Kansas City Royals news: Salvy enjoys the World Cup

Stephen Kolek struggled from the start in his outing Sunday against the Cardinals.

“Those days are going to happen,” Kolek said. “Ideally, they’re definitely not as bad as they were today.”

The Cardinals sent eight batters to the plate in the first inning. In total, Kolek faced 15 batters, allowing nine hits and a walk. He didn’t record a strikeout.

“It’s definitely tough to pitch when you don’t have command over stuff like that,” Kolek said. “So we’re going to clean it up and get right back to it.”

Anne Rogers writes that Bobby Witt Jr. was kept out on Sunday as a precaution.

While an injured list stint is still a possibility, Kansas City will continue to evaluate Witt throughout Sunday and even through Monday, when the team begins a four-game series against the Rays at Tropicana Field. Manager Matt Quatraro said on Sunday that Witt feels better and is moving around better than he was two days ago.

“We’re going to reevaluate as the day goes on, get him a bunch of treatments and see how he’s feeling before we take off [for St. Petersburg],” Quatraro said.

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Jaylon Thompson talks to Royals players about fatherhood.

The Royals honor this tradition in quiet ways. For example, they allow kids in the clubhouse to celebrate with their dads after home wins.

“I think that’s one of the coolest things,” Wacha said. “My dad wasn’t a big leaguer, so I didn’t get to be able to do that type of stuff. But I think it will be something cool. I think it’s cool being in a big-league clubhouse, for sure.

“And hopefully, whenever they are older, we get a lot of pics of them in here. You know, something they can look back on and they’ll think is pretty cool, as well.”

Anne also writes about what Father’s Day means to Royals players.

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Bobby Witt Jr. and Jac Caglianone used the off day Saturday to toss footballs with Tom Brady at a World Cup celebration, writes Pete Grathoff.

Salvador Perez attended the Ecuador/Curaçao matchup.