The Nick Loftin game: Royals walk off Pirates 4-3

What a great game

One day after being baptized by the Salvy Splash, second baseman Nick Loftin nearly single-handedly propeled the Kansas City Royals to a 4-3 walkoff victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

I say nearly single-handedly because Loftin, who accrued three RBIs, was joined by one other RBI-ing Royal. That Royal was none other than Jac Caglianone, who completely obliterated a middle-middle pitch for a 114 MPH solo home run—his first at Kauffman Stadium. It was, surely, a weight off his shoulders.

On the pitching side of things, Royals starter Seth Lugo mostly sailed through the game. In the fourth inning, Oneil Cruz cracked a solo home run. And in the seventh inning, Nick Gonzales hit another solo home run to put the Pirates ahead 2-1 in what would be his last batter of the night. Otherwise, Lugo only gave up five total baserunners, equal to his five strikeouts. It was a good start.

Loftin’s heroics began in the seventh inning, when he hit a two-run blast to put the Royals ahead, 3-2. Salvador Perez had reached on the most unlikely of plays: a catcher’s interference by Pirates catcher Henry Davis. It was Loftin’s second home run in as many days. He now has three on the year, and entered 2025 with only one career blast.

The Pirates tied it in a bit of a wacky eighth inning. Isiah Kiner-Falefah singled to right field to kick it off. Then, Lucas Erceg uncorked a wild throw on a pickoff attempt, sending Kiner-Falefah to second base. Two walks and a passed ball later, Bryan Reynolds tied the game on a forceout on the ground. It was 3-3 all.

Kansas City didn’t score in the bottom of the eighth, but Matt Quatraro felt confident they would win and sent Carlos Estevez out in a non-save situation to keep the game tied. Estevez got through it.

The bottom of the ninth inning began quickly, with Maikel Garcia singling to left field. Salvador Perez also singled to left field, but Garcia was unable to advance to third base and stopped at second base. Caglianone came to the plate, and for a second there it seemed as if this would be the Jac Caglianone Game. But Cags did the next best thing, which was to hit a ball to deep right-center field and move Garcia to third base.

Loftin came to the plate afterwards and called game with a sweet, simple line drive to center field that Cruz nearly caught. It wouldn’t have mattered—Garcia would have tagged and scored anyway. But it was more fun with a walkoff hit.

The Royals now stand at 45-48, having won three in a row and six of their last eight. Tomorrow, they go for the sweep.