Which Royals player could be sent down to make room for Cole Ragans?
Much was at stake as the KC Royals prepared to finish up their weekend series with San Diego Sunday. So good for so much of the season, the Royals came in losers of six of their last 10, including Friday and Saturday losses to the Padres that made another defeat, and a series sweep, the latter an indignity the club hadn’t yet suffered this year, seem almost inevitable.
More importantly, though, was the impact another loss would have on the widening gap between Kansas City and Cleveland in the American League Central, which was only 1.5 games in the Guardians’ favor just eight days ago but had bulged to five after San Diego won the first two contests of this three-game set. That the Royals begin their first head-to-head series with the Guardians Tuesday only magnified the importance of avoiding a fourth straight loss.
Fortunately, Kansas City had Cole Ragans on the mound, and he did exactly what he’s expected to do, holding the Padres to a run and striking out a half-dozen in six excellent innings. Unfortunately, the increasingly shaky KC bullpen failed once again (more on that in a moment), and the 1-1 tie Ragans gave the relievers disappeared in the eighth when Ángel Zerpa uncharacteristically coughed up two runs to destroy the deadlock.
