Second baseman Nick Loftin put the Kansas City Royals on his shoulders and carried them Tuesday, July 8 at Kauffman Stadium, as his two-run home run and line-drive single lifted them to a 4-3 walk-off winner over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Jac Caglianone belted his first home run at The K, connecting on a 1-1 pitch from Mitch Keller to lead off the second with the game’s first run. However, Keller overcame that and a rocky first inning to retire the next 16 batters he faced. Pittsburgh provided him support with solo home runs in the fourth from Oneil Cruz and seventh from Nick Gonzales. Keller was on track for the win, until the Royals successfully challenged that the Pirates committed catcher interference when Henry Davis’ glove made contact with Salvador Perez’ bat on a 3-1 pitch. Two batters later, Loftin would give the Royals the lead with a two-run shot over the left field fence. A walk to John Rave ended Keller’s scoreline with three runs (two earned) on four hits, one walk and five strikeouts.
A throwing error and passed ball in the eighth inning set Pittsburgh up to easily tie the game on a Bryan Reynolds grounder, but that only gave Loftin the chance to be the hero again in the ninth. After singles by Maikel Garcia and Perez, Loftin stepped to the plate to send a line drive to center field, which dropped in front of a sliding Cruz to bring Garcia home. Carlos Estévez picked up the win, allowing a double in his one-inning appearance, while Dennis Santana took the loss, allowing the two singles in the ninth before Isaac Mattson conceded the game-winning hit. Royals starter Seth Lugo went six innings in his start, striking our five while allowing two runs on four hits and a walk.
The Royals have won their last three and are now 45-48, four games behind Seattle for the third wild card spot and 14 games behind Detroit in the AL Central, tied for second in the division. All-Star Kris Bubic will get the start Wednesday as KC go for the sweep. Pregame is at 6 p.m. on KMMO-FM 102.9, with first pitch at 6:40 p.m.