Five scoreless innings in a tough loss showed why Kansas City keeps handing the ball to its most unlikely starter.
Kansas City left Comerica Park with a frustrating 4-3 defeat on Thursday night, watching a late lead slip away while a three-game winning streak ended against the surging Tigers.
The postgame conversation still kept circling back to something positive.
Randy Dobnak, acquired from the Mariners for cash considerations in June, threw five scoreless innings in just his second start since rejoining a big-league rotation, and nearly everyone who watched him quiet Detroit's lineup sounded convinced the club found something real.
The Royals have needed rotation depth all season, and their most affordable answer keeps making the strongest possible case.
An Unlikely Anchor
Acting manager Paul Hoover, running the club while Matt Quatraro is away tending to a personal matter, did not hide his appreciation.
"It's been amazing," Hoover said, per MLB.com. "The depth has been hit, and coming in, giving us a chance every time out to stay in games and have a chance to win has been huge for us."
Dobnak scattered four hits, walked one and struck out three across 76 pitches, and MLB.com notes he owns a 1.42 ERA in four appearances since joining the club.
His previous big-league start before last Saturday came all the way back in September 2021 with Minnesota.
"I'm just here to pitch," Dobnak said. "If they want me to start, if they want me in long relief, at the end of the day, I'll do whatever the team needs. I've done both over my career over the years. My mindset is any time I get the ball, just go out there and do my thing."
Even the opposing dugout tipped its cap, as Tigers manager A.J. Hinch observed that Dobnak "disrupts timing, which is the essence of pitching."
How the Game Got Away
The night unraveled after Dobnak departed.
Isaac Collins, who is hitting .245, broke the scoreless tie with a two-run homer in the sixth, his sixth of the year, but James Outman answered with a two-out, three-run blast off John Schreiber in the seventh that flipped the lead.
Kansas City tied it in the eighth on Josh Rojas' single after pinch-runner Tyler Tolbert stole second and moved up on a wild pitch, and Dillon Dingler responded in the bottom half with a two-out, go-ahead double against Steven Cruz.
The tying run still stood at second with one out in the ninth after Lane Thomas walked and Vinnie Pasquantino singled, but Salvador Perez, who sits at 317 career home runs after tying George Brett's franchise record this week, bounced into a game-ending double play.
A 1-for-10 night with runners in scoring position told the rest of the story for a lineup missing Bobby Witt Jr., who is now on the IL with a stiff back.
The Road Ahead
At 43-61, Kansas City is playing for evaluation as much as anything, and the front office is weighing which veterans could move before the August 3 deadline even while the clubhouse insists the second half feels different.
The series continues Friday night in Detroit against Tarik Skubal, which is nobody's idea of a soft landing.
Whatever happens at the deadline, Dobnak keeps giving the Royals a reason to hand him the ball.
