Kansas City rallied twice at PNC Park on Saturday, but the manager saw a game that slipped away long before the final swing.
The Kansas City Royals did most of the hard work on Saturday night in Pittsburgh, wiping out a three-run deficit and taking a late lead, and still came home with a 6-5 loss to the Pirates.
It was their third straight defeat, and this one stung more than most because the comeback work was already done twice.
Losses like this stopped moving the standings a long time ago, but they still say plenty about which players are ready to be part of the next good team in Kansas City.
How the Night Unraveled
Left-hander Noah Cameron gave Kansas City six innings and allowed four runs, and the offense kept answering.
Catcher Carter Jensen cut an early deficit in half with a solo homer in the third, his 25th of the year and the one that broke a franchise rookie record that had stood since 1994.
Two more runs came home in the fifth, and in the seventh designated hitter Jac Caglianone tied it with a single before third baseman Nick Loftin singled home the go-ahead run.
The lead lasted until the eighth, when reliever Steven Cruz served up a two-run homer to second baseman Brandon Lowe in the eighth, and Pittsburgh closed it out from there.
Manager Matt Quatraro was not interested in pinning the loss on that one swing, telling reporters afterward exactly where he thought the game was decided.
"As we always say, 'When the game is decided late, all the attention goes to the big hit.' But we had plenty of other chances to score or hold them throughout the game and we didn't. That's where the game was lost."
Why the Details Still Count
The Royals have been eliminated for a while, so the standings are not the point anymore.
The point is that these games are auditions, and Saturday was full of them.
Loftin went 4 for 5 out of the sixth spot in the order and drove in the run that briefly won the game, a night that strengthens his case for a real role next season.
Shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. had three hits and stole his 43rd base of the season.
Cameron finished his 29th start and has now thrown 172.1 innings with a 3.92 ERA, numbers that look like the front of a rotation rather than the back of one.
Quatraro's frustration fits the same idea.
A team learning how to win close games has to sweat the stranded runners and the extra outs, because those habits will decide whether next September feels different.
That is the difference between a rebuilding season that teaches something and one that just runs out the clock, and his comments made it sound like he plans to coach these last games the same way he coached the first ones.
One Game Left in Pittsburgh
The finale ended Sunday afternoon, with starter Michael Wacha getting the ball as Kansas City left PNC Park empty-handed.
After that the Royals head home for their last homestand of the year, three against the White Sox and then a closing set with the Guardians.
Six games remain, and the way this team keeps fighting back suggests the young core already understands what these final days are for.
