Very angry author can't find an alliteration for this 4-3 loss of the Royals

A low-scoring game ended in heartbreak for the Kansas City Royals as they lost 4-3 in an 11-inning battle against the New York Yankees.

The Royals were immediately dangerous against Luis Gil. Bobby Witt Jr. hit a ball into the left-center gap that 99% of players would have considered a single, but Witt's speed turned it into a double. Gil then threw nine balls in a row, walked Salvador Perez and MJ Melendez, and threw the first ball to Freddy Fermin before finally reaching the zone. The Royals were unable to take advantage of the bases loaded with one out, however, as Fermin took full advantage of the count before breaking a very hittable slider, and Michael Massey grounded out the first pitch he saw to end the inning.

The game picked up momentum after the first run, as Gil found control while Cole Ragans had control from the start. The Royals' starter sliced ​​through New York's lineup, allowing only one baserunner in the first run. It wasn't until the fourth inning that someone broke the stalemate. With one out in the first, Massey fought back from 1-2 by fending off balls until he got a fastball he could handle and blasted it over the short porch in right field for a solo home run.

With a 1-0 lead under his belt, Ragans was in complete control. In the first five innings, Alex Verdugo was the only baserunner to reach second base. He didn't do so safely, however – after hitting a ball off the wall in right, he attempted two runs, but was shot down by a superb pitch from Tommy Pham and an equally impressive day from Witt. In the following inning, after throwing 97 pitches, Gil gave way to his old friend Tim Hill and the Yankees bullpen.

The 1-0 lead was no longer enough when New York's top players took their third turn. Gleyber Torres had to leave with one out. Juan Soto fouled a ball with the top of his foot and appeared to be in great pain, which brought the trainer to the field. He limped back to the box and two pitches later threw a hanging curveball that gave him a decisive two-run shot. Ragans ended up needing 34 pitches to end the sixth inning, and Kansas City was down 2-1.

The Royals came close to regaining the lead in the seventh inning when Kyle Isbel and Tommy Pham hit singles against former Yankees closer Clay Holmes, bringing Witt to the plate with two runners on base and no outs. He hit a line drive to right, but right to Soto, for the first out. That put Isbel on third base and gave Perez a chance with runners on the corners. He took advantage, hitting a fly ball deep enough to left-center field to score Isbel and tie the game.

When Ragan had 100 pitches, Matt Quatraro turned to the bullpen in the seventh inning, which quickly got very interesting. Well after Verdugo grounded out to Sam Long to start the inning anyway. Anthony Volpe hit a blooper to center that Isbel briefly considered catching but held back to limit Volpe to a single. Long then walked Anthony Rizzo after four pitches and brought in Jose Trevino. He hit a tapper toward first base that Perez brought in to field. He picked up the ball and tried to tag Trevino, who went quite far right of the baseline to avoid the tag. The umpire called safe and Volpe, sensing an opportunity, rounded third base and tried to score. But Perez was not fooled, turning around and firing a missile to first base. Fermin made the tag to prevent the decisive run. Quatraro came out to contest the play, and upon review, it turned out that Perez had actually tagged Trevino, giving Kansas City a very odd double play to end the inning, 3-2.

The eighth and ninth innings were scoreless innings, both because of Lucas Erceg on the mound and Kansas City's lineup at the plate, sending the game into overtime. Tommy Pham, who was intercepted at first base in the bottom of the ninth, was the zombie runner on second base at the start of the tenth. He would have been anyway if Dairon Blanco hadn't come in for him as a pinch runner. Witt struck out to start the inning. While Perez was at bat, Blanco stole second base. Perez ultimately didn't have to do anything, however, as Yankees relief pitcher Jake Cousins ​​thrashed a slider that slipped away from Trevino, allowing Blanco to score easily. Perez managed a walk after four pitches and reached base for the eighth time in the Series. Both teams then switched: Garrett Hampson filled in for Perez as a pinch runner and old friend Luke Weaver entered the mound for New York. Melendez and Fermin were substituted, sending the game into the bottom of the tenth inning with Kansas City leading 3-2.

Kris Bubic was tasked with protecting the lead. Oswaldo Cabrera started the inning and attempted a bunt. He hit the ball high toward third base and Bubic almost made a fantastic catch, but he couldn't, so Maikel Garcia had to throw to first base and Volpe could advance to third. Austin Wells hit a fly ball flat down the left field line, giving Melendez a chance to make a play at the plate. It was a pretty lousy throw that bounced down the third base line and allowed Volpe to score easily and tie the game. On to the 11th inning.

The Royals managed just one run in the tenth inning with the heart of the batting order, so it should come as no surprise that the 6-7-8 batters were struck out in order. Bubic stayed in the game and was tasked with pitching a scoreless inning. They elected to pitch Soto as the first batter of the inning, and he hit a grounder to second base that brought the winning run to third base. Quatraro then elected to send Aaron Judge to first base, setting up a double play and bringing left-handed Jazz Chisholm Jr. to the plate. Judge stole second base, after which they should have walked Chisholm to give them pressure at every base. They didn't, and Chisholm hit a grounder that Witt put to the glove. He threw it home, but it was offline, scoring the winning run for New York. I could write many words about how this inning was handled, but who cares, the Yankees win.

The loss drops Kansas City to 80-67. The division is all but out of reach at this point, and the lead over Minnesota for the third wild card is now just 1.5 games. The Royals have tomorrow off before heading to Pittsburgh for a weekend series.

Cole Ragans: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, 1 HR

Luis Gil: 5.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 HR

Tommy Pham: 3-4, BB

Juan Soto: 1-5, home run, R, 2 RBI