'Great vibes' for KC after walk-off extends winning streak to five

KANSAS CITY -- Down three runs early Tuesday night to the Astros, the Royals clawed their way back, received five scoreless innings from the bullpen, witnessed a run-saving play from their star shortstop and had their veteran captain deliver the walk-off single in a 4-3 win over the Astros in 10 innings.

Count out these Royals? In 2024?

Not so fast.

“The vibes,” Bobby Witt Jr. said, smiling, as music pumped throughout Kauffman Stadium’s home clubhouse, “are great.”

The Royals came back from a three-run deficit just five times last year, fewest in the Majors. In 2022, their first three-run comeback win didn’t happen until September. This year, they have two such wins in consecutive games. And Tuesday extended their winning streak to five games, with Salvador Perez's single to the left-center gap in the bottom of the 10th sealing the series-opening victory.

“Three-nothing, you’re squarely in the game,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “Our guys know that.”

Players have forgotten about the past two years, especially last year’s 106 losses, and they’re urging -- showing -- those watching to follow suit.

“Especially the new guys, [they’ve] come in and said, ‘Last year is completely irrelevant. We’re here to win. This is our team now, and we’re all a part of this together,’” Quatraro said. “... Our guys believe they can do it. They believe in themselves, they believe they can compete with anybody. On some nights, you’re not going to get the hits, and some nights, you are. They just kept at it.”

Starter Cole Ragans kept at it, even with the Astros scattering 10 hits against him in five innings. He needed 96 pitches to navigate the outing -- yet only allowed three runs. Limiting damage against a high-octane offense that was seeing Ragans’ pitches well kept the Royals within reach.

“I thought I made some good pitches that they laid off,” Ragans said. “. … That’s my goal, just keep us in the game. I know at any point they can score two or three runs in an inning, and we’re right back in it.”

The offense kept at it, even after Astros starter Cristian Javier held the Royals scoreless through four innings. Finally in the fifth, their approach yielded results. Adam Frazier led off the frame with a walk and went to second on Hunter Renfroe’s single. Both moved up a base on No. 9 hitter Kyle Isbel’s sacrifice bunt, and Frazier scored moments later on Maikel Garcia’s sacrifice fly -- the first run Javier had given up this season. Garcia had struck out in the first inning on an elevated fastball and saw one again in the fifth.

“I locked in and tried to put the ball in play,” Garcia said. “Get the RBI. That's what matters.”

A couple of hard-hit balls and warning track outs told the Royals they were close to figuring out Javier. Seeing his off-speed stuff better and making the adjustment with his elevated fastball helped as he lost some command of it later on. After Garcia’s sac fly, Witt tripled to bring the Royals within one, and they tied it on Alex Bregman’s throwing error on Vinnie Pasquantino’s grounder to third base.

“Not falling into his game plan,” Witt said. “[Getting] pitches you need to hit, not chase out of his zone. … We’re just trying to be stubborn at the plate. Know our approach, our plan, and stick to it.”

And the bullpen kept at it, with four relievers tossing five scoreless innings. After allowing 14 runs in 15 2/3 innings through the first two series (six games), Kansas City’s ‘pen has pitched 16 1/3 scoreless innings in the past five games. Nick Anderson, Chris Stratton and John Schreiber bridged the gap until James McArthur took over for the ninth and tossed two scoreless innings en route to his first win of ‘24.

Even Witt kept at it. In the seventh inning, he bobbled a hard-hit single from José Abreu and went to the mound during a timeout to say he’ll get the next one.

“That’s the kind of energy we have here right now,” Perez said. “He was ready to go for the next ball.”

In the 10th inning, Witt made the play of the game. With automatic runner Yainer Diaz on second, Jeremy Peña poked a single nearly through the left-side gap – until Witt made a diving stop that held Diaz at third base. McArthur struck out Jake Meyers to end the frame, keep the score tied and put the bat in Perez’s hands.

“Remarkable play,” Quatraro said. “We’ve seen that a lot. He goes to his backhand as well as anybody. His athleticism diving for that ball is incredible.”

Don’t count the Royals out – they won’t let you.