Noah Cameron Takes Blame as Banged-Up Royals Absorb 19-2 Rout by Padres
· Yahoo Sports
Sunday afternoon turned ugly in a hurry at Kauffman Stadium.
The Royals entered the finale against San Diego with a chance to sweep the series, then watched the Padres pile up 19 hits and five home runs in a 19-2 blowout that dropped Kansas City to 40-60 on the season.
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Jac Caglianone provided the lone early bright spot with a first-inning homer projected at 432 feet, but the day belonged to the visitors, and it ended with infielder Tyler Tolbert on the mound absorbing six runs in the ninth inning.
Noah Cameron took the loss, and afterward he took the blame as well.
Cameron's Rough Afternoon
The left-hander allowed seven runs on nine hits over five innings after entering the day 5-7 with a 4.89 ERA, and the recent stretch has been even harder on him, with 31 runs allowed over his last 35 innings per MLB.com.
"I feel like I let the team down a lot," Cameron said. "Obviously, coming into today trying to get a sweep."
The young starter has passed 100 innings this season while the rotation crumbles around him, and he acknowledged the strain that comes with carrying that load.
"We're banged up. Obviously, I'm throwing a lot of stressful innings. It's been tough," Cameron said. "But realistically, I just have to stay healthy and keep throwing innings, and hopefully things will decrease numbers-wise and I can have some good outings."
Quatraro Still Believes
Manager Matt Quatraro refused to pile on, pointing instead at how few options his staff has left.
"He's also had some really good stretches in games where he's shown that he can eat innings and he can be really effective. We want him to pitch," Quatraro said. "He's good, and he's had a couple of tough games, but we need him."
The manager was blunt about how the day finished with a position player on the mound.
"You're having a position player throw the ninth inning, so it stinks for everybody to be out there in that situation," he said. "You never want to be in that spot, but that's the spot we put ourselves in."
No Easy Fixes
The rotation problems run deep, with Cole Ragans, Kris Bubic, Stephen Kolek, Ryan Bergert and Ben Kudrna all sidelined, a crunch that pushed the club to add bullpen help earlier this month.
Bobby Witt Jr. also sat out Sunday with lower back tightness, adding one more worry for a team now 13 games back in the AL Central.
The deadline sits less than two weeks away, and veterans like Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo have been floated as trade candidates even as Wacha, one of the club's most pleasant first-half surprises, takes the ball against a struggling Giants team on Monday night at Kauffman Stadium.