Royals manager Matt Quatraro walks back to the dugout during KC’s 14-6 win against the St. Louis Cardinals at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City on Thursday, June 18, 2026.
The Royals trailed by four runs entering the bottom of the ninth inning of Sunday’s game against the Cardinals but quickly had St. Louis pitcher Riley O’Brien on the ropes.
Royals first baseman Jac Caglianone crushed a home run to open the frame, and O’Brien hit catcher Salvador Perez with the very next pitch. Second baseman Michael Massey followed with a single and right fielder Lane Thomas reached on a fielder’s choice. Suddenly it was a 12-10 game, and the Royals had two runners on with no outs.
But O’Brien got his first out when Kameron Misner’s sacrifice bunt put Massey and Thomas in scoring position. According to Baseball Reference, the Cardinals’ win probability had dropped from 98% to 67% when Misner stepped to the plate. The bunt pushed St. Louis’ win probability 4% higher. O’Brien then struck out pinch hitter John Rave, who was batting for Nick Loftin, and induced a groundout from left fielder Isaac Collins to end the game.
Caglianone praised Misner for the bunt.
“The guys were putting together really good at-bats, fighting our way back into it,” Caglianone told reporters. “It comes to the last out. And (Kameron Misner) dropped down that bunt to get the runners into scoring position. It was huge. Just little plays like that, I feel like, are going to help us down the road.”
Royals fans weren’t so sure the bunt was a wise decision, particularly since the first four batters of the ninth inning had reached base. Here is what fans were saying, and some approved of the decision but not to remove Loftin, who had hit a home run earlier in the game.
This story was originally published June 22, 2026 at 10:09 AM.
The Kansas City Star
From covering the World Series to the World Cup, Pete Grathoff has done a little bit of everything since joining The Kansas City Star in 1997.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.kansascity.com ’
