Royals end season in game four of American League Division Series

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Kansas City's magical season has ended at the hands of the New York Yankees. The Royals could not force a winner-take-all game five in the American League Division Series (ALDS) on Thursday night, falling 3-1 at Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals might have finished just two wins short of playing for the American League pennant, but Matt Quatraro led his team on a remarkable run. Kansas City clinched a postseason berth and won an American League Wild Card series just one year after losing 106 games during the 2023 regular season.

The Yankees forced the Royals to play with a deficit from nearly start-to-finish. Just three pitches into the contest, Juan Soto hit an RBI single to put the Yankees ahead 1-0 in the first inning. Gleyber Torres ignited that opening rally by blasting a double on Michael Wacha's first pitch of the game.

Then, New York's lead started to swell in the fifth and sixth frames. Torres and Giancarlo Stanton each posted an RBI single to extend their team's lead to 3-0. Stanton ended the series with four hits and six RBIs against Kansas City's pitching staff.

The Royals battled back in the home half of the sixth inning to cut their deficit down to just two runs, scoring on an RBI double from Vinnie Pasquantino off the left-center field wall.

However, Kansas City was mostly silent the rest of the night. The Royals did get the tying run to the plate in the seventh inning, but Gerrit Cole got Kyle Isbel to fly out to Soto against the right field wall to end the threat. Cole had a brilliant performance on the mound, allowing just one run on six hits with four strikeouts over seven innings.

From there, New York's bullpen shut down Kansas City's offense, holding the Royals hitless and striking out three of the six batters they faced. Luke Weaver earned the save with a 1-2-3 ninth inning, forcing a fly ball from Yuli Gurriel to Aaron Judge to end the game.

The Royals were out-hit by the Yankees 8-6 in the contest but were led at the plate by a three-hit performance from Tommy Pham. Pasquantino, Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia also tallied one hit each.

Kansas City ends the 2024 campaign with an 86-76 regular season record, improving their win total by 30 games compared to last year.