MLB

Kansas City Royals at Washington Nationals

· Major League Baseball
Kansas City Royals
83-74, 38-38 Away
Final
1 - 0
Washington Nationals
69-88, 36-40 Home

Royals seize on throwing error in 10th to beat Nationals 1-0 and hold on to 2nd AL wild card

Isbel, the Royals' automatic runner to begin the 10th, reached third on Bobby Witt Jr.’s infield single to short and crossed the plate on Nasim Nuñez's low throw to first to end Kansas City's seven-game slide.

“It’s a little bit of a sigh of relief," Ragans said. “We knew it’s going to come down to probably a game like this to get us back on track.”

Kansas City and Detroit are both 83-74 but the Royals own the head-to-head tiebreaker. Both teams are two games up on Minnesota.

After three games without a hit with a runner in scoring position, the Royals were 2 for 11 in that situation Tuesday, though neither plated a run.

“There’s definitely frustration, but I think tonight it was more like, disbelief,” said Royals manager Matt Quatraro. “We know we’re too good a team to have that continue for a long period of time.”

Kyle Finnegan (3-7) escaped the 10th without further damage, but the Nationals lost for the seventh time in eight games.

“Our defense was good until that one play,” said Nats manager Dave Martinez. “It really came down to one play, and execution, and not being able to hit the ball.”

Lucas Erceg worked a clean 10th for his 12th save and ninth with the Royals, striking out Joey Gallo for the final out after the Nationals slugger hooked a 3-2 offering just to the foul side of the right-field foul pole.

"You can never count your chickens there that you’re going to strand the runner," Quatraro said of Erceg, whom Kansas City acquired in a trade from Oakland at this year's deadline. “But you certainly like your chances.”

Ragans struck out six in his fourth consecutive outing of six innings or more to lower his September ERA to 1.08.

Kris Bubic stranded a runner on third in the seventh, Sam Long pitched a scoreless eighth and Angel Zerpa (2-0) threw a perfect ninth to get the game to extra innings.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Royals: RHP Hunter Harvey (back) will be shut down for the season. The reliever hasn't appeared since Aug. 4, and will get another medical opinion. “He's going to go see someone in Dallas to see if they can find something different, but by all accounts, we think it's just going to be rest” that he needs, said Quatraro. ... RHP James McArthur (right elbow), who last pitched on Sept. 16, also won't return this season. ... RHP Michael Lorenzen (left hamstring) remains on track to return from the injured list to make Wednesday’s start, Quatraro said.

Nationals: Recalled OF Stone Garrett from Triple-A Rochester and placed INF Andrés Chaparro on the paternity list.

UP NEXT

Lorenzen (7-6, 3.43 ERA) will try to continue his excellent form since joining the Royals from Texas at the deadline. He has a 1.85 ERA and 2-0 record in five starts with Kansas City. He'll face rookie lefty DJ Herz (4-8, 4.30).

How can I watch Kansas City Royals vs. Washington Nationals?
  • TV Channel: Royals at Nationals 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Nationals: 41.4%
Royals: 58.6%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

10th Inning Gallo struck out swinging.
10th Inning Gallo hit for Nuñez
10th Inning Vargas grounded out to second, L. García Jr. to third.
10th Inning Young struck out swinging.
10th Inning Erceg relieved Zerpa
10th Inning Melendez as designated hitter.

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/kc.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originKC https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/wsh.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originWSH
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
0 Hit By Pitch 0
17 Ground Balls 16
12 Strikeouts 9
0 Runs Batted In 0
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
8 Hits 5
2 Stolen Bases 0
4 Walks 3
0 Catcher Interference 0
1 Runs 0
0 Ground Into Double Play 2
0 Sacrifice Flies 0
37 At Bats 33
0 Home Runs 0
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
19 Runners Left On Base 18
0 Triples 0
0 Game Winning RBIs 0
0 Intentional Walks 0
0 Doubles 1
8 Fly Balls 8
1 Caught Stealing 0
169 Pitches 149
0 Games Started 0
2 Pinch At Bats 2
1 Pinch Hits 0
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
1 Is Qualified In Steals 0
8 Total Bases 6
41 Plate Appearances 36
0.0 Projected Home Runs 0.0
0 Extra Base Hits 1
2.5 Runs Created 0.3
.216 Batting Average .152
.500 Pinch Hit Average .000
.216 Slugging Percentage .182
.135 Secondary Average .121
.293 On Base Percentage .222
.509 OBP Pct + SLG Pct .404
2.1 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 2.0
2.3 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 0.2
12.0 Batter Rating 7.0
0.0 At Bats Per Home Run 0.0
0.67 Stolen Base Percentage 0.00
4.12 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 4.14
.000 Isolated Power .030
0.33 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.33
.098 Walks Per Plate Appearance .083
-.081 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average -.030
1.0 Runs Produced 0.0
0.0 Runs Ratio 0.0
0.3 Patience Ratio 0.3
0.3 Balls In Play Average 0.2
67.0 MLB Rating 61.5
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Nationals Park

Location: Washington, District of Columbia
Attendance: 14,477 | Capacity:

2024 American League Central Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Cleveland 92 69 .571 - L2
Kansas City 86 76 .531 6.5 W1
Detroit 86 76 .531 6.5 L2
Minnesota 82 80 .506 10.5 L4
Chicago 41 121 .253 51.5 W2

2024 National League East Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Philadelphia 95 67 .586 - W1
Atlanta 89 73 .549 6 W1
New York 89 73 .549 6 L1
Washington 71 91 .438 24 L1
Miami 62 100 .383 33 W4
Full Standings