Royals frustrated after questionable home run hire loss to Guardians

KANSAS CITY, Mo.-- The Kansas City Royals lost to the Cleveland Guardians 7-2 on Saturday, however it was not without debate.

When the Royals were up 2-1 in the top of the fourth inning with Cole Ragans (5-6) on the mound with two outs and a 2-2 count, outfielder Jhonkensy Noel struck a line drive that appeared like a nasty ball to left field. The hit was ruled a two-run homer and gave the Guardians a 3-2 lead.

Afterwards, the play was evaluated and the call was remarkably supported as it appeared the ball only hit the black netting connected to the foul pole. The Royals got the next batter out to end the inning, but that play appeared to have a domino effect.

The Royals didn't rating for the remainder of the game, Ragans was pulled the next inning, and the Guardians tacked on four more runs.

" Clearly believed it was nasty, I never ever forgot the ball," Royals supervisor Matt Quatraro stated. "I saw the ball the entire method. Before we even called replay, I was gon na review it anyway cause it's a complimentary review.

" To me, it was clearly foul, and after that afterwards, hearing it hit the black wire to left of the pole, I'm quite unclear on how they have that be a call stand. Clearly a substantial point in the video game, absolutely annoyed since that's why we have replay, to prevent things like that."

For Ragans, he didn't have his best day on the mound and answered for the crowning achievement rather of regreting the call. He recorded 4.2 innings with 6 hits, five runs, one walk, six strikeouts and a loss.

" We've all seen the replay, however nothing I can do about it. They called it reasonable, so just move on," Ragans said.

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Would the Royals have won the video game had that hit been called foul? Possibly, possibly not.

However versus a division competitor and a group like the Guardians, who sit atop the American League, a swing in momentum like what occurred on Saturday can be huge.

Despite the loss, the Royals have an opportunity to protect the series win against the Guardians tomorrow when Seth Lugo (10-2) takes the mound against Logan Allen (8-3) at 1:10 p.m.