The Kansas City Royals settled for a split in their series with the Cleveland Guardians, falling to the AL Central leaders by an 8-5 score Thursday, May 7 at Kauffman Stadium.
The Guardians led throughout the game, starting with a one-out double in the first by Kyle Manzardo that scored two runs. Manzardo came home on Daniel Schneemann’s single. The Royals had a chance to respond with the bases loaded in the first, but a groundout by Jac Caglianone ended the threat. Cleveland would make the Royals pay for their inability to score runners early, adding another run in the third with Petey Halpin’s RBI single. The Royals got on the board in the fifth when Michael Massey led off with a double, then came home on Maikel Garcia’s single. However, Garcia was tagged out at third on Bobby Witt Jr’s single. Cleveland would score on a passed ball in the sixth.
The Royals attempted to mount a comeback, scoring most of their runs off the Guardian bullpen. Nick Loftin brought in a run in the bottom of the sixth with a sacrifice fly to score Carter Jensen. Back-to-back home runs in the seventh by Witt and Vinnie Pasquantino kept the Royals in the contest, but they came after a three-run blast in the top half of the inning by Bo Naylor. Another sacrifice fly in the bottom of the eighth closed out the scoring for Kansas City.
Seth Lugo took the loss, allowing four runs on seven hits and four walks in four innings. He recorded five of the 11 strikeouts the Royals claimed off Cleveland. Eric Cerantola gave up the three-run home run in his second Major League appearance, which was the only hit allowed in his two innings. The Québec native struck out three but allowed three walks. The Royals also allowed Cleveland base runners to steal three bases in the seventh, but did catch two stealing earlier in the game.
The Royals are now 17-21, 2.5 games behind Cleveland in the AL Central. Another critical division series awaits the Royals when they host Detroit this weekend. Kris Bubic gets the start Friday with first pitch at 6:40 p.m.; pregame begins at 6 p.m. on KMMO-FM 102.9.