Royals ride pivotal sixth inning to road victory over Guardians

Jaylon Thompson, The Kansas City Star on Aug 29, 2026

Published in Baseball

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Baseball is becoming a matchup-based game. And most teams try to align their lineup to take advantage of key situations.

Kansas City Royals manager Matt Quatraro pushed the correct buttons in Saturday’s 8-3 victory over the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

“There’s just something different every day,” Quatraro told reporters in Cleveland. “When guys are involved and they are all doing something, that makes for a good atmosphere.”

Let’s set the scene:

In the sixth inning, the Royals and Guardians were tied 2-2. And after five standout innings, Cleveland pulled left-handed starter Foster Griffin from the game.

Griffin had allowed two runs. He scattered four hits — including Isaac Collins’ two-run double in the fifth — while tossing 82 pitches. It was his second outing against his former team this season.

Guardians manager Stephen Vogt turned to right-handed reliever Colin Holderman to pitch the sixth inning. And the Royals took advantage.

Holderman allowed four consecutive hits. Bobby Witt Jr. began the sixth frame with a leadoff single. Jac Caglianone followed with a single of his own as Witt raced to third base.

Witt represented the go-ahead run. And moments later, he scored as Salvador Perez hit an RBI double into the left-center-field gap.

The Royals had a 3-2 lead.

Holderman then allowed a single to Nick Loftin that loaded the bases. Then, his defense failed him as Jose Ramirez committed a fielding error as another run scored.

Vogt had seen enough. Two batters later, he turned to left-handed reliever Erik Sabrowski to clean up the mess. Sabrowski was tasked with retiring Josh Rojas — who was pinch-hitting for Tyler Tolbert.

Rojas tagged Sabrowski on the first pitch. A half-swing into left field scored two more runs as the Royals doubled their lead.

“This year has been a matter of trying to get everybody hot at the same time,” Rojas told Royals.TV reporter Joel Goldberg. “It feels like there’s always one guy in the lineup that’s scorching hot and everybody else is trying to find it. I feel like it’s one of those times where everybody is feeling good at the same time.”

The four-run rally was the difference. The Royals took advantage of several bases-loaded opportunities and kept the line moving.

Multiple guys contributed in the frame. And later, Rojas stamped the victory with a two-run homer in the eighth inning to put the game away. It was his second four-RBI game in his major-league career.

“A mistake on the second at-bat and it carried out of here with good spin,” Rojas said.

The Royals (62-75) won the series outright. It was their 12th victory in their last 13 games — dating back to Aug. 16.

The Kansas City offense was the story on Saturday. However, the bullpen also played a pivotal role after left-handed starter Daniel Lynch IV departed after 3 1/3 innings.

“I wasn’t super efficient, and they did a good job fouling a lot of stuff off,” Lynch said postgame. “Some of them were quality pitches and some of them weren’t. I feel like I let those guys hang around a little too long. And even if they didn’t get hits, they drove my pitch count up.

“They did a good job of that earlier. But, you know, I put the team in a good position to win. We won the game, and I’m happy about that for sure.”

Royals relievers retired 14 consecutive batters at one point. Anthony Gose, who was just recalled on the road trip, retired five consecutive batters. Meanwhile, Craig Kimbrel, John Schreiber and Nate Pearson each logged a scoreless inning.

And in the ninth, Alex Lange shut the door to secure the series victory.

Pearson continued his hot stretch as he reached 101 mph with his fastball. Since joining the Royals, he hasn’t allowed a run in 14 of 15 appearances.

“The bullpen was awesome today,” Quatraro said. “Fourteen straight batters retired.”

The Royals now sit 6 1/2 games behind the Guardians in the American League wild-card race. The club also holds a pivotal 5-4 edge in the regular-season series.

“We’re fighting until the last out,” Perez told local reporters.

Cleveland dropped to 68-68. Angel Martinez scored all three runs — including a two-run homer off Lynch in the second inning.

What’s next

Royals right-hander Seth Lugo (6-7, 4.61 ERA) will start Sunday’s finale opposite Guardians left-hander Parker Messick (10-8, 2.50 ERA). First pitch is set for 1:40 p.m. ET.

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