Bobby Witt Jr. injury sours Royals' 14-6 rout of Cardinals

Jaylon Thompson, The Kansas City Star on Jun 18, 2026

Published in Baseball

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals finally got their long-awaited big inning against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night at Kauffman Stadium.

It was a bittersweet feeling, however.

The Royals pummeled the Cardinals, 14-6, to win the first game of this weekend’s Interstate 70 series. Yet, it came with unfortunate news as KC star Bobby Witt Jr. exited early with what the Royals termed right-knee discomfort.

In the fourth inning, Witt attempted to make a sliding grab on his knees on the infield dirt. As he went to corral the baseball, Witt extended his right knee. There was a noticeable grimace as he got up and hobbled around in pain.

Witt was checked by the Royals’ training staff and finished the inning. As he returned to the dugout, manager Matt Quatraro subbed him out of the game and inserted Tyler Tolbert at shortstop for the rest of the night.

After Witt departed, the Royals continued to pile on runs against the Cardinals’ pitching staff. It turned out to be a historic night as Salvador Perez surpassed Hall of Famer George Brett for the most home runs at The K.

Perez belted his 137th career homer at the Royals’ home venue in the sixth inning. He hit an 83.1-mph sweeper off rookie pitcher Max Rajcic — who was making his MLB debut — over the left-field wall.

Now, Perez sits just five homers shy of breaking Brett’s all-time franchise mark for home runs as a Royal. Brett hit 317 in his career and Perez continues to inch closer.

The Royals (31-45) pounded out 17 hits in the victory. They recorded five doubles in the second inning off Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore. He was chased from the game after allowing seven early runs.

Before departing, Witt hit his 10th home run of the year in the first inning. But the Royals produced an avalanche of offense, with every starter getting into the act. There were RBIs up and down the board as multiple players had extra-base hits.

Carter Jensen and Nick Loftin hit two doubles apiece. Jac Caglianone barreled his ninth homer in the fourth inning. The quality of at-bats was apparent as the Royals won their second game in a row.

St. Louis (40-33) grabbed an early lead against Royals starter Noah Cameron. He surrendered four earned runs but pitched with a nice cushion. The St. Joseph native threw 108 pitches in five innings.

Cameron didn’t have his best command, but he did enough to earn the victory, improving to 4-4. He recorded 49 swings and 14 whiffs, per Baseball Savant.

Cameron pitched a shutdown inning in the second, striking out Cardinals designated hitter Ivan Herrera on four pitches. That was an important out, as it kept the Royals’ deficit to just one run. KC bats put up six runs in the bottom half of the frame.

Liberatore took the loss. He missed in the strike zone and the Royals took advantage with hard contact. It was the left-hander’s fourth loss of the season.

The Royals will attempt to win the series outright Friday night. Right-hander Seth Lugo is expected to return from the seven-day concussion list and make the start on the mound for KC.

What’s next?

Royals All-Star Seth Lugo (2-4, 3.86 ERA) will oppose Cardinals right-hander Michael McGreevy (3-5, 2.99 ERA) on Friday. First pitch is set for 7:15 p.m. Central Time at Kauffman Stadium.