KC Royals eliminated as offense fails to overcome Yankees pitching in Game 4

The Kansas City Royals’ season came to an anti-climatic end Thursday night with a 3-1 loss to the New York Yankees in Game 4 of the American League Division Series.

It's a disappointing end to the Royals' magical year, in which the team completed one of the greatest turnaround seasons in baseball history by winning 30 more games than they did a year ago and earning a trip to the postseason. Kansas City finished 10 games over .500 (86-76) after finishing 50 games under .500 (56-106) in 2023.

However, that provided little consolation after watching the Yankees celebrate a trip to the AL Championship Series on Kansas City's field.

KC Royals’ offense unable to get off the mat in Game 4

In Game 4, the Yankees scored a run in the first inning and another in the fifth, before Giancarlo Stanton landed the knockout blow with an RBI single in the sixth. 

With Yankees starter Gerrit Cole tossing a gem, climbing that mountain was an insurmountable challenge, given Kansas City’s offensive struggles.

The Royals got one run back in the sixth on Pasquantino’s two-out RBI, but that’s where the rally ended.

In the seventh inning, Kyle Isbel brought the crowd to its feet with a deep drive to right field with Tommy Pham on first — a hit that would’ve tied the game — only to have Juan Soto make the catch against the fence as the wind kept the ball inside the spacious Kauffman Stadium.

The Yankees' Clay Holmes pitched a perfect eighth inning before Luke Weaver struck out Pasquantino and Pérez and induced a fly ball off the bat of Yuli Gurriel for the final out.

Cole scattered six hits over 7.0 innings, struck out four and allowed the Royals’ lone run.

Yankees’ bullpen holds mastery over Kansas City

The Yankees’ bullpen didn’t surrender an earned run to the Royals in the ALDS in 15 1/3 innings pitched. Seven relievers combined for 15 strikeouts against three walks, allowing eight hits and a single run.

Kansas City scored its lone run against the Yankees bullpen in the sixth inning of Game 1 following an Anthony Volpe throwing error.

Holmes tossed 5.0 shutout innings, while Weaver recorded three saves in 4 1/3 scoreless frames.

The Royals’ offense sputtered without Pasquantino

The Royals’ offensive woes this postseason have been well-documented and became more magnified in the postseason, but it didn’t just disappear when the calendar flipped to October. Sadly, the Royals’ offense has been missing since late August when Vinnie Pasquantino was injured in Houston and missed the final 27 games of the regular season.

In 135 games through August 29 — the date Pasquantino was injured — the Royals were 75-60 and ranked fifth in MLB with 4.87 runs per game on offense. However, in the final 27 games without Pasquantino, the Royals went 11-16 and ranked 30th in MLB with 2.89 runs/game.

The team also ranked dead last in batting average (.203), on-base percentage (.275), slugging percentage (.302), and runs (74) during September. Kansas City was limited to two runs or fewer in 13 of its final 27 regular season games without a healthy Pasquantino sandwiched between MVP candidate Bobby Witt Jr., and Salvador Pérez.

At the time of his injury, Pasquantino ranked second in MLB in batting average with runners in scoring position (.360), third in go-ahead RBI (26), and fourth in total RBI (97).

Although he returned for the postseason, Pasquantino clearly wasn’t the same player he was before the injury. He went 3-for-23 with nine strikeouts in the playoffs.

Without Pasquantino at full strength, the Royals scored just 15 runs in six playoff games and were held to two runs or less in four times.