left field.
In the bottom half of the sixth inning, after Royals starter Michael Lorenzen struck out Kyle Manzardo and Nolan Jones, Cleveland extended their lead, Arias hitting a home run to right center field. Lorenzen surrendered a single to Angel Martínez before being pulled for reliever Angel Zerpa, who walked Bo Naylor, but got Brayan Rocchio to ground into a force out, getting Naylor out at second base to end the inning.
The Guardians added their final three runs of the game in the bottom of the eighth, with Sam Long taking over on the mound. Long walked Manzardo before giving up a single to Jhonkensy Noel. A wild pitch advanced both runners, where Long then walked Arias to load the bases. A ground rule double from Martinez scored Manzardo and Noel, advancing Arias to third. Arias came around to score later in the inning on another wild pitch from Long.
The Royals started to put together a rally in the ninth inning, taking on the mantra of the 2015 Royals: keep the line moving. Back to back to back singles by Bobby Witt Jr, Pasquantino, and Perez started the inning, Witt Jr coming in to score on the hit from Perez. Michael Massey singled to load the bases, still with no outs, but after that Cavan Biggio struck out. Maikel Garcia did drive in a run with a sacrifice fly, but with MJ Melendez representing the tying run at the plate, Melendez grounded out to second base to end the game.
Lorenzen took the loss, falling to 1-2 on the season, pitching 5.2 innings and giving up three runs on seven hits, striking out four and walking one. Pasquantino led the way hitting going 3-4 at the plate with one RBI.
Kansas City and Cleveland wrap up their three game series tomorrow. Cole Ragans takes the mound for the Royals, still seeking his first win, taking on Ben Lively for the Guardians. First pitch is at 12:40pm, pregame begins at noon on KFEQ (680 AM/95.3 FM).
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.