PHILADELPHIA -- The Royals have not yet turned their attention to 2026, even after a tough week that saw them stumble in the American League Wild Card standings. Their focus is on the final 12 games of 2025 because, even sitting six games out of a playoff spot, the race is not officially over.
But Sunday’s 10-3 win over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park also had the future all over it.
Starter Noah Cameron pitched seven strong innings, allowing just two runs on four hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. He took on the stopper role again, helping the Royals salvage the series and avoid a sweep.
“I think that’s how it is every game, especially with where we are in the playoff race,” Cameron said. “We’ve got to win games. There’s no more losing for us.”
Cameron’s batterymate was rookie Carter Jensen, earning his first start behind the plate Sunday as the two Kansas City-area kids worked through a potent Phillies lineup. Cameron grew up in St. Joseph, Mo., about an hour away from Kansas City, while Jensen went to Park Hill High School in north Kansas City.
“We were talking before, ‘Hey, it’s a big day for Kansas City fans,’” Cameron said. “Two hometown guys. I’ve thrown to him 100 times. Trust him. He’s obviously amazing back there. Hopefully there’s more to come.”
The two runs Cameron allowed Sunday came via homers in the first inning. But he settled in after that, allowing the Royals' offense to break out.
The first to do so? Jac Caglianone, who crushed a game-tying, two-run home run in the fifth inning. Caglianone struck out in his previous at-bat against Phillies starter Aaron Nola, swinging through a 78 mph knuckle curveball.
Caglianone adjusted for the second time.
“The earlier you can pick [Nola’s curveball] up, the better it is to lay off of it,” Caglianone said. “For me, it took some hands-on learning to learn that. And then the second time around, it was really focusing on getting him up … and try to shrink the zone a little bit.”
A four-run sixth inning saw a big three-run home run from Salvador Perez, a day after he hit his 300th career home run and reached 1,000 career RBIs. He added five RBIs to that total Sunday with the homer and two-run single in the seventh. Bobby Witt Jr. homered in the ninth, Tyler Tolbert added a sacrifice fly, and the Royals were able to get on their flight back to Kansas City on a positive note.
There was no getting around the fact that this past week was a disappointing road trip at the most inopportune time. Kansas City went 2-5 through Cleveland and Philadelphia, seeing its already slim postseason odds shrivel.
The Royals (now 75-75) began the road trip on Monday two games out of an American League Wild Card spot. A week later, they’re six games back, after the Mariners' (82-68) series finale win against the Angels. Kansas City spiraled down in the standings, while the teams it's chasing kept winning, including Seattle, Texas (79-71, two games back of a Wild Card spot) and Cleveland (78-71, 2 1/2 games back).
While the clubhouse came to terms with the reality, the Royals also pushed back on any thought that they would give in and fizzle out to end the year. Sunday showed that.
“I’ve seen plenty of teams over the years win their last [12 games] of the season to make a run and get in the playoffs,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “... Is it a long shot? Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you give up. We come out here every day and play like it’s the last day of the year and get after it.”
With the Royals still playing for 2025, it was still important to see contributions from their young players Sunday. Cameron has emerged as a legitimate rotation option for ‘26 and beyond with his 2.98 ERA ranking second among qualifying AL rookies this year.
And the Royals put Caglianone and Jensen on their roster at the beginning of September because they thought that both could help them win and that being in a playoff race was the best thing for their development at this point of the season -- because both will be counted on this year and in the future.
“Carter was good,” Perez said. “He’s one of the closest guys to the home plate, and maybe I have to copy that from him. His framing was pretty good today. He’s got a great plan. I like him. Got to be honest: He’s the future of the Kansas City Royals. He did a pretty good job today behind home plate. Especially what [the Phillies] offense can do.”