{"id":2016686,"date":"2025-09-12T13:27:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T13:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2016686"},"modified":"2025-09-12T13:27:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T13:27:11","slug":"guardians-rookie-makes-gleeful-admission-on-homer-that-could-end-royals-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/guardians-rookie-makes-gleeful-admission-on-homer-that-could-end-royals-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Guardians Rookie Makes Gleeful Admission On Homer That Could End Royals&#8217; Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<figure class=\"style_hfl21i-o_O-style_uhlm2\"\/>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_gh1qqjueh\">September is the official month of heartbreak in Major League Baseball. <\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_qb5ynvvae\">The Kansas City Royals found that out firsthand on Thursday night. Fighting for their lives in the playoff race, the Royals needed a win over the Cleveland Guardians to stay within four games of the Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros, who jointly hold the third and final American League wild card position. <\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_8kf37qaa5\">Entering the bottom of the eighth inning, the Royals held a 2-1 lead, thanks to a two-run blast from Vinnie Pasquantino all the way back in the first inning. But disaster struck on relief pitcher John Schreiber&#8217;s watch. <\/p>\n<div data-mm-id=\"_c2gwj6965\" class=\"\">\n<div class=\"style_120ff32\">\n<figure data-id=\"_c2gwj6965\" class=\"base_1ruub6q\" data-mm-type=\"image\"><canvas class=\"style_1e28o3x-o_O-initial_9vayoh\"\/><picture class=\"base_1emrqjj-o_O-initial_fzbddc-o_O-style_1a1csmw\"><source\/><source\/><source\/><img class=\"base_1emrqjj-o_O-initial_fzbddc-o_O-style_1a1csmw\" alt=\"CJ Kayfus\" title=\"CJ Kayfus\"\/><\/picture><noscript><picture class=\"base_1emrqjj\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_3003,h_1689,x_0,y_113\/c_fill,w_360,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01k4z178g9hct78td0yq.jpg 1x, https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_3003,h_1689,x_0,y_113\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01k4z178g9hct78td0yq.jpg 2x, https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_3003,h_1689,x_0,y_113\/c_fill,w_1080,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01k4z178g9hct78td0yq.jpg 3x\" media=\"(max-width: 719px)\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_3003,h_1689,x_0,y_113\/c_fill,w_620,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01k4z178g9hct78td0yq.jpg 1x, https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_3003,h_1689,x_0,y_113\/c_fill,w_1240,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01k4z178g9hct78td0yq.jpg 2x, https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_3003,h_1689,x_0,y_113\/c_fill,w_1240,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01k4z178g9hct78td0yq.jpg 3x\" media=\"(max-width: 1079px)\"\/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_3003,h_1689,x_0,y_113\/c_fill,w_620,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01k4z178g9hct78td0yq.jpg 1x, https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_3003,h_1689,x_0,y_113\/c_fill,w_1240,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01k4z178g9hct78td0yq.jpg 2x, https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_3003,h_1689,x_0,y_113\/c_fill,w_1240,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images%2FImagnImages%2Fmmsport%2Finside_the_royals%2F01k4z178g9hct78td0yq.jpg 3x\" media=\"(min-width: 1080px)\"\/><\/picture><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<p><figcaption class=\"tagStyle_1ulimm5-o_O-text_1j8vahs\">Sep 11, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians right fielder CJ Kayfus (63) is greeted by manager Stephen Vogt (12) after hitting a two-run home run in the eighth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images \/ David Richard-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_id6cgdxx2\">Guardians rookie right fielder C.J. Kayfus stepped to the plate with a runner on first and deposited a 425-foot moonshot over the right-center field wall at Progressive Field. It sent the Cleveland fans into a frenzy, and while it kept the Guardians&#8217; (75-17) playoff hopes faintly alive, it may have dealt a death blow to Kansas City.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_cczuypbum\">\u201cThere is no feeling in the world like that one,\u201d Kayfus said, <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_1gn6yjz\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/guardians\/news\/c-j-kayfus-hits-go-ahead-homer-in-guardians-win-vs-royals\" target=\"_blank\">per Tim Stebbins<\/a> of MLB.com. \u201cThat was truly probably the best feeling I\u2019ve ever had in my life right there.\u201d  <\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_oue8fxrjs\">The pitch, a 93.3 mph fastball from Schreiber, caught too much of the zone on the inner half. It was only the third home run of Kayfus&#8217; young career, but the 23-year-old showed enough power on the swing to suggest there could be plenty more in his future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_bfaocgxus\">\u201cAs soon as I hit it, I knew it was gone,\u201d Kayfus said. \u201cIf it didn&#8217;t go, that was all I had.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_t0jnvooh8\">The Royals are likely to see much more of Kayfus next season, and their first impression wasn&#8217;t a pleasant one. Overall, the Guardians were a major thorn in Kansas City&#8217;s side, taking the season series 9-4, and this series in particular sank the Royals&#8217; <a target=\"_blank\" class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_1gn6yjz\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fangraphs.com\/standings\/playoff-odds?date=2025-09-08\" target=\"_blank\">playoff odds<\/a> from 6.1% to 1.7%, per Fangraphs. <\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_bhgebk881\">The Royals can do nothing but keep fighting. But they had their chances throughout the season to put themselves in advantageous positions, and too many times, gut punches like Thursday&#8217;s loss came back to bite them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_mxvz7o-o_O-style_12bse5w-o_O-style_6s3kpz\" data-mm-id=\"_jv6678kd7\"><em><strong>More MLB: <\/strong><\/em><a target=\"_blank\" class=\"tagStyle_16dbupz-o_O-style_1gn6yjz\" href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/mlb\/royals\/news\/why-royals-need-to-replace-this-5-year-veteran-in-next-year-s-starting-lineup-jackson3\"><em><strong>Why Royals Need To Replace This 5-Year Veteran In Next Year&#8217;s Starting Lineup<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.si.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>September is the official month of heartbreak in Major League Baseball. The Kansas City Royals found that out firsthand on Thursday night. Fighting for their lives in the playoff race, the Royals needed a win over the Cleveland Guardians to stay within four games of the Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros, who jointly hold the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2016687,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2016686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-royalty"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Guardians-Rookie-Makes-Gleeful-Admission-On-Homer-That-Could-End.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2016686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2016686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2016686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2016687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2016686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2016686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2016686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}