Royals offense struggles against Lopez in 4-1 Opening Day loss to Twins

Positively, Cole Ragans struck out nine, a Royals Opening Day record

Kansas City’s excitement levels headed into today’s Opening Day festivities were as high as they had been since 2017. The roster featured several newcomers, including much-needed help in the starting rotation and bullpen, as well as the return of Vinnie Pasquantino.

Facing a Twins team favored to win a weak AL Central, though, we got a little taste of what we all knew. Minnesota might not be the strongest division favorite, but they are were a division winner last season for a reason. Despite a leadoff homer from Maikel Garcia and an Opening Day record nine strikeouts from Cole Ragans, Kansas City’s offense struggled against Twins starter Jorge Lopez, falling 2-1 on a beautiful Thursday afternoon.

The loss marks the 2nd consecutive season that Kansas City’s offense struggled against Lopez on Opening Day, with the offense failing to score a run off the right-hander in last year’s contest.

The American League Central rivals exchanged first-inning home runs to get the 2024 season off to a quick start.

Ragans started his day off quickly, needing just three pitches to retire Byron Buxton and Ryan Jeffers. He got up 0-2 on Royce Lewis sent a 98 MPH fastball into the fountains in left-center field, giving the Twins an early 1-0 lead.

Kansas City got the run right back with a leadoff homer from Maikel Garcia, tying the game at 1-1. The homer was just the 5th of Garcia’s career and his 2nd career leadoff homer.

Aside from the homer, the Royals struggled against Twins starter Pablo Lopez on Opening Day for the 2nd straight season. Kansas City’s offense wasted a leadoff from MJ Melendez and only managed two further base runners against the Cy Young candidate - a bloop double from Bobby Witt Jr and a swinging bunt from Adam Frazier.

Lopez ended his afternoon after giving up just four hits and walking zero Royals across 7.0 innings of work. He needed just 84 pitches and retired the last eight batters he faced.

Meanwhile, Ragans labored despite looking sharp. After striking out the side in the 2nd, Ragans found trouble in the 3rd via two bloop singles that put runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs. Carlos Correa made him pay, doubling down the left-field line to put Minnesota up 2-1. It likely would have been 3-1 had Lewis not come around 2nd base awkwardly, limping to 3rd base and forcing his early exit.

Following his 3rd inning jam, Ragans mostly cruised the rest of the way. He worked his final three innings cleanly, allowing just two more baserunners, and ending his first Opening Day start with a Royals Opening Day record nine strikeouts. Ragans gave up five hits and walked two Twins in 6.0 innings, showing the electric stuff fans became accustomed to last summer.

After a clean 7th from Nick Anderson, Angel Zerpa found himself in some 8th inning trouble, surrendering back-to-back singles to open the frame. However, Zerpa got out of the jam with two backward strikeouts to prevent any insurance for Minnesota.

Chris Stratton wasn’t as lucky in the 9th. A single, walk, and groundout put runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out. Stratton got down 3-1 to Edouard Julien before a bizarre wild pitch bounced off home plate umpire Laz Diaz and allowed a run to score, giving Minnesota a 3-1 lead. It sounded as though the pitch hit Julien, but the sound came from the ball hitting Diaz. Correa followed with an infield single to bring in another run, giving the Twins a 4-1 lead.

Griffin Jax shut Kansas City down in the 9th to complete the loss.

Up Next: Royals v. Twins, Saturday, March 30, 3:10 PM CDT, Kauffman Stadium. RHP Seth Lugo (0-0, -.— ERA) v. RHP Joe Ryan (0-0, -.— ERA)