You heard it here folks: Jac Caglianone made his big league debut, and the Royals scored 10 runs. Was he the catalyst? Not really—he was the only player on the team not to get on base, actually, going 0 for 5 with multiple hard hit balls. But maybe his presence inspired the Kansas City bats, as they overcame a five-run deficit to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 10-7.
Bobby Witt Jr. started the scoring in the first inning. After Jonathan India singled to kick off the game, Witt unleashed a violent swing and deposited a baseball over the fence for his seventh home run on the season. Right away, it was 2-0 Royals (or the same amount of runs Kansas City scored on Saturday and Sunday).
Unfortunately for the Royals, starter Michael Lorenzen simply did not have it tonight. While Lorenzen got out of the first inning without allowing any runs, Brendan Donovan’s double portended the events to come.
In the second inning, Alec Burleson singled and Nolan Gorman homered to tie the game at deuces. Things really came apart in the third inning, with a Masyn Winn single, a wild pitch, a Donovan walk, and a Willson Contreras double made it 3-2 Cardinals. Then, Maikel Garcia made an ill-advised throw that bonked off Nolan Arenado and Burleson hit a homer and all of a sudden it was 7-2, Cardinals. Matt Quatraro removed Lorenzen and made it a bullpen game in the third inning, which was not ideal.
Down 7-2, it sure seemed like the Royals would not down and out. But this, as they say, is why they play the game. The offense exploded in the fifth inning, with Nick Loftin hitting his first home run on the year—a solo shot—only hit second career MLB home run.
That would be followed by four consecutive singles by Drew Waters, Kyle Isbel, India, and Witt, after which it would be 7-5. Witt’s full-count single made all of us watching perk up; a two-run deficit is doable.
Vinnie was undeterred by the pressure and ripped a double into the gap, scoring India and Witt to tie the game at 7-7. A Salvador Perez single gave the Royals their go-ahead run, and Maikel Garcia hit a single with the bases loaded in the sixth inning to give the Royals two more runs and propel the scoreboard to show what would end up the final 10-7 score.
Props to the bullpen; with Lorenzen’s early departure, Daniel Lynch IV managed to defuse any further damage in the third. Steven Cruz, Angel Zerpa, John Shcreiber, Taylor Clarke, and Carlos Estevez combined to throw 6.1 scoreless innings. Of course, they were supported by some excellent defense, including a very nice diving Isbel play and this Witt craziness:
How did Jac Caglianone do?
Cags came up to the plate five times and made contact five times. Unfortunately, the BABIP fairy was not his friend. Caglianone hit a gap line drive to deep right-center field in his first plate appearance, but Cardinals center fielder Victor Scott II ran it down to catch it. Otherwise, Cags kept hitting ground balls—two of which came off the bat at 112 MPH, which is just hilarious.
All in all, Cags looked fine, if a little antsy (he swung at the first pitch of his last few plate appearances).
The Royals now stand 33-29, and will continue their series against the Cards tomorrow. As a reminder, your first game to see Caglianone in Kansas City will be this upcoming Tuesday.
