Rookie Noah Cameron makes MLB history, but Royals fall to Cardinals 1-0
Two members of the Royals rotation were placed on the injured list Saturday, but while they’re out, at least one player appears ready to fill the void.
Rookie left-hander Noah Cameron had a second straight sensational start, allowing one run on two hits in 6 1/3 efficient innings Saturday to the St. Louis Cardinals at Kauffman Stadium.
Unfortunately for the Royals, the effort was wasted in a 1-0 loss.
Cameron, who grew up in St. Joseph, Missouri, has made quite an impression in the big leagues. In his MLB debut last month at Tampa, Florida, he allowed one hit in 6 1/3 scoreless innings.
According to Ian Kraft, the Royals’ assistant director of media relations, Cameron is the first player in MLB history to begin a career with consecutive starts of 6 1/3 or more innings pitched and two or fewer hits allowed.
“Weak contact, good defense, you know, it’s not just me out there,” Cameron said. “But I mean, that’s pretty cool.”
When Cameron left the game in the seventh inning, Royals fans among the 36,434 gave him a standing ovation.
“Yeah, it was pretty cool coming off,” Cameron said. “I just tried to look out, I saw my family, and just soaked it all in.”
Cameron said his immediate family was at the game and estimated there were thousands on hand from St. Joseph. Wait ... thousands?
“Yeah, St. Joseph,” Cameron said, “they showed out.”
The Royals honored their 2015 World Series championship team and Cameron was a 16-year-old fan when they won the title. That added to his special night.
“Walking out to the bullpen, it was really cool looking around. And obviously, I’ve been in this ballpark a lot, but it’s definitely a different view from down on the field,” Cameron said. “So I mean, it’s just a dream come true.”
Lost opportunity for the Royals
The Royals’ best chance came in the eighth inning. With Drew Waters on second base and Kyle Isbel on first, Jonathan India hit a hard shot to Cardinals second baseman Brendan Donovan, who flipped to shortstop Masyn Winn for the force.
Winn whirled and threw to third baseman Nolan Arenado who tagged out Waters for a double play.
Bobby Witt Jr. then hit a hot shot up the middle that Winn speared and threw to Donovan for a force at second to end the inning.
“That’s a low line drive, one-hopper,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said of the double play. “Drew’s got to read that the second baseman doesn’t catch it. That was a tremendous play on Donovan’s part too. But I don’t think there was anything different to be done there. .... Once Donovan catches that ball, they’re going to turn a double play one way or another.”
Fast game by MLB standards
The game was completed in 1 hour, 49 minutes, the fastest nine-inning game in the majors since last Sept. 27 when a Cubs-Reds contest was over in in 1:48.
It was the Royals’ quickest nine-inning game since May 10, 2005 at Toronto (1:44). It tied for the third-fastest nine-inning game in Kauffman Stadium history. There was a 1:42 game on Sept. 26, 1978 against the Mariners and a 1:47 game on July 15, 1979 against the Rangers.
Next on KC Royals schedule
The Royals finish their three-game series with the Cardinals on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. at Kauffman Stadium. Michael Wacha starts for the Royals, while St. Louis will counter with Matthew Liberatore.
This story was originally published May 17, 2025 at 8:24 PM.
