The Kansas City Royals continue to be hamstrung untimely departures.
Royals star Salvador Perez missed Thursday’s game with soreness in his right elbow. And another early exit followed during the evening’s series finale against visiting Tampa Bay.
KC starter Stephen Kolek — who was returning to action after the birth of his daughter — lasted just two innings before coming out of what became a 5-2 loss to the Rays.
Kolek threw 51 pitches in the first and second innings but did not return to the field for a third — the Royals (35-53) said he was dealing with some general fatigue in the warm and humid weather.
“I was obviously very tired, but I was like, ‘I’m still feeling OK,’” Kolek said. “But they want to play it safe, and 42 pitches in one inning is a lot. Definitely was feeling the fatigue and needed a minute. And I think they ultimately made the decision to play it safe and not push through something.”
Kolek has dealt with a lot recently. He and his wife welcomed a daughter into the world seven weeks early and then he spent ample time with his family in the hospital. It’s the reason he was initially placed on the family medical emergency list.
Kolek reported that both his daughter and wife are doing well now.
“She’s doing good,” Kolek said. “She’s on a good progression getting back there. And we’re just super thankful for all the doctors and nurses involved. The amount of respect I have for the NICU nurses, I mean, they’re amazing. Hat’s off to all those nurses and doctors there and I’m just very thankful for them.”
Kolek wasn’t on a pitch count against the Rays. The Royals felt comfortable having him throw 65-75 pitches, but a prolonged second inning led to an early night for the bullpen.
“We didn’t want to take a chance with him injuring himself after being gone that long,” Quatraro said.
Kolek allowed three earned runs early in his start. The Rays recorded three consecutive two-out hits in the second inning. Shortstop Taylor Walls hit an RBI double, second baseman Richie Palacios an RBI single.
Kolek almost kept the damage manageable. However, Royals right-fielder Kameron Misner misplayed a line drive on the warning track — the baseball popped into and then out of his glove.
The gaffe allowed Rays catcher Hunter Feduccia to reach third with an RBI triple. And two innings later, Cedric Mullins belted a two-run homer.
In relief, the Royals turned to fellow right-hander Randy Dobnak, who made his debut with the team on Thursday.
The Rays sprayed 10 hits in all. Dobnak allowed six, and two runs, across four innings. John Schreiber, Daniel Lynch IV and Steven Cruz finished out the game with a scoreless inning apiece.
“Pretty efficient,” Quatraro said of Dobnak. “I thought with the off-day coming up, where we were with the bullpen rested, that was our best chance to keep them where they were instead of having him go through the lineup again on a day like today.”
The Royals were frigid at the plate. Rookie catcher Carter Jensen provided a leadoff spark with a first-inning homer off Rays starter Ian Seymour, but he proceeded to hold the Royals to just two more hits across six innings.
“We’re just not getting the results that we want,” Jensen said. “Everybody in here, we’re not OK with losing. We want to win just as much as everyone else in the league. So we’ve just got to make adjustments.”
Last week, Seymour held KC hitless through six innings in a game at Tampa Bay — a contest in which the Royals had one hit overall, in the ninth inning. He struck out eight Royals Thursday.
So in his last two appearances against Kansas City, Seymour has allowed just one earned run and three hits with 15 strikeouts and one walk.
“He just mixed (his pitches) well,” Royals outfielder Isaac Collins said of Seymour. “And he threw any pitch in any count. I feel like he threw differently to every guy. So credit to their scouting report. But he had our number tonight and the last time we saw him.”
The Rays (51-33) extended their winning streak to eight games. Seymour earned his fifth victory and now has a 4.02 ERA.
Collins belted a solo home run in the seventh inning to cut into the Royals’ four-run deficit. It was his first homer since May 5 against the Cleveland Guardians.
The Royals finished 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position (RISP) Thursday and left five men on base.
What’s next: The Royals are off Friday before beginning a three-game weekend series against the Philadelphia Phillies at Kauffman Stadium on Saturday, Independence Day.
This story was originally published July 2, 2026 at 9:19 PM.
The Kansas City Star
Jaylon Thompson covers the Royals for The Kansas City Star. He previously covered the 2021 World Series and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Jaylon is a proud alumnus of the University of Georgia.
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