Red Sox’s walk-off grand slam spoils another excellent start for Royals’ Cole Ragans
Cole Ragans continues to write a new chapter with the Kansas City Royals. On Monday, Ragans struck out 11 batters in 6 2/3 innings against the Boston Red Sox.
The only thing he didn’t get? The win, as the Red Sox spoiled his start with a walk-off grand slam at Fenway Park.
Ragans has shined since being acquired from the Texas Rangers in the Aroldis Chapman trade. The Royals favored his long-term potential and he has exceeded expectations in recent starts.
“He’s got great stuff,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “He’s got tremendous poise and he works quickly. He throws strikes and got a ton of swing and miss.”
The Red Sox were limited to just four hits and two runs (one earned) in his outing. Ragans threw 104 pitches and mixed in a five-pitch arsenal. He generated 18 whiffs and 17 called strikes on the night.
Ragans kept the damage to a minimum. He surrendered a sacrifice fly to Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida in the second inning. Later, Red Sox duo Pablo Reyes and Connor Wong hit consecutive doubles to score the only other run he allowed.
“I felt we mixed everything pretty well where they couldn’t just sit on one thing or one area,” Ragans said. “We kind of mixed everything all over the plate.”
The fireworks came later.
In the ninth inning, facing Carlos Hernandez, Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers hit a ground-rule double to get in scoring position. After two walks, one intentional, Reyes hit a walk-off grand slam to propel the Red Sox to the win and a 58-54 record.
The Royals weren’t happy with the result.
KC took issue with a preceding call from first base umpire Vic Carapazza . He ruled that Red Sox second baseman Luis Urias didn’t go around on a checked swing. The call would’ve sent the game to extra-innings. Instead, Urias was awarded a walk and Reyes ended the game with the grand slam.
“Well, obviously, I thought he went,” Quatraro said. Vic makes the call. He has the better angle, but I obviously disagreed with that.”
Quatraro was ejected for the second time on the road trip.
On the other side of things, the Royals found late success against Red Sox starter Brayan Bello. Royals designated hitter MJ Melendez went 3 for 4 with three singles. Meanwhile, Royals infielders Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia collected RBIs.
As for Ragans, in three starts with KC he owns a 1.02 ERA, surrendering three runs in 17 2/3 innings.
KC dropped to 36-78 with the loss, having dropped three straight since a seven-game win streak.
Here are more notables from Monday’s game:
Royals fail to cash in early
The Royals had their chances Monday night.
In the fifth inning, Royals outfielder Drew Waters recorded a leadoff double to represent the tying run. It was the Royals’ first extra-base hit as the offense struggled to find success against Bello.
Later, Waters attempted to steal third base. He appeared to beat the throw from Wong but was called out by third base umpire Adam Hamari.
The Royals challenged the call. After an official review, it was deemed Waters beat the throw and was ruled safe.
Next, Royals left fielder Dairon Blanco, who was involved in a controversial sequence on Saturday, drew a walk to set up a prime scoring opportunity. KC had runners on the corners with no outs.
However, the Royals couldn’t take advantage of the situation. Outfielder Kyle Isbel failed to advance the runners and third baseman Maikel Garcia hit into a double play to end the inning.
The Red Sox avoided trouble. Wong hit an RBI double to extend their lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the frame.
Bobby Witt Jr. records 20th double
Witt continued his hot streak against the Red Sox. In the seventh inning, Witt hit an RBI double that scored Garcia from first base.
He drilled a 97.9 mph sinker from Red Sox reliever Josh Winckowski into the center-field gap as the Royals tied the game. Witt has now totaled 20 doubles, 20 homers and 32 steals this season.
He is also tied for the MLB lead with seven triples.
In his last 14 games, Witt is hitting .414 with four home runs and 17 RBIs. He also has produced eight multi-hit efforts in that span.
What’s next: The Royals continue their four-game series against the Red Sox. Brady Singer will face Kutter Crawford on Tuesday night.
This story was originally published August 7, 2023 at 9:21 PM with the headline "Red Sox’s walk-off grand slam spoils another excellent start for Royals’ Cole Ragans ."
