Royals finish road trip on high note with victory over Phillies

Jaylon Thompson, The Kansas City Star on Sep 14, 2025

Published in Baseball

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PHILADELPHIA — The Kansas City Royals needed a spark on Sunday.

Philadelphia Phillies starter Aaron Nola was dealing through four innings. He marched through the Royals’ lineup with relative ease. The first nine Kansas City hitters to face him took a U-turn back to the visitors’ dugout.

Nola was also racking up the strikeouts. He tallied five while allowing one hit — a Mike Yastrzemski double — up to that point in the game.

It seemed as if the Royals were ticketed for another loss. Then, Kansas City rookie Jac Caglianone jolted the offense with one swing.

Caglianone hit a two-run blast off Nola in the fifth inning. It was his first home run since July 21 against the Chicago Cubs.

Suddenly, the Royals had life. An inning later, Kansas City scored four runs to defeat the Phillies 10-3 at Citizens Bank Park.

This time, Royals trio of Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez knocked around Nola in the sixth inning. Witt led off the sixth with a triple off the right-field wall. He later scored on Pasquantino’s RBI double.

The Royals grabbed their first lead of the game. And Perez ensured they would never relinquish it with his 301st career home run.

Perez grooved an 83.2 mph changeup at the bottom of the strike zone. The baseball traveled 371 feet over the short porch in left field.

It was his third home run over the last two games. Perez is now just two shy of posting a second season in his career with 30 or more homers.

Perez finished 2 for 4 with five RBIs in the game. Meanwhile, Witt hit his 22nd home run as the Royals collected 12 hits to salvage a win in the three-game series.

Nola was charged with six earned runs in six innings. He suffered his ninth loss and his season earned-run average ballooned to 6.44.

The Royals (75-75) returned to .500 with the victory. It also snapped a three-game losing streak and ended their road trip with a win.

While their playoff odds remain slim, the Royals could gain ground on the Seattle Mariners (81-68) or the other teams in front of them in the American League wild-card race.

The Mariners finish a weekend series against the Los Angeles Angels before beginning an important three-game series against the Royals on Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium.

Cameron shakes off rocky 1st inning

Sunday didn’t start well for Royals rookie starter Noah Cameron. In the first inning, Cameron found himself in a 2-0 hole after surrendering a pair of home runs to Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto.

The solo homers left Citizens Bank Park in a hurry. And it forced the Royals to have to play from behind early in the game. However, Cameron showed resolve as he turned things around throughout the remainder of his start.

Cameron limited the Phillies to just two hits after the first inning. While working in tandem with fellow rookie Carter Jensen — who made his first start behind the plate — the Kansas City natives stymied the Phillies the rest of the way.

Cameron allowed the two earned runs and recorded seven strikeouts. He tossed seven innings and produced another quality start.

After Realmuto’s homer run, Cameron retired 17 of his last 20 batters faced. He earned his eighth victory as the Royals improved to 31-17 in series finales.

What’s next

The Royals are off on Monday before returning to Kauffman Stadium to host the Mariners on Tuesday night.

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