Royals ace Cole Ragans has 3rd straight 10-strikeout game in win over Guardians

Jaylon Thompson, The Kansas City Star on Apr 13, 2025

Published in Baseball

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Cole Ragans is the undisputed ace of the Kansas City Royals’ pitching staff. And one of the best pitchers in the game today.

He showed why, again, on Sunday at Progressive Field.

Ragans shut down the Cleveland Guardians in the Royals’ 4-2 victory at Progressive Field. He dominated the strike zone for 7 2/3 innings despite experiencing some hamstring cramping along the way.

The 27-year-old left-hander struck out 10 batters, his third straight outing with 10 or more strikeouts. The last time a Royals pitcher accomplished that feat was nearly 30 years ago.

The Royals needed every bit of Ragans’ dominance in the series finale. They’d lost the first two of three games in this series against their American League Central rivals, outscored 13-3.

Ragans turned the tide. And he has to be considered an early frontrunner for the 2025 AL Cy Young.

“Overall, it was good and we came out with a win,” Ragans said. “You know it’s the main goal while you were out there. Keep us in the game and do my best to give us a chance to win a ballgame.”

The last Royals pitcher to strike out 10-plus in three straight starts was Kevin Appier in 1996. Twenty-nine seasons later, Ragans leads the majors with 34 strikeouts and hasn’t allowed a walk in his last two outings.

After striking out three in an opening day no-decision against Cleveland at The K, he has since whiffed 11 against the Brewers, 11 against the Twins and now 10 against the Guardians.

“If I’m filling it up,” Ragans said, “they are going to have to swing the bat. So I just try to get ahead and stay ahead. Fill up the strike zone with everything and trust the guys behind me.”

Ragans flirted with a complete game Sunday. But he exited in the eighth having thrown 89 pitches. Royals relievers Lucas Erceg and Carlos Estévez closed out the win for Kansas City.

“The hammy started to tighten up on me a little bit there in the (Austin) Hedges at-bat,” Ragans said. “Didn’t want to push it where it turns into something more serious than it actually is. You know we have (Erceg) and (Estévez) right there. Close game, you kind of know who is coming in.”

Estévez’s fifth save of the year guaranteed Ragans’ victory. The closer allowed a single and then struck out the side.

The Royals’ pitching staff has been strong so far. Kansas City pitchers own a 3.14 combined ERA, which ranks fourth in the majors. Opposing teams are hitting just .229 against the Royals through 16 games.

And Kansas City’s starting pitching has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 15 of those 16 games. The lone exception was an April 5 game in which right-handed starter Michael Wacha allowed four runs against the Baltimore Orioles at Kauffman Stadium.

“This is a fun group to be a part of, just like last year,” Ragans said. We feed off each other and we pull for each other and we push each other to be better than the day before. It’s exciting to watch those guys go about their business the way they do, and it shows on the field.”

Ragans, for his own part, this past offseason focused on commanding the strike zone more effectively and cutting down on walks. He has shown improvement in both areas.

Ragans finished fourth in last year’s AL Cy Young voting. If Sunday’s start is any indication, he will once again be in the running for one of the game’s most prestigious honors.

“We will take that start every time,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said of his ace’s performance on Sunday in Cleveland. “It doesn’t matter if we have won a couple or lost a couple, you are going to take that start every day of the week, regardless of who you are playing.”

____