The Kansas City Royals' rise from the depths of mediocrity last year to one of the best teams in Major League Baseball came to an end Thursday night after a 3-1 loss to the New York Yankees in Game 4 of the American League Division Series. The Royals lost the series 3 games to 1.
While disappointed their postseason was over, players said Royals baseball has turned a corner and fans should now expect winning teams.
“For Kansas City Royals baseball, this is what we want. This is what we want year to year," shortstop Bobby Witt, Jr., the American League batting champion, said after the game. "We’re in the postseason and it’s how far we’re going to go. It’s not how we’re going to get there, it’s how far we’re going to go.”
First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino agreed.
“There’s a lot to be proud of regardless of how we’re going to feel tonight after that game,” he said. “We’ve now, in our heads, put ourselves in a spot where we expect to be playing in October every single year.”
The game felt out of reach for the Royals from the start.
Just two minutes and two batters into the game, the Royals were down 1-0 after Gleyber Torres doubled and Juan Soto hit an RBI single.
Royals' starting pitcher Michael Wacha then settled down, but only for a couple of innings.
The Yankees chased him in the top of the fifth, when Alex Verdugo scored after Torres singled on a sharp line drive to right field.
Royals manager Matt Quatraro — with his back against the wall and looking at a potential big Yankee inning — brought in closer Lucas Erceg, who is usually saved for the ninth. Erceg got the Royals out of the inning and returned in the sixth, but gave up a double to Aaron Judge — his only extra-base hit of the series — who scored the Yank's third run on a single by designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton.
Maikel Garcia led off the Royals' half of the sixth with a single to right but was erased from the base paths when Michael Massey hit into a force-out, tag-out double play. Garcia and Yankee shortstop Anthony Volpe tussled after a hard tag, briefly clearing both benches.
"I was on deck and didn't see what happened," said Pasquantino. "I wasn't sure what to do. I've never been in anything like that at any level."
Witt then singled and scored on a Pasquantino double for the Royals' only run.
Yankee starting pitcher Gerrit Cole delivered seven sharp innings.
The crowd enjoyed the 0-for-3 night of Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., who earned their boos with his comment after game two that the Royals had been lucky with their win in New York.
Kansas City fans were disappointed but supportive.
"We had a good season and I appreciate that but it still breaks your heart when you lose and you get this close," said Katie Smith of Kansas City, who came to the game with her boyfriend Pablo Clark. Smith said she's been a fan for 18 years after moving here from Cleveland.
Twenty-three-year-old Dawson Taylor made the trip from Edwardsville, Illinois, with his dad to see this game and said he was pretty happy with the season.
"I’d give it a solid nine out of ten. We made the playoffs. We made some strides in the division. The division itself is getting a lot better so we gotta keep on improving with the Tigers and the Guardians,” he said.