Today, the Royals took on the Rangers in the final game of a four-game series and came away with the biggest win of their 2025 season. With this win, the Royals moved 2 games out of the AL Wild Card spot and continued to close the gap with the Mariners. With a Seattle loss tonight, the Royals would move just 1.5 games out of a playoff spot as they enter their series with Detroit.
Both offenses were hot today, with the Royals getting started quickly, getting both Bobby Witt Jr and Salvador Perez on in the first inning. Unfortunately, a groundout from Randal Grichuk ended the inning. But the momentum carried over, and a one-out solo shot from Nick Loftin put the Royals up one early. Not to be outdone, the Rangers brought it back in the top of the third, getting two runners on, and then Joc Pederson drove in the run to make it 1-1.
The bottom of the third was interesting. After Bobby Witt Jr hit a hard shot into left-center field, he rounded the bases after a misplay for an inside-the-park homerun. But after the replay was looked at, a fan touched the ball and caused a ground-rule double to be called. Vinnie Pasquantino then popped out, but Salvador Perez came through with a single to put Kansas City up 2-1 going into the fourth.
The Rangers managed to get two runners on with one in scoring position again in the top of the fourth, but were shut down again by Michael Lorenzen before they could make anything out of it. When the bottom of the fourth, it felt like the Royals cracked the game open. A hit from India and a walk by Loftin led off the inning. Luke Maile successfully bunted them over, and then Tyler Tolbert was able to poke a sac fly to get a run. Maikel Garcia then came up and hit a single to put the Royals up 4-1.
This marked the end of the day for Patrick Corbin, who had another rough outing. This became his fourth start in a row allowing three or more runs, and this followed his worst start of the year, where he gave up 7 runs against the Blue Jays.
The Rangers had not lost hope and looked to rebound at the top of the fifth. Corey Seager and Eziquiel Duran singled, followed by a strikeout by Joc Pederson and another single by Evan Carter. The bases were loaded with one out, and the Royals needed a double play. Lorenzen delivered an excellent pitch and got the ground ball he needed, but Bobby Witt Jr couldn’t handle the throw to second base, and a runner scored on the error. Josh Smith followed up with a single, and just like that, the game was tied.
Lorenzen exited the game after the hit by Smith, marking the end of a tough outing on the stat sheet, but that does not tell the whole story. Lorenzen battled on the mound today and executed his pitches as he wanted to. Some soft contact got down for hits, and he did give up a hit after the error, but as a whole, he looked like himself and gave a good outing for the Royals today.
Vinnie Pasquantino picked the team up immediately in the bottom of the fifth, leading off the inning with a solo shot to put the Royals up 5-4.
There was not much action again until the seventh, when Daniel Lynch IV ran into some trouble, giving up a single and a hit batter with just one out recorded. John Schreiber came in and delivered a big punch out as well as a ground out to keep the Royals on top.
The Royals took the momentum they gained from that inning and brought it on offense in the bottom of the seventh. Salvador Perez singled, Isbel walked, India walked, and the bases were loaded with just one out. Nick Loftin came up but could not lift the ball enough and popped out without advancing Perez. But a great AB by Luke Maile resulted in a walk, putting the nail in the coffin to secure a 2-run lead entering the 8th.
The Rangers did not get another base runner, and Carlos Estevez got the save to put the Royals at 66-62 on the year. They will now head to Detroit to take on the Tigers, one of the hottest teams in baseball, coming off a sweep of the Astros. But the Royals know their division rival well and are ready to put up a fight to keep themselves in the playoff race.
Salvador Perez – 2 for 4 at the plate with a walk, a run scored, and an RBI
Tyler Tolbert – 1 for 1 with a double that was almost a triple and a sac fly
Nick Loftin – 1 for 3 with a walk, two runs scored, an RBI, and a home run
Jonathan India – 1-2 with two walks and a run scored
Angel Zerpa – Did not allow a base runner over 1.2 innings
Carlos Estevez – Got the save without allowing a base runner
Randal Grichuk – 0 for 3 at the plate
Daniel Lynch IV – Struggled again in the seventh
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.royalsreview.com ’
