Kansas City Royals starter Cole Ragans left Tuesday’s Wild Card Series opener against the Baltimore Orioles after six innings with a left hamstring cramp, but the team’s bullpen covered three innings to give the Royals a 1-0 victory and a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.
Ragans allowed just four hits and struck out eight in his six innings of work, including a pair of strikeouts in the bottom of the fifth inning.
The Royals capitalized on Corbin Burnes’ lone walk of the game in the top of the sixth. Burnes walked the Royals’ No. 9 hitter, Maikel Garcia, who stole second and went to third on a groundout. Garcia scored the game’s lone run on Bobby Witt Jr.’s two-out single.
That walk was about his only mistake on the day. The former Cy Young winner went a season-high eight innings in the outing. After giving up a leadoff single to Garcia to start the ninth, Orioles manager Brandon Hyde went to his bullpen. Burnes allowed just one run on four hits with three strikeouts and the walk.
The Orioles put two on against Royals reliever Kris Bubic in the eighth inning on a walk and a single before Lucas Erceg came in to retire Anthony Santander. — C. Trent Rosecrans
The Royals are in position to steal the series
If the Royals can find a way to win one of the next two games in Baltimore, the Orioles can blame the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers for their fate.
It was the Twins’ collapse last week that allowed the Royals to clinch a wild-card spot on Friday and set up their pitching rotation for the playoffs, limiting Seth Lugo to two innings on Saturday and resting Ragans on Sunday. The Royals themselves had faded across the previous two weeks, putting their postseason hopes in peril.
And it was the Tigers who lost to the Chicago White Sox on the season’s final day, sending the Royals to Baltimore instead of Houston.
Lugo, who finished the regular season with a 3.00 ERA in 33 starts, will start Game 2 on Wednesday. Once a trusted relief pitcher for the Mets, Lugo has transformed into one of the sport’s breakthrough success stories across the last two seasons — converting into a starter last season in San Diego and then becoming an All-Star in 2023 for Kansas City.
Now he gets his chance to become a villain in Baltimore. — Rustin Dodd
Ragans pitched like a genuine ace — until the cramps came
The Royals’ flame-throwing lefty needed just 80 pitches to maneuver through six innings. He struck out eight and issued no walks. He was so in command that he remained unfazed when left fielder MJ Melendez misplayed a fly ball into a double in the fifth and Baltimore’s Cedric Mullins followed with a single to center.
With one out and runners on the corners, Ragans struck out James McCann and Gunnar Henderson to end the threat, pumping his fists as he strutted back to the dugout.
Ragans appeared in position to go deep into the game, but he left the game after the bottom of the sixth because of what the Royals called “left-calf cramps.” For a moment, the development felt ominous for Kansas City. But the Royals were rescued in the seventh by reliever Sam Long, who worked a one-two-three frame. That allowed manager Matt Quatraro to get back on schedule and hand the ball to setup man Kris Bubic in the eighth.
For Ragans, who once missed nearly three seasons while recovering from back-to-back Tommy John surgeries, his first playoff appearance was masterful. — Dodd
A very good Corbin Burnes performance runs into Bobby Witt Jr.
The Orioles’ offense has been a mess for a while now, and their listless effort in Game 1 should not be overlooked. The lack of offense is the reason they were unable to win this game.
But it’s also hard to ignore Baltimore’s surprising decision to pitch to Bobby Witt Jr. in the sixth inning. With a runner at third and two outs in a scoreless tie, it made a lot of sense for Orioles ace Burnes to intentionally walk Witt Jr., who led MLB with a .332 average. Burnes threw him a first-pitch fastball in the zone, and he turned on it for an RBI single.
On deck was Vinnie Pasquantino, who hasn’t played a game in more than a month due to a fractured hand. His health remains a question mark. In a one-run game, there are always decisions you could revisit. But allowing Witt Jr. to keep the bat in his hands was ultimately the difference in this low-scoring battle.
Burnes was excellent over his eight-plus innings of work. He walked off the mound in the ninth to a well-deserved standing ovation. In another world, this takeaway would be about him being nearly untouchable. But just because he was good, doesn’t mean he should have faced Witt Jr. in that spot. And because he did, he’s one O’s loss away from being a free agent and one loss away from yet another Baltimore postseason flameout. – Blum
(Top photo of Bobby Witt Jr.: Greg Fiume / Getty Images)
