Cole Ragans’ strong start, Salvador Perez’s homer power Royals’ win

KANSAS CITY — It had been a long 25 innings since the Royals last scored a run when Vinnie Pasquantino put a stop to that skid in the fourth inning Monday night with his game-tying solo home run.

For good measure, Salvador Perez added the go-ahead homer by going back to back with Pasquantino.

The Royals have been reeling, returning home Monday after a 2-7 road trip through Los Angeles, Oakland and Texas, the latter of which handed Kansas City its first sweep of the year. A tough two-week stretch since mid-June saw the Royals lose 11 of their last 14 and their hold on the final Wild Card spot, now sitting a half-game behind Boston.

But with their ace on the mound in Ragans on Monday, the Royals looked like themselves again. Ragans shut the Marlins down for six innings, allowing one run on four hits with three walks and 11 strikeouts. The Royals’ bullpen followed with three hitless innings.

Ragans registered a career-high 26 whiffs on Monday, surpassing his previous high of 22 done twice (June 9, 2024, and Sept. 4, 2023). The Marlins whiffed 26 times on 53 pitches — a whopping 49% of the time.

On Ragans’ 108th pitch of the night and his eighth pitch to Nick Gordon in the sixth inning, he got Gordon to swing and miss on a slider to secure his 11th quality start of the year. In eight starts since May 17, Ragans has posted a 1.84 ERA.

The Royals finally backed up their starter with run support, scoring three in the fourth inning and another in the sixth on Hunter Renfroe’s solo homer. With the win, Kansas City improved to 26-14 at The K.