Royals’ playoff hopes take another hit after Tuesday’s shutout loss to Guardians
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- Royals' playoff hopes dim after 2-0 shutout loss to Guardians on Tuesday.
- Noah Cameron allowed two runs with eight strikeouts in seven strong innings.
- KC offense sputtered again as Joey Cantillo pitched 8 1/3 scoreless innings.
The Kansas City Royals are running short on time. With 17 games remaining, the Royals are banged up and fighting for their playoff lives.
Three starters are currently on the injured list. Meanwhile, the Royals’ offense continues to sputter against quality pitchers. On Tuesday, the Royals were dealt another blow to their dwindling postseason chances.
The Royals lost 2-0 to the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Despite a quality start from left-handed rookie Noah Cameron, the Royals struggled to score for the second consecutive night.
“We have to try to focus on tomorrow and try to compete more and be aggressive,” Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia said.
Guardians starter Joey Cantillo tossed a career-high eight shutout innings. He allowed four hits and struck out five batters. The Royals made solid contact, but the Guardians made the defensive plays in the field.
Cantillo navigated the Royals’ lineup by staying around the strike zone. The Royals couldn’t string together multiple hits as Cantillo got better later in his start.
“He threw every first pitch strike,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “You know, he was ahead and then worked off of that. He got the ball to the top of the zone when he wanted to. He was just far more aggressive.
He retired three of his last six batters via strikeouts. Jonathan India, who returned from the 10-day injured list, recorded two of the Royals’ hits.
The Royals wasted a strong effort from Cameron. He allowed two runs and recorded eight strikeouts in seven innings. Cameron was sharp with his command — 75 of 100 pitches were strikes — as he kept the Royals in the game.
“My velo was good and my command was good,” Cameron said. “The slider was really big for us tonight. So you know, we did our job and kept us in it.”
It was a rebound effort after he allowed nine earned runs in his previous two starts. Cameron had an even distribution of his pitches while registering 56 swings and 16 whiffs.
The Guardians tagged him for two early runs. Cleveland star Jose Ramirez belted his 28th home run in the first inning. Later, he doubled and scored as designated hitter David Fry drove him home.
“He’s a Hall of Famer, right, and he is super good,” Cameron said of Ramirez. “Just couldn’t figure him out tonight. You know, the first inning, I threw a really good fastball. I thought, doesn’t have a lot of slug in there, kind of on the corner, and he turned on it. ... Just a tough at-bat, he beat us tonight for sure.”
Ramirez came a triple shy of the cycle in guiding the Guardians (74-70) to their fifth consecutive win.
The Royals (73-72) fell further behind in the American League Wild Card standings. KC dropped another half-game behind the Seattle Mariners (76-68) and is now further behind the Guardians and Texas Rangers (75-70).
“We’ve lost two games in a row before and it’s a four-game series,” Quatraro said. “We have every opportunity to right the ship tomorrow. So, I have no doubt these guys are going to be ready to compete.”
Noah Cameron carries pitching load
The Royals are asking a lot of Cameron down the stretch. He has pitched well during his rookie campaign and will take on more responsibilities in the short term.
At the moment, the Royals are without Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha due to various injuries. Wacha was placed on the seven-day concussion injured list Tuesday and will receive further evaluation in Kansas City.
“Happy that I went deep,” Cameron said. “That’s obviously my goal, you know, every single game. With (Wacha) going down, it hurts and we will see what happens.”
Ragans still needs one more rehab start on Friday, and Lugo is back throwing after dealing with low back tightness.
Cameron is lined up to pitch again Sunday against the Philadelphia Phillies.
His performance was enough to give the Royals a chance at victory. Now, the club will likely need him even more with the starting rotation in flux.
“I think just fighting for the team and competing. I think that’s kind of what it comes down to,” Cameron said of his mentality. “... It’s just competing and trying to keep us in the game there.”
What’s next: The Royals continue their four-game series against the Guardians. KC will start right-handed reliever Jonathan Bowlan on Wednesday after Wacha was penciled in to start. The Guardians will start left-hander Logan Allen (7-11, 4.46 ERA) at Progressive Field.
This story was originally published September 9, 2025 at 8:20 PM with the headline "Royals’ playoff hopes take another hit after Tuesday’s shutout loss to Guardians."
