Noah Cameron continues hot stretch as Royals fall in extra innings to Diamondbacks

Jaylon Thompson, The Kansas City Star on Sep 7, 2026

Published in Baseball

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As the Kansas City Royals evaluate their 2027 pitching options, it’s becoming clear that left-hander Noah Cameron should have a guaranteed spot.

Cameron has pitched with conviction since calling his own pitches. And if the Royals needed more convincing after his American League Pitcher of the Month honors, Cameron cemented his case against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

On Monday, Cameron tossed six scoreless innings in the Royals’ 5-4 loss at Kauffman Stadium. He allowed three hits, issued two walks and recorded seven strikeouts. However, the Royals allowed five runs in extra innings to drop to 64-81 this season.

“I mean, the first nine innings were one game, and the 10th was another game,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “Pitching on both sides was really good. We didn’t have many opportunities.”

Cameron did his part earlier in the game. His dominance helped stymie the Diamondbacks and create some ugly swings. In the third inning, Cameron struck out the side and generated a ton of weak contact.

He also was on the attack with 66 of 99 pitches registering as strikes.

“Obviously, swings and misses are great for us,” Cameron said. “You know, when you make somebody look funny, it happens and it’s a good feeling for sure. I think it’s a lot of things. I think it’s pitch mix, keeping guys off balance to not really know what’s coming.”

Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks didn’t have many scoring opportunities. In the second, Nolan Arenado got aboard with a leadoff single, but Cameron quickly erased the potential rally. He got Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to ground into a double play before retiring Tim Tawa with a strikeout to end the inning.

Cameron recorded 14 called strikes and 12 whiffs, per Baseball Savant. He evenly distributed his pitching arsenal — relying more on his cutter and changeup — against the Diamondbacks right-handed lineup.

Cameron generated 6 of 9 first-pitch strikes with the cutter. It was enough to earn a quality start — his 11th this season.

“Obviously don’t mind throwing to righties,” Cameron said. “It allows me to use my cutter a little bit more, and yeah, it’s kind of what we did today.”

However, Cameron ended up with a no decision. The Royals were held scoreless by an array of bullpen arms. Diamondbacks righty Derek Law tossed two innings before handing over to Jose Cabrera, Taylor Clarke, Brandyn Garcia and Justin Martinez in relief.

The relief group did their job Monday afternoon. The Royals failed to take advantage of a few scoring opportunities throughout the contest.

In the fifth inning, the Royals had runners on first and third with one out. However, Kyle Isbel failed to get down a sacrifice bunt as the go-ahead run was left stranded.

After Carter Jensen walked to load the bases, Bobby Witt Jr. flew out to end the threat as the game remained tied.

“We had a chance when we attempted the safety squeeze, and we didn’t get that down,” Quatraro said.

A similar scenario played out in the sixth. This time, Vinnie Pasquantino hit a leadoff single and advanced to second on a fielding error. He wouldn’t advance further as Salvador Perez struck out while Michael Massey and Nick Loftin were retired in order.

Loftin redeemed himself defensively. In the ninth, he made a stellar grab to begin an unassisted double play. He snared a line drive from Nolan Arenado and tagged third base to double up Ketel Marte.

“Really didn’t even see it because it was hit so dang hard,” Loftin said. “But just getting the two outs right there was massive. I know we were playing in to cut down on a run there. It happened so fast, honestly, I just kind of blacked out after that.”

This allowed Royals reliever Steven Cruz to escape the inning. After allowing two hits, he struck out Corbin Carroll to keep the game scoreless.

Things changed quickly in extra innings. The Diamondbacks (77-68) scored five runs against Royals veteran reliever Craig Kimbrel in the 10th frame.

“I got beat today,” Kimbrel said. “You know, I was one pitch away. Sometimes you get close and they turn into those (runs scoring) and that’s what happened.”

Kimbrel was peppered with five singles in his lone inning. And an unforced error from right-fielder John Rave allowed one of the five runs to score.

“I don’t know if I took my eyes off it too quick or yeah, just rushed it a little bit and botched it,” Rave said of his miscue. “Yeah, shouldn’t happen. And yeah, it stinks that it did in a big moment.”

The Royals responded in the bottom frame. Diamondbacks pitcher Gerardo Carrillo allowed four runs as the Royals catching duo Carter Jensen and Perez hit RBI doubles. Jensen provided the first run while Perez cleared the bases.

This game came down to the final out. However, Diamondbacks right-hander Dennis Santana struck out Loftin to strand the tying run at third base.

What’s next

Royals right-hander Michael Wacha (9-8, 3.36 ERA) will start Tuesday night against the Diamondbacks at Kauffman Stadium. Arizona hasn’t announced a starter with first pitch set for 7:40 p.m. ET.

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