Rangers pull away late, snap Royals' six-game winning streak

Jaylon Thompson, The Kansas City Star on Aug 20, 2025

Published in Baseball

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals are playing with house money and the dealer has laid down the cards before them.

Entering their 10-game homestand at Kauffman Stadium, the Royals knew a hot stretch was needed to get back into the American League playoff picture.

KC sat two games under .500 (58-60) on Aug. 11. The Royals were four games behind the New York Yankees for the final AL wild-card spot.

A road-series loss against the Minnesota Twins didn’t help matters. Neither did a rough stretch from All-Star starter Seth Lugo or an offense plagued by inconsistency.

Yet, the Royals got a favorable hand this week. They were dealt an opportunity to make up postseason ground with games against the Washington Nationals, Chicago White Sox and Texas Rangers at home.

Fans clamored for a winning homestand. Some deemed seven wins for the home stay to be successful. To reach that mark, the Royals would have to win each upcoming series.

The Royals rose to the challenge but fell short of completing it on Wednesday. The Rangers scored three late runs to beat the Royals, 6-3, at Kauffman Stadium.

KC raced to an early lead in the first inning. Vinnie Pasquantino, who has hit a home run for three consecutive days, belted a three-run shot off Rangers starting pitcher Caleb Boushley. The homer traveled 425 feet into the right-field fountains.

Pasquantino now leads the Royals with 25 home runs and 86 RBIs this season.

On the mound, Royals starter Noah Cameron was not to be outdone. The St. Joseph native added to his AL Rookie of the Year candidacy through 4 2/3 innings. It wasn’t his best performance, but Cameron limited the Rangers to just two runs while recording five strikeouts.

Rangers star Wyatt Langford tagged Cameron with a leadoff home run. From there, however, Cameron settled into his outing. He worked around three walks and gave the Royals a chance to win the game.

Left-handed reliever Sam Long turned in an uneven performance. His highlight came in the eighth inning, when he picked off Ezequiel Duran at second base in a tie game.

But the Royals failed to capitalize in the bottom half of the inning. And then the Rangers surged forward for good on Kyle Higashioka’s go-ahead, three-run double in the top of the ninth.

The Royals (65-62), who failed to take advantage of their own bases-loaded situation in the seventh inning, saw their six-game winning streak snapped.

AL wild-card update

The Royals benefited from earlier losses by the Seattle Mariners and Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday afternoon.

The Mariners (68-60) have dropped five consecutive games and will begin a three-game series against the Athletics on Friday night. The Guardians (64-62) also lost in extra innings, to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Royals remain 2 1/2 games behind the Mariners for the final AL wild-card spot while being up — both in the AL Central and wild-card standings — by the same margin on the Guardians with 35 games to play.

What’s next?

The Royals conclude their 10-game homestand against the Rangers on Thursday afternoon. KC right-hander Michael Lorenzen (5-8, 4.43 ERA) will make his second start since returning from the 15-day injured list opposite veteran lefty starter Patrick Corbin (6-9, 4.45 ERA).