Royals' playoff hopes take another hit after Tuesday's shutout loss to Guardians

Jaylon Thompson, The Kansas City Star on Sep 9, 2025

Published in Baseball

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CLEVELAND — The Kansas City Royals are running short on time. With 17 games remaining, the Royals are banged up and fighting for their playoff lives.

Three starters are currently on the injured list. Meanwhile, the Royals’ offense continues to sputter against quality pitchers. On Tuesday, the Royals were dealt another blow to their dwindling postseason chances.

The Royals lost 2-0 to the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Despite a quality start from left-handed rookie Noah Cameron, the Royals struggled to score for the second consecutive night.

Guardians starter Joey Cantillo tossed 8 1/3 shutout innings. He allowed three hits and struck out four batters. The Royals made solid contact but the Guardians made the defensive plays in the field.

Cantillo navigated the Royals’ lineup by staying around the strike zone. The Royals couldn’t string together multiple hits as Cantillo got better later in his start.

He retired three of his last five batters via strikeouts. Jonathan India, who returned from the 10-day injured list, recorded two of the Royals’ hits.

The Royals wasted a strong effort from Cameron. He allowed two runs and recorded eight strikeouts in seven innings. Cameron was sharp with his command — 75 of 100 pitches were strikes — as he kept the Royals in the game.

It was a rebound effort after he allowed nine earned runs in his previous two starts. Cameron had an even distribution of his pitches while registering 56 swings and 16 whiffs.

The Guardians tagged him for two early runs. Cleveland star Jose Ramirez belted his 28th home run in the first inning. Later, he doubled and scored as designated hitter David Fry drove him home.

Ramirez came a triple shy of the cycle in guiding the Guardians (74-70) to their fifth consecutive win.

The Royals (73-72) fell further behind in the American League wild-card standings. Kansas City dropped another half-game behind the Seattle Mariners (76-68) and is now further behind the Guardians and Texas Rangers (75-70).

Cameron carries pitching load

The Royals are asking a lot of Cameron down the stretch. He has pitched well during his rookie campaign and will take on more responsibilities in the short term.

At the moment, the Royals are without Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha due to various injuries. Wacha was placed on the seven-day concussion injured list Tuesday and will receive further evaluation in Kansas City.

Ragans still needs one more rehab start on Friday, and Lugo is back throwing after dealing with low back tightness.

Cameron is lined up to pitch again Sunday against the Philadelphia Phillies. His performance was enough to give the Royals a chance at victory. Now, the club will likely need him even more with the starting rotation in flux.

What’s next

The Royals continue their four-game series against the Guardians. Kansas City has not announced a starter for Wednesday after Wacha was penciled in to start. The Guardians will start left-hander Logan Allen (7-11, 4.46 ERA) at Progressive Field.

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