Royals drop sixth in a row to Cardinals, 4-2

We could go through this game play by play and try to deeply analyze it, but they’ve lost six in a row. For the third straight game, the offense looked completely outmatched by a pitcher who has never shown the ability to dominate a lineup. So let’s just hit some highlights and then try to enjoy our Saturday evenings, shall we?

Noah Cameron pitched his second quality start of the year. He did it by drastically reducing his cutter and slider usage. Mostly, he did this in favor of his fastball, though he threw a few more changeups than he had averaged this year, too. His curveball percentage remained roughly the same. The new arm angle has improved his fastball shape, so leaning on it was probably a smart idea, and it mostly worked, at least for today.

Matt Strahm hit the IL after landing awkwardly in a couple of his pitches yesterday. That was convenient for the Royals because they had to activate Bailey Falter from his rehab assignment today. Bailey pitched the final two innings of the game in relief, and, well, it wasn’t pretty. He got out of his first inning of work facing only three batters, but ended up giving up a run in the second on a pair of hits and a walk. It was the kind of outing where if you had faith in the guy before, you’d want to see him go again, but if you thought he was trash before, he did nothing to change your mind.

Vinnie Pasquantino did collect a two-out RBI single in the top of the fifth, which was nice to see. Jac Caglianone also hit a mammoth home run in the top of the ninth. It’s always fun to see Jac hammer one.

The Royals will attempt to avoid their second winless road trip of the year tomorrow afternoon. Stephen Kolek (6.75 ERA) will get his third start for KC this year and start a new quality start streak. Andre Pallante (4.46 ERA) will go for the Cardinals. The game starts at 1:15 Central, and, as has been the case all weekend, will be free on MLB.TV, along with almost every other game as part of Rivalry Weekend.