Here’s how the Royals’ 7-game win streak ended. It was an outlier in a few ways
The Kansas City Royals — and their otherworldly starting pitching — crashed back to earth Saturday night.
And that was the biggest reason for a 10-1 home loss to the Boston Red Sox that ended KC’s seven-game winning streak — while also becoming the Royals’ most lopsided defeat of the season.
The biggest shame for the Royals was that this thud came in front of 29,460 rowdy fans on a near-perfect May night, with many coming to check out a team that had won 10 of 11 and 16 of 18 before Saturday.
This time, KC’s pitching just wasn’t the same. Coming in, the Royals had allowed five runs in five games this week. On Saturday, the trend reversed, with KC surrendering 10 runs in nine innings.
“I think it’d be unfair to expect what they had been doing,” Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino said of his team’s starting rotation and pitching, “so just a tough night.”
It would’ve been difficult to see this coming before first pitch. That’s because the Royals had No. 1 starter Cole Ragans on the mound, and he’d looked just fine his last time out, striking out 11 in five shutout innings Monday after missing a start with a groin injury.
He wasn’t as effective in this one. Though he still racked up some strikeouts — getting eight in five innings — Ragans had his appearance unravel in the fifth inning with the score tied 1-1.
With one out, catcher Carlos Narvaez came through with one of Boston’s most important at-bats. He fell behind 0-2, then fouled away three pitches before coaxing a walk from Ragans.
Royals manager Matt Quatraro called Narvaez’s plate appearance the “key to that inning” and “a heckuvan at-bat.”
“If (Ragans) puts him away,” Quatraro said, “that whole inning has a different complexion.”
Instead, the Red Sox got going, with Ragans saying he most regretted his final 3-2 pitch to Narvaez.
“Good at-bat, got ahead and didn’t finish the at-bat,” Ragans said. “Three-2, just tried to do too much and ended up throwing a 40-foot curveball.”
After that, the Red Sox delivered hard contact against Ragans: first a 101 mph Ceddanne Rafaela double, then a 112 mph Jarren Duran single. Rafael Devers (100 mph) and Alex Bregman (98 mph) were next to light up the exit-velocity radar guns with singles that kept the rally going.
Quickly, it was 4-1 Boston, and the Red Sox soon chased Ragans from the game after five innings and 95 pitches.
The good news for KC: Ragans reported no physical issues afterward following his recent groin injury.
“I feel great. Yeah, I feel good,” he said. “Just got to execute a little better.”
According to advanced stats and ERA estimators, Ragans deserved better results than he got.
Though he allowed four earned runs in five innings, the Red Sox hit .538 on balls in play against him — a number much higher than the .347 Ragans had allowed coming in.
Four of those hits were bunched in the fifth, as well, which maximized damage even when the Royals starter didn’t allow a homer.
“I thought Ragans did great tonight,” Royals outfielder Mark Canha said. “Just a couple balls, a couple plays didn’t go his way, and they capitalized. But, he’s right there.”
Quatraro agreed with that general sentiment, saying Ragans’ “stuff was good” before the long fifth inning.
“Felt like I made some good pitches that got hit. Also made some bad pitches that got hit,” Ragans said. “Just felt like I didn’t put guys away or get ahead there towards the end.”
One outlier stat: The Red Sox left-handed batters went 5-for-7 against Ragans on Saturday, with three of those hits coming from Devers. Before Saturday, the league’s lefties had gone just 5-for-32 against Ragans in his first seven starts.
The three-run lead was more than enough for Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet, who saved the team’s beleaguered bullpen by going seven innings while allowing one run with nine strikeouts.
“He had it tonight. He’s an ace for a reason,” Pasquantino said. “ ... I thought we fought against him, but it wasn’t enough.”
As strange as it sounds, KC’s starting rotation allowing any runs was not something the team was used to seeing lately. When Devers doubled with two outs in the third inning to score Duran and make the score 1-0, it ended a 22 2/3-inning scoreless streak for the Royals’ starting pitchers.
The 5,000-foot view after this one still points to a Royals team in the midst of an excellent stretch. The Royals’ 16-3 mark since Easter remains best in the majors, while their 24-17 overall record is tied for their second-best start through 41 games in the last 20 seasons.
Bobby Witt Jr. was the catalyst for the Royals’ only run in the third. He connected on a one-out single, stole second, moved to third on a balk, then scored when Canha’s blooper plopped out of Boston second baseman Kristian Campbell’s glove when he stabbed for a backhanded attempt in short right.
Next up: The Royals complete their three-game home series against the Red Sox with a game set for 1:10 p.m. Sunday. KC’s Seth Lugo is scheduled to go against Boston right-hander Lucas Giolito.
This story was originally published May 10, 2025 at 8:56 PM with the headline "Here’s how the Royals’ 7-game win streak ended. It was an outlier in a few ways."
