Snakebitten Royals fall to Arizona after ninth-inning rally

Royals fail to capitalize after Red Sox and Yankees both lose.

The Royals fell just short on Wednesday, following a ninth-inning collapse by James McArthur. After the Red Sox were bludgeoned in Colorado and the Yankees dropped one to the Mets, but the Royals couldn’t capitalize.

Bobby Witt Jr. walked in his first at-bat in the first inning. Otherwise, it was a relatively quiet first inning. That changed in the second inning when third baseman Eugenio Suárez hit his 12th home run of the year off of the starter for this one, Michael Wacha. The Kansas City offense clapped back quickly in the bottom half of the inning. Freddy Fermin singled with one out and was quickly brought home on a Drew Waters double the next at-bat.

The score remained tied at one until the top of the fourth when the Diamondbacks again found success against Wacha. Joc Pederson homered and Christian Walker followed that up with his 23rd shot of the year. The Diamondbacks went back-to-back to widen their lead to two runs. However, just as they did in the second, the Kansas City offense was quick to strike back and tie the game.

Michael Massey opened the inning with a double before Drew Waters walked with one out in the inning. Maikel Garcia came to the plate with two on and one out. He grounded out to the second baseman, but it was enough to score Massey who had advanced to third on a wild pitch. Immediately after, Kyle Isbel came to the plate and tied the game with a clutch triple to left field.

Isbel has become a key offensive contributor of late. Entering the day, he was slashing .273/.330/.466 with a .166 ISO since June 1. With the score 3-3, Isbel made his way home on the second wild pitch of the night to give the Royals a one-run lead. Michael Wacha never quite settled in, and immediately found himself in trouble to open the fifth inning. Wacha gave up a leadoff double to Geraldo Perdomo. He was moved to third on a sacrifice the next at-bat. Wacha was able to get Corbin Carroll to ground out to first, creating a two-out situation with a man on third. The Royals intentionally walked Ketel Marte to bring Joc Pederson to the plate.

That would end the night for Wacha, who finished the day allowing three earned runs across 4.2 innings. He worked around six hits with only one strikeout in what clearly wasn’t his sharpest performance. Still, he did enough to give the team a chance to win. In relief of Wacha, Angel Zerpa entered from the pen and got a groundout on the very first pitch to end the inning unscathed.

Bobby Witt Jr. singled in the home half of the fifth to give himself his 11th multi-hit game in July.

Zerpa was fantastic, returning for the sixth and exiting his outing without allowing a baserunner. Sam Long entered the game for the seventh and was perfect as well. He struck out one and didn’t allow a base runner. Hunter Harvey got the eighth and was a little less perfect. He worked around two base runners in the inning. Corbin Carroll was hit by a pitch to open the inning. He swiftly stole second base to put the tying run in scoring position. Carroll moved to third on a ground out, bringing Joc Pederson to the plate.

Kansas City intentionally walked Pederson with a man on third and once again, it worked. Christian Walker flew out to right, but not deep enough to score Carroll from third. Then Harvey escaped the inning unscathed thanks to a Jake McCarthy groundout. The Diamondbacks bullpen pitched well across two innings. They held the Royals lineup without a hit, giving Arizona a chance to get back in the game heading into the ninth inning.

In the ninth, Kansas City turned to James McArthur. McArthur struck out Eugenio Suárez to open the frame but allowed a single to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Things got dicier still after Geraldo Perdomo walked to put the tying run in scoring position. Gabriel Moreno lined a ball to right center. The hit would’ve scored Gurriel regardless, but Perdomo scored from first as well after Hunter Renfroe failed to cut the ball off in the alley. It was the first hit of the night with runners in scoring position, and it was a big one.

The next batter lined a ball sharply up the middle, but Garrett Hampson kept the ball on the infield (without a throw). With runners on the corners and one out, pitching coach Brian Sweeney visited the mound to talk with his struggling reliever. From there, Ketel Marte deflated the crowd with a massive three-run shot to center field. McArthur closed out the inning, but the damage was done with Arizona now leading 8-3.

Paul Sewald entered for the ninth in a non-save situation. Maikel Garcia led off the inning with a soft single to right-center. Kyle Isbel popped out into foul territory, and Garrett Hampson lined out to the shortstop. The shortstop tried his best to fake the ball falling out of his glove, but the umpire noticed, ruling a catch to prevent the game-ending double play. That gave Bobby Witt Jr. a chance, and he turned in his fifth three-hit night in his last six games. A single to right moved Garcia to third, and Bobby stole second base to move two runners into scoring position for Vinnie Pasquantino with two outs.

Vinnie pounced on a middle fastball with a full count and slapped it up the middle to score two runs. Salvador Perez got a chance and pulled a hanger deep to left field, but just missed it, ending the game on a flyout. The Royals have an off day on Thursday, then open a three-game set against the Cubs on Friday. Brady Singer is the scheduled starter for Kansas City, with Kyle Hendricks going for Chicago.

The team record now sits at 56-47.