Cole Ragans was cruising vs. Orioles. Why the Royals took him out at 80 pitches
Cole Ragans was cruising through six innings against the Baltimore Orioles. And he likely could’ve kept going, if not for some cramping in his calf.
The Kansas City Royals ace was at 80 pitches, having only allowed four hits in Tuesday’s MLB playoff opener, an American League Wild Card meeting at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. He had eight strikeouts in what became a 1-0 Royals win.
Notably, Ragans had escaped a runners-on-the-corners jam by striking out two in the fifth, then had a 1-2-3 shutdown sixth inning, ending with another strikeout. But he was pulled from the game, as the Royals went to the bullpen early.
The official designation, per the Royals, was left-calf cramps.
“Yeah, just kind of felt it grabbing a little bit and didn’t want to push it too far,” Ragans said. “I want to be healthy and plan on having quite a few more starts. So, didn’t want to push it where it ends up being something more serious than it needs to be.”
Royals manager Matt Quatraro was alerted to the injury in the sixth inning. He hurried to get left-hander Sam Long up in the bullpen.
“He came off the field and actually he was walking by me,” Quatraro said. “He said something and I couldn’t tell what he said. I just said, ‘You’re good,’ kind of joking with him. Like, he is definitely going back out there. And then, he called me down to the tunnel and said, ‘The last couple of hitters, my leg was cramping.’
“We’ve been through this before and it all of a sudden just doesn’t stop happening. So we needed to make a move there and we got Sammy (Long) ready as quick as we could.”
Long had little time to react when the bullpen phone rang. He hurried to get ready before entering in the seventh inning.
“I was assuming Cole was going to go back out and they were maybe getting someone ready for a batter later in the game or something,” Long said. “I was told he was having an issue with his calf and that I was in the game. From there, it was just trying to get ready for the next inning.”
Long admitted that he had more adrenaline than usual for the playoff game. However, he was able to keep things simple and worked through the seventh.
The Royals then turned to fellow left-hander Kris Bubic and closer Lucas Erceg to protect a 1-0 lead. The relief trio stymied the Orioles down the stretch.
Ragans was excited to see his teammates thrive in the late innings. It was a big lift as the Royals earned their first road postseason shutout victory in franchise history.
“They’ve been incredible and they are fun to watch,” Ragans said. “It’s just filling it up and going at guys. Like I said, they’re unbelievable.”
Ragans went 11-9 with a 3.14 ERA in 32 starts this season. He said before his Game 1 start that he was pumped to pitch in the postseason, and only aimed to put his team in the best position to win.
He certainly did that — and picked up a road victory in his first playoff start.
This story was originally published October 1, 2024 at 5:00 PM.
