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Royals win series over Angels; Top prospect Jensen promoted

By artoodeetoo
09/05/2025

9/1 -- Royals tab Jensen for 40-man roster; move Tolbert to 60-day IL: Despite having not played for the past few days down in Triple-A due to a nagging quad injury, the Royals promoted one of their top prospects to the active roster to take the 28th and final spot for the stretch run in September.

In fact, he's still not likely to play at least until the Minnesota series later in the week, per manager Matt Quatraro. Catcher Carter Jensen was the Royals' third round pick in 2021 out of Park Hill High School in suburban Kansas City, and has been one of the minors' most consistent risers since making his pro debut roughly four years ago.

He'll join Salvador Perez and Luke Maile as part of their catching depth, and will be playoff-eligible as they were able to get him in just prior to the deadline on Sunday. To clear a spot on the 40-man, they transferred infielder Tyler Tolbert to the 60-day injured list. Quatraro confirmed they brought him on in his early morning press conference call with the local media.

"Carter really stood out back in the spring, even amongst players that were in their late 20's, early 30's," he said. "It's a bit cliche' for catchers, but he really is one of those cerebral players who has gotten so much better at calling a game and getting in tune with what each pitcher throws, and accounting for the game situation. The plan is to play him as much as possible as the situation allows, but really it's also about getting him up here and getting accustomed to the rigors of big league travel and preparation."

That's a good sign that he'll likely open up in 2026 on the Opening Day roster as the left side of a catching platoon with Perez, provided that the Royals bring him back on his team option for next year.

9/2 -- Eighth-inning rally falls short; Royals drop first game: Despite holding a 3-2 lead at the end of the sixth inning; in the following inning, the Angels took the lead against newcomer Ryan Thompson, who arrived at the stadium just a handful of hours prior to first pitch, scoring a pair of runs against him in just one-third of an inning.

Later, With the bases loaded and the team down 4-3 with two outs in the eighth, Lucas Erceg came in with just two homeruns allowed in over fifty innings of work. Although the hitter he was brought in to face was no ordinary hitter, but it was Mike Trout.

The two battled to a full count, but despite Erceg's 3-2 pitch not being in the zone, Trout managed to barrel the ball on the outside edge of the plate, putting it over 400 feet away to right-center to put the game seemingly out of reach. Or was it?

The Royals countered for four in the bottom of the eighth, which sounds great, but the Royals again let a promising rally fizzle out with a whimper as Jonathan India rolled into a double play to end the inning with pinch-runner Dairon Blanco stranded at third. Carlos Estevez kept it a one-run game, but Reid Detmers worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save, his first as the new full-time closer for the Angels in handing the Royals an 8-7 defeat.

"Just a very frustrating turn of events, and quite the rollercoaster we were on in that inning," said manager Matt Quatraro. "The crowd went from a roar to dead silence after the grand slam, and then back to a roar when Maikel scored on the play at the plate, then back to a dull silence when Johnny grounded into the double play. And then Detmers came in and slammed the door shut in the ninth, so we feel like just tipping our hats. They did just a little more than we could manage."

What was even more frustrating is that the Royals missed on a golden opportunity to narrow the wildcard race, as all of the contenders in front of them minus the Yankees also dropped their games, most of them by one-run margins. At 5 1/2 games out, they still have the opportunities in front of them, but the hourglass is starting to run out of sand.

9/3 -- Royals rebound in annihilating the Angels: For the first time in quite a while, the Royals enjoyed a pretty stress-free night at the park, as they scored eleven runs on a baker's dozen hits to cruise to an 11-5 win over the Angels, evening their series with Los Angeles at a game each.

Jac Caglianone's strong August has carried over into September as he hit a two-run homerun in the second, reaching base a total of three times in the win. He also walked in the fourth, and was hit by a pitch in the eighth, the sixth time he's been hit this season in just 220 plate appearances.

The Angels countered with two in the top of the third to tie the game, but the Royals fired back with two more in the third to take the lead for good, as the Angels never seriously threatened again. They scored two in the fifth, four in the sixth, and then added one in the seventh.

"It felt good to see consistent offense, where you're not just getting all of it in one or two innings, but up-and-down the lineup," manager Matt Quatraro. "It's silly to expect that night in and night out, but it's something I'd like to see us do more often, that's for sure."

