Royals' bullpen falters again as Marlins win series

Jaylon Thompson, The Kansas City Star on Jul 19, 2025

Published in Baseball

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The Kansas City Royals continue to be plagued by their inconsistent offense. And now, the bullpen is starting to bear the brunt of the pressure.

On Saturday, the Royals mustered just one run against the Marlins at LoanDepot Park in Miami. It came in the eighth inning, when Salvador Perez hit a solo home run, his 14th of the year.

The rest of the Royals’ lineup remained silent as the Marlins earned a series victory with a 3-1 win at LoanDepot Park.

The Royals mustered just three hits. Bobby Witt Jr. went hitless and failed to extend his franchise-record road hitting streak to 28 games. Witt went 0 for 4 a day after going 1 for 5.

Vinnie Pasquantino struck out twice and has yet to record a hit during this Miami road swing, as has leadoff hitter Jonathan India.

The Marlins (46-51), meanwhile, took advantage in Saturday’s late innings. Otto Lopez hit a two-run double off Royals reliever Lucas Erceg in the eighth after Erceg walked the leadoff batter and then put another man aboard.

Lopez drove in all three Marlins runs Saturday.

Added up, it’s another series loss for the Royals. They dropped both games in Miami because of their leaky bullpen. The Marlins walked off the Royals in 10 innings Friday.

The Royals (47-52) will look to salvage a win in Sunday’s series finale before heading to Chicago for a series against the Cubs.

Royals shut down early

Marlins pitcher Cal Quantrill is quite familiar with the Kansas City Royals.

Quantrill, 30, faced the Royals multiple times during his seasons with the Cleveland Guardians. In 10 career outings against KC, he had a 6-0 record and 2.96 ERA.

On Saturday, Quantrill crossed paths with the Royals again. And this time, he propelled the Marlins to victory. The Royals logged just two hits against Quantrill, who remains undefeated against them.

Royals manager Matt Quatraro tried to utilize his right-handed hitters strategically in Saturday’s batting order. It was a good idea, as Quantrill has reverse splits this season.

Quantrill had limited left-handed batters to a .203 average. Against righties, however, he had struggled. Opposing right-handed hitters had hit .371 against him with a 1.063 OPS.

Those numbers didn’t matter Saturday afternoon.

Quantrill struck out three batters in six shutout innings. He earned a no-decision, as the Royals came back to tie the game in the top of the eighth on Perez’s blast to straightaway center.

Wacha lacks run support

Royals starter Michael Wacha navigated an early flurry of activity against the Marlins.

He allowed an earned run in the first inning — the first time this year he’s given up a run in the first inning of a game — after Marlins second baseman Xavier Edwards opened the contest with a leadoff triple. Edwards then came around to score on Lopez’s RBI groundout.

Wacha settled in from there. He scattered three hits across six innings but didn’t receive the run support he needed.

That’s nothing new for this team. This year, Wacha has averaged a paltry 2.29 runs of support per start. That’s the lowest such figure in the majors among qualified starting pitchers.

The Royals gave themselves few opportunities to score. In the third inning, KC outfielder Tyler Tolbert singled but was picked off first base. Later, third baseman Maikel Garcia rolled into a 6-4-3 double play to end the visitors’ half of the seventh.

What’s next?

Royals All-Star Kris Bubic (7-6, 2.48 ERA) will start Sunday afternoon’s series finale opposite Marlins right-hander Janson Junk (4-1, 2.68 ERA).