'Aggressive mistakes' spoil Royals' comeback attempt on Opening Day
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KANSAS CITY -- The Royals¡¯ relentless mindset late in games that led to so many rallies in 2024 seemed to have carried over to 2025, and for Opening Day dramatics, Kauffman Stadium certainly brought it on Thursday.
The result did not go so much in the Royals¡¯ favor.
Kansas City dropped its Opening Day matchup against Cleveland, 7-4, in 10 innings on Thursday, leading to the Royals¡¯ third consecutive season-opening loss. This one came in front of a sold-out crowd of 39,393 at The K.
¡°I think it¡¯s overreactions all over the place, from [the media], from us,¡± designated hitter Vinnie Pasquantino said after helping the Royals to a lead in the third inning with a three-run home run. ¡°... Opening Day¡¯s always special. It¡¯s something you think about as a kid growing up. Haven¡¯t been able to win one yet. But there¡¯s always next year. And good thing is, there¡¯s always Saturday for the next game we get to play.
¡°Kansas City showed out for us today. Now we¡¯ve got to do a better job of showing out for them.¡±
In terms of moments the Royals would like to have back, there were several. Cole Ragans, making his second consecutive Opening Day start, felt his mechanics start to wane in the middle innings of his five-plus inning outing, leading to poor command. In the fourth, Kyle Manzardo took advantage of a two-strike slider on the plate, pulled it into the right-field corner and made it all the way to third for a triple as right fielder Hunter Renfroe chased the ball that ricocheted off the wall.
When manager Matt Quatraro turned the game over to his bullpen for the first time in 2025, going to reliever Angel Zerpa for the left-on-left matchup against Manzardo in the sixth inning, the Royals¡¯ lead disappeared on the very first pitch for a two-run blast.
¡°We felt really good about that matchup,¡± Quatraro said. ¡°Sometimes you got to tip your cap. We¡¯ll take our chances with that every day of the week.¡±
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After Pasquantino¡¯s home run in the third inning, the Royals did not have a batter reach base again until the eighth.
But no moment stood out more than a baserunning blunder. Not even the speedy Royals could outrun this one.
Trailing by a run in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Royals had pinch-runner Dairon Blanco on third base and Kyle Isbel on first base with nobody out. Jonathan India bounced a grounder to third baseman Jos¨¦ Ram¨ªrez, and Blanco broke toward home on contact.
That led to a rundown between Blanco, Ram¨ªrez and Guardians catcher Bo Naylor. Isbel, as the trail runner, got to second, but then was looking to get to third, too.
Instead, he was the second out of a double play.
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Ram¨ªrez tagged Blanco, then threw to shortstop Brayan Rocchio to tag Isbel out halfway between second and third base.
¡°Blanco, in retrospect, he should just keep going so they only get the one out,¡± Quatraro said. ¡°... They executed there as well. There are a lot of things in retrospect we could have done differently.¡±
¡°Blanco¡¯s one of the fastest guys in the game,¡± Isbel added. ¡°When he starts breaking toward home plate, I didn¡¯t expect Jos¨¦ Ram¨ªrez to catch him. It¡¯s my job to get to third base, less than two outs.
¡°I misjudged it a little bit. If he takes two more steps, I¡¯m going to be safe at third base.¡±
The Royals are aiming to be even more aggressive on the bases this year. The way their roster is constructed, and in their home ballpark, they don¡¯t have enough power to not be aggressive on the bases.
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But they also don¡¯t have enough power to make those baserunning mistakes.
¡°I¡¯ve seen that play work 1,000 times,¡± Isbel said. ¡°It didn¡¯t go right today. ¡ I could have waited a little longer. You live and learn. I¡¯m going to keep making aggressive mistakes.¡±
The Royals rallied in the ninth and tied the game off Emmanuel Clase. But after Quatraro deployed his highest-leverage arms in the seventh (Lucas Erceg), eighth (Hunter Harvey) and ninth (Carlos Est¨¦vez) -- which all worked out, by the way -- the 10th belonged to lefty Sam Long. Two lefties hurt him with doubles from Steven Kwan and Manzardo, who again pummeled a two-strike slider.
The silver lining of an Opening Day loss is that the Royals have plenty of time to correct the blunders seen Thursday.
¡°We¡¯ve got 161 more of these things guaranteed,¡± Pasquantino said.