Royals make final impression before trade deadline with walk-off win vs. Braves

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals are working the phones before the clock strikes 5 p.m. Central on the MLB trade deadline this Thursday.

The looming deadline will send aftershocks throughout the league. It’s the final chance for teams to gear up for a second-half postseason surge. And the Royals are one of the clubs looking to make up ground in the American League wild-card race.

The Royals have their to-do list in hand. Royals general manager J.J. Picollo would like to go shopping for another offensive bat and some pitching depth. However, he likely won’t have the largest cart in the store.

Expect the Royals to shop in the bargain-bin sections. There could be a special deal or two that fancies Picollo’s attention. However, he is on a budget for necessities with his biggest trade chip already accounted for.

The Royals signed Seth Lugo to a new two-year extension on Monday. He will remain with the organization for the long haul and has a vesting option for 2028. Lugo was the subject of trade rumors earlier this month but now is off the board.

Lugo celebrated by helping the Royals to a win Tuesday. They continued that positive momentum a day later.

On Wednesday, the Royals earned a 1-0 win against the Atlanta Braves. Royals manager Matt Quatraro lined up nine relievers in the series finale — thanks in part to multiple injuries to the rotation.

“You’ve just got to be on your toes because, I mean, there is not really a set order,” Royals reliever Jonathan Bowlan said. “I mean, you’ve just got to be ready to rock. They said we have a bullpen day and we were like, ‘All right, let’s do it.’ ”

The Royals are missing three starters and key outfield contributors. Both teams weren’t at full strength, as the Braves were without superstar Ronald Acuña Jr.; he was placed on the injured list after Tuesday’s game.

As a result, neither team got much going offensively. The game remained scoreless into extra innings and the Royals never advanced a runner to second base on their own volition.

The usage of nine relievers matched an MLB record for most pitchers used in a shutout. It was the 28th time in Royals history in which both teams were scoreless through nine innings.

In the 10th inning, Royals left-handed reliever Sam Long worked around two base runners, including the designated runner, to post a scoreless frame. The Royals won the game in the bottom of the 10th to earn a series victory.

“I just wanted to come in and execute as many pitches as I could,” Long said. “With the bullpen already doing such a good job throughout the entire game, I just wanted to come in and do the same thing. And I was able to execute today. I felt like I had some of my best stuff.”

Salvador Perez added his ninth career walk-off hit as designated runner MJ Melendez scored from second base.

“Keep going,” Perez said of the team win. “They’ve got to keep doing the job every game. You see the way we were hitting, I don’t think there (are) too many games like today.”

The Royals (54-55) now embark on a pivotal nine-game road trip that includes stops against the Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins. All three teams are in the wild-card hunt and could look drastically different after Thursday’s trade deadline.

Here are more takeaways from Wednesday’s action ...

Royals bullpen dominates

The Royals made a conscious effort to use nearly all of their available relievers on Wednesday afternoon against the Braves.

Left-hander Angel Zerpa tossed a scoreless inning to open the game. He was followed by a convoy of relievers including Bowlan — who threw two innings — to neutralize the Braves offense.

“There’s no way you go into a game against that lineup, especially what we’ve seen the last couple of nights with the way they have been swinging the bats, expecting 10 shutout innings,” Quatraro said postgame. “But not only did they pitch incredibly well today, but they had a huge workload for the last four or five days. So can’t credit them enough.”

Bowlan registered three strikeouts. John Schreiber matched him by striking out the side in the fourth inning.

“Our mindset has kind of been the same all year,” Schreiber said. “You know, we all just want to take the ball, put up a zero and give the team a chance. And you know, Salvy got the job done. Good win, good series.”

There wasn’t much offense on the night. The teams combined for eight hits. But the Royals earned their seventh walk-off win of the season to finish July with a 15-9 record.

KC product stifles Royals offense

Braves left-hander Joey Wentz enjoyed a successful homecoming against the Royals. The Shawnee Mission East graduate shut out the Royals lineup across 6 2/3 innings while recording seven strikeouts.

Wentz allowed one hit and walked three batters. Royals All-Star Maikel Garcia recorded the lone hit to lead off the game. From there, Wentz was electric with his three-pitch mix of a cutter, four-seam fastball and curveball.

“The whole game, we didn’t solve him at all,” Quatraro said. “I mean his cutter percentage and usage was way up today and he executed it. He didn’t make any mistakes.”

He tossed 62 of 95 pitches for strikes and generated 48 swings and 13 whiffs.

What’s ahead for the Royals

The Royals are off Thursday before traveling to Toronto. All eyes will be on the trade deadline as the club attempts to add to the roster on the final day.

KC will be back in action on Friday night. Right-hander Michael Wacha (4-9, 3.53 ERA) will start at the Rogers Centre to begin the nine-game road trip.