The Royals are emphatically back, wallop Guardians 10-3

Four different Royals went deep in an all-around effort

The Royals returned home on Monday having just lost five of six games to a couple of underperforming AL West teams and faced a must-win series against the Marlins. They took two of three of those games, but it wasn’t until the eighth inning of the third game that they looked like the version of the Royals that won so many games earlier this season.

Two weeks ago, before that awful road trip, fans looked at this series against the Guardians that started last night as an opportunity to prove that the Royals deserved to be in playoff contention and might come for the division crown. They managed to squeak out a win in that first game despite only scoring two thanks to vintage-early season performances from Brady Singer, James McArthur, John Schreiber, and one of the gutsiest relief outings we’ve seen all year from journeyman Sam Long.

Tonight, the Royals offense finally woke up for a full game for the first time in weeks. Alec Marsh continued to cement his status as a mid-backend rotation starter, and the bullpen did enough to bring it home.

Marsh’s start will probably get lost in the offensive outburst, so let’s go ahead and talk about it first. Facing a dangerous Guardians lineup, and having completely imploded in one game during that awful stretch against the Athletics, Marsh managed to get the first two outs before giving up a solo home run to Jose Ramírez. Ramírez will always get his, but since it was in the first inning, you had to wonder which version of Marsh the Royals would get tonight. Over the remainder of the game, he gave up only three more singles, two walks, and struck out a total of five before leaving after the sixth inning. That line might not seem as impressive as some others we’ve seen this season from what has truly been an excellent starting rotation, but it was very good and kept the Royals from feeling any panic as the game proceeded.

The lineup, meanwhile, decided to have themselves a night. After a stretch of four games in which the team did not have a single player collect more than one hit in a game, six different Royals hitters had a pair of hits tonight. Nick Loftin and Freddy Fermin both went hitless, but Loftin managed two walks and Fermin added a sacrifice fly to ensure every starter had at least one productive at-bat.

The Royals got the scoring started in the bottom of the second against Cleveland starter Triston McKenzie. Salvador Perez led off with a loud home run to left, his 13th of the season to tie the game. Hunter Renfroe, newly promoted to the five-hole because he didn’t miss a beat after returning from the injured list, immediately followed up by whacking the first pitch he saw over the fence in the right field corner to put the Royals in front.

They would not look back.

In the bottom of the third, the Royals decided to prove they could score runs without homers, too. Maikel Garcia, who had a terrific night, singled and stole second before Bobby Witt Jr. was intentionally walked to get to Vinnie Pasquantino. Vinnie ripped a single through the right side of the infield to drive in a run. Then Salvy came back to the plate and did that ridiculous thing he does where he reached out to a slider a foot outside the zone and looped it over the shortstop’s head for another run. McKenzie walked Renfroe and that was it for him.

MJ Melendez hit a hot shot to the poor Cleveland shortstop that ate him up and allowed Vinnie to score and everyone else was safe. It was ruled an RBI infield single. Sadly, Loftin grounded into an inning-ending double play. Still, the Royals had a 5-1 lead and Marsh was working.

Kyle Isbel added a home run in the bottom of the fourth.

After Marsh left the game, the Royals called upon some of their less reliable relievers to hold things down. Chris Stratton allowed an unearned run and Nick Anderson allowed a run each in an inning. Carlos Hernández shut the door in the ninth.

The Royals hitters, seeing their lead trimmed down to just four, went back to work in the bottom of the eighth. Isbel added another single but was thrown out when he slid past second on a stolen base attempt. Maikel Garcia immediately thumped a double and stole third before Witt took his second walk of the night. Bobby stole second and then Vinnie made all that base stealing look silly.

The Royals batters walked eight times and struck out only four times. Their pitchers struck out ten while walking only two - Stratton and Hernández each struck out a pair. Each Guardians pitcher gave up at least one home run, including Pedro Avila, who hadn’t given up a run since May 24.

Suddenly, the woebegone Royals have won four of their last five and gained a pair of games on the division-leading Guardians. As of this writing, the Twins are still playing so it’s unclear if the Royals will make up any ground on them, tonight.

The bullpen looks functional, if not elite. The rotation never stopped pitching well. The last thing the Royals needed to come together for another nice long winning streak was the lineup. Tonight they looked the part.

The Royals have now guaranteed a split with the Guardians and have their two best starting pitchers going each of the next two days. When this homestand started, many might have been fearing a sweep at the hands of Cleveland, but now the Royals have a real chance to win this series before hosting the Rays next week in their final home series before the All-Star Break.

Yes, the Royals continue to hold on to a playoff spot as they approach the All-Star Break. Absolutely, wild stuff.

Cole Ragans will go for the Royals tomorrow; the Guardians will counter with their own ace - at least for 2024, with Shane Bieber out - Tanner Bibee. The game will start at 3:10 Royals time and feature the official induction of outfielder Bo Jackson into the Royals Hall of Fame before the game.