And all of this was backed up by a strong start from Bailey Falter, although he did run into some homerun issues as Travis d'Arnaud homered in the fourth leading off that inning, while Gustavo Campero hit the first of his two homeruns against Falter in the seventh. In seven innings, Falter allowed four runs (two earned) on seven hits, with two strikeouts and no walks. Ryan Thompson atoned for his loss in Tuesday's game by fanning the side in the eighth, and Taylor Clarke worked around Campero's second homerun to finish the contest.

Kansas City goes for the series win Thursday night as Michael Wacha will face a yet-unnamed Angels starter. Tonight's win moves them to within 4 1/2 games of Seattle for the final wildcard in the AL, and they are just a half-game back of the Guardians in both the wildcard and divisional standings.

9/4 -- Sac flies, strong pitching seals series victory: It wasn't the most efficient way to win, but the Royals managed to claim the rubber game of their series with the Angels by a 4-2 score, thanks to a trio of sacrifice flies and some solid work from the pitching staff.

With the birth of his child happening any day now, Michael Wacha pitched well into the seventh inning, but did not figure into the decision after surrendering a leadoff homerun to Kyren Paris in the seventh. He was able to get the next two outs before Angel Zerpa picked him up, although Zerpa allowed a hit and a walk before getting a fly ball out from Taylor Ward to end the inning.

"He really left it all out there," said manager Matt Quatraro. "There has to be quite a bit on his mind with a baby on the way in a matter of days, or even hours perhaps, but he's a pro's pro and showed why he's done it so well these last ten years or so."

The Royals struck first with an RBI double from Maikel Garcia, scoring Vinnie Pasquantino. That was the last run that the Royals would get without recording an out on the same play. After a Chris Taylor RBI hit in the second, Kyle Isbel hit a sac fly to put the Royals back up 2-1, a lead that stood until the seventh when Paris homered off Wacha.

Adam Frazier gave the Royals the lead back with a bases-loaded sac fly in the seventh, followed by Garcia driving in his second run of the game with one in the eighth. Lucas Erceg and Carlos Estevez kept the Angels at bay with scoreless frames in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.

With the Rangers and Mariners idle, Kansas City gained a half-game on both with the win, moving to within four games of the final wildcard spot. The Twins come to town beginning tonight for a three-game series with Minnesota.

9/5 -- Royals make roster moves ahead of Twins series: Royals skipper Matt Quatraro noted after last night's win over the Angels that Michael Wacha potentially had "hours to go" until his baby arrived, and that proved to be prophetic as he was placed on the paternity list early this morning.

"It was pretty much just a few hours after the final pitch," he said in his early-morning conference call with reporters. "He's at the hospital right now, so we'll wish him and his family well at this exciting time."

Kansas City re-called Ryan Bergert to take his spot in the rotation. Bergert was sent down back on August 21st, and would have been eligible to return even without needing an injury or restricted/paternity list reason to return, but Quatraro is glad to see the youngster back with the major league team.

"Ryan carries himself like a veteran, and he's barely been in the majors for a few months," he said of his young pitcher. "One of the things that we noticed with him early on here is how he prepares for games, and he's very in tune with studying film and really sussing out what guys can and can't do."

The Royals also will welcome Cole Ragans back into the rotation, as the Royals have activated him after a successful pair of rehab starts in the minors. It will be over three months between starts, as he is not expected to make his next appearance until sometime in the Cleveland series next week. His last start was June 5th, and couldn't get out of the third inning before getting pulled early.

Quatraro noted that lefty Bailey Falter will move to the bullpen to make room for Ragans, with Sam Long being designated for assignment for the second time this season. Long statistically has been one of the best relievers not only on the Royals, but in the AL over the last couple of months. Albeit, most of those innings have been attained largely in low-leverage situations.

At the time of his first designation, Long was pitching to an ERA of over 12.00 and was not claimed and outrighted to Omaha. This time, he could end up on a roster with his strong numbers over the past few months. Aside from a disastrous outing against the Dodgers back in late June when he allowed four earned runs in a single inning, Long has worked to a 1.80 ERA in twenty innings since June 21st.