After lengthy weather delay, Royals can't shake Rangers in afternoon home defeat

Jaylon Thompson, The Kansas City Star on Jun 11, 2026

Published in Baseball

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals needed length from veteran starter Michael Wacha on Thursday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium.

The bullpen was taxed after Wednesday’s 6-4 loss to the Texas Rangers. And a lengthy rain delay lasting 2 hours, 20 minutes on Thursday didn’t help matters.

Wacha had to eat up some innings and save the relievers’ arms. The wily right-hander held up the end of his bargain, but the Royals’ offense failed to support him.

“It helps us for sure,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “And he knew that coming into the day. He understands what the situation dictates and he stepped up.”

The Royals’ hitters didn’t fare well against Rangers starter Kumar Rocker. He allowed two runs and five hits in 4 2/3 innings. It wasn’t his best performance, but he did enough to help Texas take a 4-2 victory, and with it the series win.

“He was pretty much the same this time than last time,” Royals outfielder Jac Caglianone said of Rocker. “So, something to note.”

The Royals managed six hits. Royals outfielder Kameron Misner recorded an RBI single in his debut and Caglianone added two more hits to his terrific start to June.

“Just trying to do the job,” Misner said. “He kind of left the slider out over and was able to stay through it and put some good wood on it.”

Wacha was a victim of some bad luck throughout the game. The Rangers scored a run in the first three innings — headlined by Corey Seager’s solo homer in the third.

Texas manufactured offense with a small-ball approach. Rangers star Brandon Nimmo hit a two-out double in the first inning. And a few innings later, Elias Diaz, who was previously with the Royals, drove in a run with a bunt single.

The Rangers were also aggressive on the basepaths. Duran scored on an Evan Carter’s single in the sixth inning.

Wacha threw 102 pitches. He didn’t have his customary sharp command, but he battled through seven innings. His fastball and change-up combined for just four whiffs, per Baseball Savant.

“I felt like I didn’t have my good good stuff,” Wacha said. “I mean, it was doable today. Was able to grind it out there for seven innings. And you know, I felt like I could’ve got out of some of those innings kind of with a zero on the board. But overall, I was able to limit the damage and keep them to a single run an inning.”

The Royals dropped to 28-41 this season. They didn’t have a lot of scoring opportunities, finishing 1-for-3 with runners in scoring position while leaving four men on base.

“We’re trying to win series,” Quatraro said. “Yesterday was an extra-inning game. Today is a hard-fought game. But we hadn’t been able to come back on top of either one of them. So absolutely, it’s frustrating.”

Texas (34-34) completed the season series with Kansas City winning five of six games.

What’s next?

Royals right-hander Luinder Avila (1-2, 4.02 ERA) will start Friday night’s series opener against the Houston Astros. He will oppose right-hander Tatsuya Imai (3-3, 5.24 ERA) at Kauffman Stadium; first pitch is 7:10 p.m.