Wacha passed a personal mark that stood for more than a decade on Tuesday night.
The fifth inning on Tuesday night gave Michael Wacha a personal record, and the 11th inning gave the Kansas City Royals their 82nd loss of the year.
Wacha threw six scoreless innings against Arizona at Kauffman Stadium, walked four and still worked out of every jam, and in the fifth he passed the 181 1/3 innings he threw for St. Louis back in 2015.
The Royals lost 5-3 in 11 innings anyway, their second extra-inning loss in two nights.
Wacha did not make much of it.
"Just healthy," Wacha said, according to MLB.com's Anne Rogers. "Being able to go deeper into games this year and be able to bounce back, start after start. It's definitely cool to be able to pass that."
A Career Year in Kansas City
The numbers say the same thing.
Wacha now has 182 2/3 innings, the most of any American League pitcher, and his 3.25 ERA ranks seventh in the league.
It is his best ERA since he signed with the Royals ahead of the 2024 season, and he made the All-Star team along the way.
Tuesday was his 20th quality start in 29 tries and his fourth in a row, and he has gone at least six innings in 22 of those starts.
That durability is also why he is still a Royal.
The Royals were labeled sellers as far back as the end of June, but the front office held onto Wacha at the deadline, and Rogers reported that his reliability was the main reason and that the club views him as key to turning things around in 2027.
He is signed through next season at $14 million with a team option for 2028, so the man who was the best pitcher on this staff in the first half will anchor next year's rotation as well.
What the Loss Means
Arizona scored single runs in the eighth and ninth, John Rave answered with a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth that tied it 2-2, and Vinnie Pasquantino's sacrifice fly tied it again at 3-3 in the 10th.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. then tripled off Anthony Gose in the 11th, Ketel Marte added a sacrifice fly, and the Royals went quietly.
It looked a lot like Monday's 10-inning loss, when Noah Cameron threw six scoreless innings and the bullpen gave it away late.
With 16 games left, the Royals really cannot reach .500, which makes this their first losing season since 2023.
They sit fifth in the AL Central at 64-82, 12 games behind the White Sox, and they have dropped seven of their last 10.
Daniel Lynch IV starts the series finale against Arizona on Wednesday night, Thursday is an off day, and after that the Royals play nine straight on the road in Boston, Houston and Pittsburgh before coming home to close the year.
None of that changes the standings, but Wacha's season is the one part of this year that went the way the Royals drew it up.
Matt Quatraro said he is running out of things to say about him, and the 35-year-old who was expected to be traded is now the piece the team is building around.
