The Kansas City Royals granted right-hander Mitch Spence a spot start Monday night against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park.
And it turned out to be a good decision … for about four innings.
Spence had pitched well up to that point. He allowed two earned runs and avoided trouble while navigating the Washington batting order twice.
“I thought his stuff was good,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “I mean, he was around the zone, throwing strikes and mixing things up.”
Nationals third baseman Curtis Mead provided the lone early damage — a two-run single off the glove of Royals second baseman Nick Loftin — to put Washington on the scoreboard.
The Royals even gave Spence a slim lead. Maikel Garcia added a clutch two-run single as Bobby Witt Jr. and Jac Caglianone scored to begin the fifth inning.
All Spence needed was a shutdown inning. And Quatraro left him in to face the bottom of the Nationals order with the lead in hand.
However, this decision didn’t turn out well. And it led to the Royals dropping the road series opener 7-3 to the Nationals.
“Yeah, obviously, it’s an extremely frustrating day,” Spence said. “I felt like I made some good pitches in important situations and just didn’t get rewarded for them.”
In the fifth inning, Spence allowed two consecutive singles as Washington flipped over the lineup card. Then, he walked Nationals star James Wood to load the bases with no outs.
After a quick mound visit, Spence left a 94 mph cutter atop the strike zone against Nationals first baseman Luis Garcia Jr. The veteran infielder recorded a two-run single to give Washington a 4-3 lead.
“The hits he gave up were ground balls,” Quatraro said. “You know, I think the thing that did him in there, in the fifth, was the walk that loaded the bases. That put him in a tough spot. But overall, (he was) efficient as well, which was nice.”
Spence was knocked out of the game. The Royals would turn to right-handed reliever Mason Black, and he later served up a three-run homer to Dylan Crews.
“It’s always a tough spot to bring somebody in with the bases loaded and nobody out,” Quatraro said. “And in that particular case, we liked his stuff against Garcia. You know, got him to two strikes, just got to get that two-seam fastball up a little bit more.”
Crews belted an 88.1 mph slider left over the plate. The baseball traveled over the left-field wall as the Royals were suddenly down four runs.
What began as a promising start was quickly derailed.
Spence was charged with six earned runs in four innings of work. He allowed seven hits, issued a walk and struck out a batter.
“I think we executed and they had some soft hits,” catcher Carter Jensen said. “Then, they were able to get the homer. I mean, they executed in timely fashion. So good for them for doing that. But I don’t think this is a sign of anything bad. And I think both of our guys went out there and pitched their butts off. It just didn’t go our way.”
The Royals’ offense failed to respond. KC was held scoreless the final three innings as Washington improved to 38-35 this season.
From the sixth inning onward, the Royals recorded just one hit. Nationals relievers Brad Lord and Clayton Beeter bridged the gap after lefty starter Andrew Alvarez departed after four innings.
Alvarez allowed a run on five hits. He recorded five strikeouts while tossing 40 of 58 pitches for strikes.
“I mean, he’s aggressive with his fastball, so I was trying to get the ball in the air early,” Garcia said. “But after getting to a strike, just put the ball in play.”
The Royals dropped to 29-44. The offense finished 2-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.
What’s next: Royals right-hander Michael Wacha (4-5, 3.58 ERA) will start opposite Nationals lefty Foster Griffin (7-2, 3.46 ERA) in Tuesday’s matchup. First pitch is set for 5:45 p.m. Central.
This story was originally published June 15, 2026 at 8:25 PM.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.kansascity.com ’
