Sept. 14 – The Kansas City Royals haven’t played meaningful September baseball in a while, and the club is looking to get used to it.
The Royals trail the American League Central-leading Cleveland Defenders by three games. Kansas City currently holds the second wild-card spot in the American League, two games behind the Baltimore Orioles for first place and 2.5 games ahead of the Minnesota Twins for the third and final playoff spot.
It was a perfect night for Kansas City on Friday with losses to Cleveland, Baltimore and Minnesota, and the Royals (81-67) won the first game of a three-game series at host Pittsburgh, 8-3. The two teams will meet again on Saturday.
The Royals, one season removed from a 56-106 record, earned their 81st win Friday and secured their first .500 season since going 81-81 in 2016. The championship appearance in the playoffs was in 2015.
After losing seven consecutive matches, the Royals have won six of their last eight matches.
“We need to keep winning,” Royals head coach Matt Quatraro said. “This is a competitive playoff game. We know every day matters and we know we can only win one game at a time. We want to continue to be at our best every day.”
Kansas City broke open the game with six runs in the second inning on Friday morning. Salvador Perez, Kyle Isbel and Adam Frazier each homered, while Alec Marsh struck out a season-high 11 in 5 1/3 innings.
On Saturday, the Royals will hand the ball to veteran right-hander Michael Wacha (12-7, 3.34 ERA). He will look to build on Sunday’s 2-0 win over Minnesota, in which he struck out seven in seven scoreless innings.
Wacha has a 7-3 record with a 3.68 ERA in 18 career appearances (16 starts) against Pittsburgh. Since May 9, he is 11-3 with a 2.62 ERA.
For the Buccaneers (70-77), the longest NFC playoff drought will continue for another year. Pittsburgh is out of the playoff race, missing the playoffs for the ninth consecutive year.
Still, the Buccaneers are losing the battle and looking to make things worse in the final two weeks of the regular season. Pittsburgh had won four games in a row before Friday’s loss.
Friday’s starter Luis Ortiz struggled, allowing seven runs (4 ERA) in four innings and Pittsburgh’s offense managed just one run before the ninth.
Ortiz’s approach for the rest of the year applies to the entire team, which has 15 games remaining.
“It’s really important to finish the season strong,” Ortiz said. “Just keep working hard and stay ready.”
Mitch Keller (11-9, 3.85 ERA) will travel to Pittsburgh on Saturday looking to build on a solid foundation in 2024. Keller struck out eight and allowed two runs over six innings in his last outing, but he had a winless start in Saturday’s loss to the Washington Nationals.
Keller has faced Kansas City once in his career, on April 28, 2021, when he allowed four runs over 2 1/3 innings in a 9-6 loss.
–Visual-level media
