Shortly before taking the field on Tuesday night, the Kansas City Royals learned they officially had been eliminated from the American League postseason race thanks to Cleveland’s win over Detroit.
Although disappointed about not attaining their goal of the playoffs, Royals manager Matt Quatraro said he doesn’t expect any letdown from his team (79-78) heading into its final five games of the season.
Kansas City will begin that stretch on Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif.
“We knew coming into the week it was a longshot; so many things had to happen,” Quatraro said following the Royals’ 8-4 victory over the Angels on Tuesday. “The exact timing of it, I don’t think created a whole lot of anxiety for anybody. These guys are professional. They’re going to play like crazy this whole last week.
“Talking to the guys that play every day, they want to play every day. They want to win. They have a lot of pride in what they do, they have a lot of pride in this organization, and I don’t see that changing because we were eliminated.”
If Quatraro needed any proof, he could just point to Tuesday’s series opener.
Kansas City finished with 15 hits, including two doubles and three hits and three runs by third baseman Maikel Garcia and a double and two hits and two RBIs by both Adam Frazier and Bobby Witt Jr.
Salvador Perez extended his hitting streak to nine games while reaching base four times and driving in the 1,013th run of his career. He moved past Hal McRae into second place on the Royals’ all-time RBI list behind only Hall of Famer George Brett (1,596).
Left-hander Cole Ragans struck out 10 in five innings while making his second start since June 5 after going on the injured list with a left rotator cuff strain.
“It was fun to watch,” Quatraro said. “He kept throwing strikes, he kept coming after them. All things considered, it was a great night for him.”
Right-hander Stephen Kolek (5-6, 3.54 ERA) will make his fifth start with the Royals on Wednesday night. He will oppose by All-Star left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (6-11, 4.05).
Kikuchi is 3-2 with a 5.06 ERA in nine career starts against the Royals. He has struggled down the stretch for Los Angeles (70-87), compiling an 0-4 record and 6.82 ERA in last seven starts. His most recent win came on Aug. 9 at Detroit.
Kikuchi allowed two runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings in his last start, a no-decision in a 5-2 loss at Milwaukee on Thursday, and he voiced his displeasure afterward with being pulled for reliever Jose Fermin in the sixth despite throwing just 92 pitches. Fermin then allowed a game-tying RBI single to Caleb Durbin.
“All year I’ve been grinding for the team,” Kikuchi told The Orange County Register. “So in that spot, I wanted to be trusted a little bit more, and I felt like I wasn’t trusted in that moment.”
Kolek will make his first career start against the Angels, who have dropped 10 of their last 11 games.
He comes in off a 2-0 loss to visiting Seattle on Thursday after he allowed one earned run on two hits while striking out a career-high eight in 7 1/3 innings. He is 1-1 with a 1.67 ERA in four starts with Kansas City.
“Hopefully, it’s a good kind of runway into next year,” Kolek said.