Kansas City Royals’ loss to Orioles was a microcosm of their 2026 season woes
Jac Caglianone trotted in and toward the right field line, seemingly tracking a pop-up off the bat of Baltimore’s Tyler O’Neill.
None of the 31,355 fans at Orioles Park at Camden Yards for Sunday’s game could have predicted that would be the beginning of the end for the Royals’ hopes of coming away with a victory.
Caglianone suddenly stopped and realized he lost the ball in the sun, and it fell harmlessly to the outfield grass, allowing Blaze Alexander to take second.
That miscue opened the door to a five-run inning and Royals fans’ days were ruined, as the Orioles won 8-2.
Instead of two outs and one on in the sixth inning, the Orioles’ rally was started. Leody Taveras followed with an RBI single, breaking the 2-2 tie. The Orioles then got runs on an RBI double, a Matt Strahm balk, and a splunked single that was hit zero feet, according to Statcast. That ended Strahm’s day.
Pete Alonso’s RBI double later in the inning off John Schreiber made it 7-2 and the inning ended with Caglianone getting a bit of redemption by throwing out Alonso at second.
But it was an ugly inning in what has been an ugly season for the Royals, who fell to 38-59 after being swept by the Orioles, who are in last place in the AL East. It was the Royals’ fifth straight loss.
Strahm’s ERA increased to 7.18 and he took the loss for the second time in three games.
“It’s just an unfortunate inning,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “You know, the pop-up, the balk, the swinging bunt, the walk, but he certainly threw the ball better than it ended up being.”
Microcosm for the season
The loss encapsulated a lot of what’s gone wrong for the Royals. Starter Seth Lugo only allowed two runs, but he lasted just four innings and threw 89 pitches. Lugo also served up one of the two home runs hit by the Orioles.
“You know some of those guys they have over there, (they do) a lot of damage inside, so I kind of stayed away from challenging inside,” Lugo said. “So they took some good pitches, some breaking balls that got in on them. I think that was just part of my game plan. It just didn’t work out against them.”
The Royals had nine hits but went just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, left nine runners on base and made a fielding error in addition to Caglianone’s miscue. And Royals batters struck out 11 times.
All are reasons for the Royals being tied for the worst record in the American League.
Baltimore starter Shane Baz went 4 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits and two runs (one earned), but the Royals left two on in the first inning, one in the second and two more in the third. The Royals scored twice but could have put up more runs.
“We had him on the ropes there. Didn’t get it done,” Vinnie Pasquantino said. “Next time through, credit to Jac for getting Bobby (Witt Jr.) with him on, and then Lane (Thomas) was able to get him home (in the third). That was good.”
However, Pasquantino continued, “The frustration level’s really high. It’s not good. So I think just it’s really tough.”
A quirky triple
Left fielder Isaac Collins knocked in the game’s first run with a second-inning triple that bounced over the head of Orioles first baseman Pete Alonso and shot down the right-field line into a quirky corner at Camden Yards.
Taveras temporarily disappeared from view while tracking down the ball because of the ballpark’s configuration.
The stands down the first-base line end before reaching the outfield, and there is a gap as the playing field juts to the right. Thus Taveras was lost from view while attempting to grab the ball.
Up next: Because of the All-Star break, the Royals won’t play until Friday when they open a three-game series against the San Diego Padres. Quatraro hasn’t set the rotation for the second half of the season.
This story was originally published July 12, 2026 at 3:56 PM.
