Royals swept by A's, wrapping up winless homestand

Jaylon Thompson, The Kansas City Star on Jun 15, 2025

Published in Baseball

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals entered Sunday’s game looking for a clean slate after holding a players-only meeting in the clubhouse following Saturday’s loss, their fifth straight.

It didn’t help. The Royals fell, 3-2, to the Oakland Athletics on Sunday in their series finale, suffering their second straight series sweep in an 0-6 homestand at Kauffman Stadium

The New York Yankees rolled through with a clean sweep last week and the Athletics followed suit over the weekend.

The Royals (34-38) keep sinking further under .500. They’ve lost sight of the Detroit Tigers in the American League Central race, and the AL wild-card picture is jumbled, full of teams facing their own challenges.

The Royals said the team meeting was needed. Players got a different perspective and tried to better understand their current situation. Things will not change in one day, but Saturday’s locker-room summit seemingly offered a new path forward.

Every Royals player knows he must play better. Sunday’s loss showed how far they still have to go.

Here are some takeaways from the weekend series at The K.

Sunday spotlight: What happened?

The Royals celebrated Father’s Day with their families in attendance.

Rookie starter Noah Cameron pitched five scoreless innings on Sunday with his son, Auggie, watching from the stands.

The Royals gave Cameron a two-run lead as Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino each logged RBIs in the third inning. But things turned dire once Cameron was pulled.

The Royals turned to their bullpen, and the Athletics took advantage. A’s catcher Austin Wynns hit a 93.1-mph slider from Royals reliever John Schreiber over the outfield wall to tie it.

Then, with the score still deadlocked 2-2 in the ninth inning, rookie first baseman Nick Kurtz hit a go-ahead solo home run.

The Royals failed to respond in the bottom of the ninth. Oakland closer Mason Miller earned his 14th save as the Royals finished with a winless homestand.

Cameron struck out seven but earned a no-decision. Closer Carlos Estevez, who served up Kurtz’s home run, took the loss.

A six-game road trip against the Texas Rangers and San Diego Padres is up next for Kansas City.

Jonathan India has shoulder injury

The Royals played it safe with second baseman Johnathan India over the weekend.

On Friday, India sustained a left shoulder subluxation against the Athletics. He has dealt with the injury before.

This time he dove for a line drive and landed on his shoulder in pain. The Royals’ training staff attended to him and seemingly popped his shoulder back into place.

Royals manager Matt Quatraro gave India both Saturday and most of Sunday off. He was not in the starting lineup either day but was available off the bench.

Quatraro wanted to stack some rest days for India with an off day arriving Monday before a six-game road trip. That will give India — who pinch hit in the eighth inning Sunday and flew out to right field — the better part of three days to recover.

“He could’ve played today and he really wanted to play today,” Quatraro said. “But with the off day tomorrow, we are just trying to do what we think is best.”

Canha celebrates milestone

It was a special weekend for Royals outfielder Mark Canha. He celebrated Father’s Day at Kauffman Sunday and also reached 10 years of MLB service time.

Canha, 36, signed with the Royals this past offseason. He was a late addition in spring training and earned a spot on the bench.

Canha is hitting .242 through 39 games this year. He became the 15th major leaguer to eclipse the 10-year threshold in 2025.

“It’s pretty special and means a lot to me,” he said. “We all work so hard just to get to the big leagues and then you want to stay.

“Somehow I just put a career together and kind of manufactured my own little way. It’s affirmation that with all you did, you did it the right way.”

Canha faced one of his former teams over the weekend. He was with the A’s for seven seasons before also playing for the New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, Detroit Tigers and San Francisco Giants — and now the Royals.

What’s next?

The Royals are off Monday before kicking off a six-game road swing against the Rangers in Arlington, Texas. All-Star right-hander Seth Lugo (3-5, 3.18 ERA) will start Tuesday night at Globe Life Field.

The road trip to Texas will be a homecoming for Witt. The Lone Star State native put on a show during the 2024 MLB All-Star Game, so he knows that ballpark well.

He will certainly have loved ones in attendance this week, as will most KC teammates during what’s been set up as a special family trip.