The Kansas City Royals dropped a competitive game on Tuesday afternoon. On a cold afternoon in Cleveland that saw a first pitch temperature of 33 degrees, the Royals lost via a walk-off base hit in the bottom of the ninth to the Cleveland Guardians. Royals manager Matt Quatraro turned to John Schreiber in the ninth inning of a 1-1 game, but Brayan Rocchio ultimately came through with a clutch walk-off RBI hit. After the game, Quatraro explained his decision to turn to Schreiber in the final inning.

"Two ground ball hits, John puts the ball on the ground a lot," Quatraro said. "It's really the walk that hurt us, putting the runner in scoring position. We knew it was going to be all lefties, that's not the ideal situation (Schreiber is a right-handed pitcher), but we have a lot of faith in him."

Schreiber surrendered two hits, a walk and a run in 0.1 innings on the mound. Cleveland finally came through in a game that had been tied 1-1 since the fifth inning. Quatraro trusted Schreiber despite a number of left-handed Guardians hitting in the ninth inning. It seems as if he did not regret the decision.

In all reality, Cleveland did not hit the ball especially hard. The Guardians simply put the ball in play and good things happened for them. It was a frustrating defeat for Kansas City nonetheless.

Noah Cameron and Gavin Williams -- who started the game for the Royals and Guardians -- turned in similar starts. Both pitchers went exactly 5.2 innings and finished with no-decisions. Both pitchers surrendered one run, but Williams only allowed one hit and struck out eight while Cameron gave up six hits and recorded five strikeouts.

Both bullpens were good for the most part, but Schreiber was unable to send the game to extra innings in the bottom of the ninth.

Offensively, Carter Jensen had the only Royals hit of the game, which was a solo home run in the second inning. Aside from the home run and a few walks, it was an extremely quiet day for the Royals from an offensive standpoint.

The Guardians' had a bit more luck on offense, but they were not much better. Cleveland ended up with eight hits and two runs.

Kansas City earned a 4-2 series-opening victory on Monday. Cleveland bounced back with a 2-1 Game 2 win. As a result, Wednesday's afternoon contest represents the rubber match of the series. 

Royals ace Cole Ragans is set to pitch for Kansas City on Wednesday. The Guardians will turn to left-handed starter Joey Cantillo, who is a 2026 breakout candidate. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 PM EST in what projects to be another competitive contest.