Royals fall to Mariners but get out in one of weirdest ways possible: ‘Moore ran away!’
MJ Melendez had a, well, interesting day in left field in the Royals’ 6-4 loss Thursday to the Mariners.
In the second inning, Melendez made a dazzling catch in the left-center field gap at Kauffman Stadium to take extra bases away from Seattle’s Ty France.
Four innings later, the Mariners had runners on first and second when Julio Rodríguez hit a laser to left field. Melendez jumped up. Unfortunately, the ball was over his head.
One run scored, but the trail runner, Sam Haggerty, was thrown out at the plate on a perfect Melendez-to-Bobby Witt Jr.-to-Freddy Fermin relay.
The weirdest play of the day came in the seventh inning. Heck, this was the strangest play of the season.
Seattle’s Dylan Moore looped a ball to left field that Melendez got a glove on but dropped. Moore ran to the bag, but thinking it was an out, he took a few steps back toward the dugout.
As Bally Sports KC’s Ryan Lefebvre called it: “Moore ran away!”
Melendez threw a dart to Matt Duffy at first base for the rare out, but no tag was applied because this was officially called “abandonment” by first base umpire John Libka.
Libka invoked rule 5.09(b)(2), which says: “Any runner is out when after touching first base, he leaves the base path, obviously abandoning his effort to touch the next base.”
“Right when he left the bag, the umpire called him out — before I got the ball,” Duffy said. “So I guess abandoning the base that’s the rule, as far as I know.”
Royals manager Matt Quatraro said: “I don’t know if I’ve seen it (before) just like that. But they applied the rule correctly.”
Official scorer Max Utsler said he’s never seen that play called in his 11 years on the job.
Despite the baserunning blunder — the Royals had one of their own this series, but they’ve generally been strong on the basepaths — Kansas City lost as Seattle scored three in the eighth and another in the ninth inning.
Missed previous games of the series?
Game 1: Dairon Blanco’s sacrifice bunt lifts Royals over Mariners
Game 2: Bobby Witt Jr. hits grand slam as Royals fall 10-8 in extra innings
Game 3: Mariners pull away late for victory as KC bullpen struggles
Here are more notables from Thursday’s game:
Key moment
The Royals led 4-2 in the eighth inning when trade-deadline acquisition Taylor Hearn gave up a double to Cade Marlowe, then walked Dominic Canzone. Manager Matt Quatraro summoned Carlos Hernández to face Rodríguez, who crushed the first pitch 438 feet for a home run to left field.
That gave Seattle a 5-4 lead, and Cal Raleigh hit a solo shot in the ninth inning to finish the scoring.
Despite losing three of four to the Mariners, each game was decided by two runs or fewer. There were 20 combined runs scored in the eighth inning or later of the four games.
“Close games, they were intense,” Quatraro said. “I mean they were back and forth. Both teams were playing extremely hard, giving it their best effort. There were a lot of clutch hits on both sides, there were some great defensive plays. I mean, came down to the wire four days in a row.”
Jackson’s back
Before Thursday’s game, the Royals recalled right-hander Jackson Kowar from Triple-A Omaha. Righty James McArthur, the opener for Wednesday’s game, was sent back to the Storm Chasers.
Kowar pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings Thursday, lowering his ERA to 5.54 for the season.
Highlights
Right fielder Nelson Velázquez continued his torrid hitting with the Royals.
Velázquez launched a 407-foot homer in the fourth inning. It’s his fourth home run in seven games since being acquired from the Cubs at the trade deadline.
Melendez’s great running catch in the second inning was also a notable highlight.
Quick hitters
Third baseman Maikel Garcia was hitless in four at-bats, ending his 18-game hitting streak.
Seattle’s Isaiah Campbell pitched a scoreless seventh inning and got the victory. Campbell, an Olathe South High School graduate, made his big-league debut last month after being drafted in 2019.
What’s next: The Royals will face the Cubs in Wrigley Field on Friday. Lefty Cole Ragans gets the start against Jameson Taillon. First pitch is at 1:20 p.m. It’s the start of a nine-game road trip.
After playing three against the Cubs, the Royals will travel to Oakland and then Seattle.
This story was originally published August 17, 2023 at 4:08 PM.
