A day after scoring a combined 28 runs, the Kansas City Royals and New York Mets engaged in an old-fashioned pitchers’ duel.
Both teams got quality work from their pitching staff. However, the Mets’ offense surged forward late with a five-run eighth inning as the Royals fell 6-2 at Citi Field.
“It was a totally different game than yesterday and the pitching was dominating,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said.
The Royals opted for a bullpen game with right-hander Steven Cruz serving as the opener. He allowed one run — a leadoff homer from Mets center fielder A.J. Ewing — before striking out two batters.
Then, Royals right-hander Randy Dobnak took over. He tossed 5 ⅔ scoreless innings and got some defensive help — mainly from outfielder Tyler Tolbert.
“The game plan today was to kind of just pound the zone, let them get themselves out,” Dobnak said. “And it kind of worked tonight. Got a lot of groundouts, give the team some innings, which is what we need here. But it was just kind of pound the zone and see how far I can go.”
In the third inning, the Mets had two runners on base with two outs. Dobnak hung a 91.4 mph sinker over the plate to New York star Francisco Lindor.
Lindor belted a line drive toward the right-field wall. However, Tolbert raced over and made a leaping catch to negate extra bases.
“Off the bat, I thought that was upper deck,” Dobnak said. “To turn around and see him make that sick play was a lot of emotions going on.”
The defensive grab kept the deficit at a run. And in the sixth inning, KC broke through as Salvador Perez hit an RBI single. Perez battled Mets reliever Tobias Myers for nine pitches before tying the game.
Dobnak pitched into the seventh inning. He retired the first two batters before walking Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez. This prompted Quatraro to turn to left-handed specialist Matt Strahm.
Strahm was tasked to face Ewing with two outs. He struck Ewing out on five pitches — including a borderline call that went the Royals’ way. Ewing attempted to dispute the call, but the Mets were out of ABS challenges.
“They were fighting off really good pitches and working at-bats,” Royals catcher Carter Jensen said. “Hats off to them for working those counts and fouling off those tough pitches and getting a few across. But no, that’s baseball. As we’d seen last night and tonight, anything can happen.”
However, New York found a way to pull out the victory. The Royals opted for closer Alex Lange to pitch the eighth inning. He was tasked with facing the top of the Mets’ lineup: Juan Soto, Bo Bichette and Lindor.
None of those players particularly troubled Lange.
But he did struggle with the bottom of the order. He hit Mets first baseman Jared Young with the bases loaded as the go-ahead run scored. And later, Mets second baseman Brett Baty hit a two-run single to push the deficit further.
“Probably the walk and the hit-by-pitch,” Lange said of his frustrating moments. “It’s on me. Your guys go out there and grind their (behind) off for eight innings. And you go out there and do that. It’s tough.”
The Mets did all their damage in the eighth inning. New York scored five runs in the frame as both Lange and right-handed reliever Jose Cuas struggled to get the third and final out.
The Royals (38-55) snapped their three-game winning streak. Lange took the loss as he allowed five runs in the eighth.
The Mets (39-54) evened the three-game series. Both teams will look to win the rubber game on Thursday afternoon.
What’s next: Royals right-hander Michael Wacha (5-6, 3.45 ERA) will face Mets left-hander Sean Manaea (1-4, 5.16 ERA) on Thursday at Citi Field. First pitch is set for 12:10 p.m. Central.
This story was originally published July 8, 2026 at 9:27 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 ’
