KANSAS CITY -- With a few days to go before the All-Star break and only a couple weeks until the Trade Deadline, the Royals’ plan for the rest of the season could be decided in the next five series.
Friday was an all-too-familiar tune from the 2025 season in an 8-3 loss to the Mets at Kauffman Stadium, with spoiled opportunities and poor execution once again letting the Royals down in a type of game the club was able to win so often in 2024.
The game was decided in the eighth inning, mere minutes after Bobby Witt Jr.'s go-ahead two-run homer put Kansas City ahead, 3-1, in the bottom of the seventh. The 2025 All-Star, who is batting .371 with four homers and 14 RBIs in his past 15 games, has been the spark plug for the Royals’ recent 6-1 stretch that included a sweep over the Pirates -- moving the team just 3 1/2 games out of the third AL Wild Card spot and only two games under .500 entering Friday.
But the opener against the Mets featured the same mistakes that plagued an 8-18 mark in June that put Kansas City in this spot. Lucas Erceg, who was placed on the IL on May 30 with a low back strain, was unavailable due to back tightness, per manager Matt Quatraro, and the Mets loaded the bases off Steven Cruz with a double and two walks before Carlos Estévez unsuccessfully attempted to get a six-out save in a difficult jam.
It was one of many moments, including the Royals’ 0-for-8 mark with runners in scoring position, in which execution let down the well-thought-out process. Quatraro wanted to stay away from Estévez pitching two innings, if possible, so Cruz, who got two outs on seven pitches to finish a scoreless seventh, was tasked with coming back out.
“I thought about bringing [Estévez in] right away, but we were trying not to have him go two innings,” Quatraro said. “We’re in the really rough spot in their order, and we have a lot of faith in Cruzy, just those two walks are what killed us.”
Two runs were also potentially left on the board in the first inning with runners on second and third and nobody out. Mets starter Kodai Senga snagged a liner and attempted to catch Jonathan India out on a forceout at third, but instead sailed the throw, which rolled well over 100 feet up the left-field line onto the warning track in foul territory.
Instead of the Royals scoring one, or even two, runs on the play, Mets third baseman Ronny Mauricio stepped on India’s hand, causing India significant pain while the ball got away. India, lying on the ground at third base, held his hand and was unable to take advantage of the mistake. He stayed in the game, but was receiving treatment postgame.
“I don’t know if he didn’t realize the ball got away or he just couldn’t get himself up because of the pain he was in,” Quatraro said.
The Royals have been scoring of late, hitting 10 homers in four games at Kauffman Stadium this month after just four in June, but still rank 29th in OPS (.628) with runners in scoring position this season. Kansas City left eight on base Friday and Tyler Tolbert was caught stealing in a tie game in the seventh before Witt’s two-run homer.
Now just 20-34 against teams over .500 and 6-16 in their past 22 games at Kauffman Stadium, the Royals simply have to execute this month to provide the front office reason to buy at the Deadline.
“We’re trying to win every night,” Quatraro said. “There’s no different pressure on tonight’s game than there was on [Wednesday’s] game or tomorrow’s game. We can only win one game a day, right? And that’s what our goal is. There’s no additional pressure on these games as any others.”
There’s still hope that a run can happen. The Royals have the third-best starter ERA (3.42) in the American League and proved this past week they can put a winning streak together. But three games under .500 halfway through July and five teams standing in the way of a playoff spot – the execution needs to start happening at a higher frequency sooner rather than later.
“We’ve been playing some really good ball here as of late,” said Michael Wacha, who tossed five innings of one-run ball. “It showed again today. … We played a hell of a game.
“... We got to remember that and show up tomorrow as we always do, ready to compete and get after it.”