KANSAS CITY -- The first Bobby Witt Jr. blast of the 2025 season is in the books, a 399-foot scorcher to left field. The only problem was it barely dug the Royals out of the hole they found themselves in Saturday afternoon.
A four-run sixth inning in which the Orioles batted around against starter Michael Wacha and reliever Sam Long overwhelmed Kansas City in its eventual 8-1 loss against Baltimore at Kauffman Stadium, evening the series ahead of Sunday¡¯s finale.
Down 2-0 in the sixth inning, Wacha was one out away from a quality start, but back-to-back singles caused manager Matt Quatraro to turn to Long for a left-on-left matchup against O¡¯s left fielder Heston Kjerstad.
Quatraro also had lefties Angel Zerpa and Daniel Lynch IV available Saturday but preferred the matchup with Long. Zerpa has allowed two runs on six hits in 2 2/3 innings this year, while Lynch pitched a scoreless ninth inning Saturday to extend his scoreless-innings streak to 26 2/3 dating back to last Aug. 26.
¡°We¡¯re down 2-0, I¡¯m looking for Sam to go one-plus right there most likely,¡± Quatraro said. ¡°Clearly, [it] didn¡¯t work out that way, but there were a lot of factors involved.¡±
On the first pitch Long threw, Kjerstad poked the slider on the outside part of the zone into center field.
¡°That¡¯s exactly where I wanted it,¡± Long said. ¡°First pitch, runners in scoring position, I¡¯m not going to feed him a fastball. Maybe I could do a curveball. But I felt like my best chance to go 0-1 is to execute a slider down and away. He got it off the end of the bat.¡±
By the end of the inning, Long had allowed both inherited runners to score -- giving Wacha four earned runs in 5 2/3 innings -- and two more runs.
¡°I never like coming out of games or anything like that, but we¡¯ve got a ton of studs out there in the ¡®pen that we feel comfortable handing the ball over to,¡± Wacha said. ¡°I know those guys don¡¯t like giving up our runs.¡±
It took Long 25 pitches to finally get the out he was looking for: The left-handed hitting Gunnar Henderson struck out looking -- on an outside slider nearly in the same spot as the one Kjerstad hit.
A year after posting a 3.16 ERA and helping the Royals to the postseason by emerging as a high-leverage lefty option, Long has allowed eight runs (six earned) in 4 1/3 innings in 2025. Eight of the nine hits he¡¯s allowed have been to left-handed batters.
Long¡¯s sinker, a pitch he worked on in Spring Training, might help, especially inside to lefties.
¡°I need to make them more uncomfortable,¡± Long said. ¡°I think they¡¯re expecting my pitches to move away from them. ¡ I should not be having as many issues with lefties as I am right now.¡±
To be sure, Long has found himself in some tough-luck scenarios -- and tough situations with inherited runners in high leverage. Even on Saturday, Ram¨®n Ur¨ªas chopped a ball back to Long that hit his glove and sliced away for a single. Jackson Holliday¡¯s slow-rolling ball found a hole through the infield for two runs.
But Long didn¡¯t help himself by walking Gary S¨¢nchez or throwing a wild pitch that advanced runners for Ur¨ªas.
¡°Runs are runs,¡± Long said, and he¡¯s allowing a lot more than he¡¯d like. Much like the Royals are preaching patience with their offense -- which mustered just five hits and left seven on base Saturday -- Quatraro isn¡¯t giving up on Long.
¡°We have a lot of faith in Sammy, righties and lefties,¡± Quatraro said. ¡°He¡¯s in a little bit of a funk right now results-wise, but throwing the ball fine.¡±
No stranger to adversity as a pitcher who has been released before, taken EMT classes as he thought about a new career and made a comeback to the Major Leagues before helping the Royals in the postseason last year, Long knows how to take on a challenge.
¡°I¡¯m not going to stop working,¡± Long said. ¡°That¡¯s not who I am. The results have been very frustrating to begin the year. You want to start off the year a little stronger. It¡¯s going to knock you down, but it¡¯s about how you get up and respond.
¡°The guys have my back in this room, and we¡¯re all pulling in the same direction. We all want the same thing. So when you feel like you¡¯re the guy that¡¯s the one not getting the job done, it¡¯s a crappy feeling, but it¡¯s only going to make me work harder.¡±