CLEVELAND -- The Royals began their day at the ballpark on Tuesday by announcing that Michael Wacha would not make his regularly-scheduled start on Wednesday because he was being placed on the seven-day concussion injured list.
Wacha was the last starter from the Royals’ Opening Day rotation who hadn’t gone on the IL yet this year. Now four of the five starters they began 2025 with are sidelined in Wacha, Cole Ragans (left rotator cuff strain), Seth Lugo (low back strain) and Kris Bubic (left rotator cuff strain). And Wednesday’s game likely has turned into a bullpen game.
Without a doubt, then, Kansas City needed length from its starter. It needed a good start.
Noah Cameron delivered on Tuesday. He was still handed the loss.
The rookie left-hander tossed seven strong innings, allowing two runs on six hits with eight strikeouts, but the Royals were shut out in their 2-0 loss to the Guardians at Progressive Field, held to just five singles with Cleveland starter Joey Cantillo throwing eight-plus scoreless innings.
The Royals did not have a runner reach second base until the ninth inning against reliever Cade Smith. When they had their first scoring opportunity with runners on first and third with one out, Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez both struck out swinging to end the game.
The two games so far in this four-game set in Cleveland have been the opposite of each other, a blowout on Monday and a tight game on Tuesday. Regardless of how, it’s been two losses that the Royals can’t afford. Kansas City (73-72) dropped to four games back of the final American League Wild Card spot. The Royals also sit 2 1/2 games behind the Rangers, who beat the Brewers on Tuesday, and 1 1/2 games behind the Guardians.
Cleveland secured the season series over Kansas City, 7-4, with two games left to play, and thus the head-to-head tiebreaker for any postseason implications.
“It hurts,” Cameron said. “Definitely, those losses hurt worse than blowouts. It’s part of it.”
Cameron certainly did his part. He was efficient, needing just 30 pitches through three innings and 63 through five. The two runs he allowed came via José Ramírez’s homer in the first inning and back-to-back doubles -- one from Ramírez -- in the fourth.
Cameron worked around runners on first and second in the sixth inning, striking out Jhonkensy Noel for the third time. Then he got three quick outs in the seventh.
“We felt good about that matchup with Noel, and then [Cameron] said he felt good, so [sent] him back out with where we were in the order and the guys he was going to face there,” manager Matt Quatraro said.
Of the 100 pitches Cameron threw on Tuesday, 75 of them were strikes. He didn’t walk a batter.
“That’s who I am,” Cameron said. “That’s how I know I can pitch. In the Minor Leagues, my whole life, I've always been a command guy. I don’t throw 98 or 100 mph. I think tonight was more kind of what I expect of myself every single night.”
Cameron’s slider was the sharpest it’s been in a while, registering eight whiffs on 11 swings. He attributed that success to his arm slot being back to where he’d like it to be, a mechanical fix he made two weeks ago when the Royals skipped him in the rotation at the end of August to get him extra rest.
The 26-year-old admitted he was getting fatigued at the end of last month, having thrown a career high in innings by far this year between the Majors and the Minors. He used the nine days off as a way to reset mentally and physically. The rest seemed to do him some good, and it was good timing on the Royals’ part -- because they need Cameron to lead this rotation now with how many injuries there have been.
“My job every night is to throw deep, save the bullpen and give us a chance to win,” Cameron said. “After, a lot of the bullpen guys came over and said, ‘Hey, that’s huge.’”
It would have been even better with a win. But Cantillo was more efficient than Cameron and lasted longer. The lefty went out for the ninth at 91 pitches, exiting after Kyle Isbel’s leadoff single. Of his 92 pitches, Cantillo threw 72 strikes. He struck out five. The Royals had an 85.9 mph average exit velocity against him Tuesday.
They couldn’t pick up his fastball and were fooled by his changeup.
“We were always behind in the count,” infielder Maikel Garcia said. “... We’re trying to take pitches to see if we can walk or something, but he threw strike one and then strike two. It’s hard to take pitches like that when the pitcher is throwing a lot of strikes.”