Bobby Witt Jr. attacks enough to defeat Corbin Burnes

They couldn’t keep adding to the lead, but that didn’t matter thanks to Ragans, who was as good, if not better, than Burnes before he left the team after 80 pitches due to left calf spasms.

The bullpen, which was KC’s weakness during the regular season, was really fine on Tuesday. Sam Long, Kris Bubic and Lucas Erceg, who earned their saves, shut down the Orioles the rest of the way.

The Royals lost 106 games last season, but improved to 30 wins in October for the first time since winning the World Series in 2015.

They can end this best-of-three series and advance to the AL Division Series against the Yankees by winning Game 2 in Baltimore on Wednesday, when KC will send All-Star Seth Lugo to the mound. Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said he wouldn’t announce his starter until after Tuesday’s game; it was expected to be Zach Eflin.

Baltimore has lost its last nine postseason games, capping a skid that began in 2014.

Ragans, an All-Star lefty who was traded to the Rangers last season, was sensational, combining a 98-mph fastball with a variety of off-speed shots while allowing just four hits and striking out eight.

Burnes looked like the ace Baltimore was hoping for when it acquired him from the Brewers in February. This season’s AL All-Star hitter received a standing ovation from orange-clad fans at Camden Yards after he gave up a leadoff single in the ninth. He allowed one run, five hits and one key walk.

The right-hander became the first starter to throw a pitch in the ninth inning of a postseason game since Washington ace Stephen Strasburg in Game 6 of the 2019 World Series against Houston. But Baltimore’s problems – the team’s 232 homers in 2024 trail only the Yankees – couldn’t break through in the clutch.

The Orioles went to third in the third quarter, but Jordan Westburg flew to the warning track in left field. The hosts then took the field to the corners with one out in the fifth, but Ragans struck out James McCann and 2023 AL Rookie of the Year Gunnar Henderson to end that threat.

In the eighth set, with a pair on the court and two outs, Erceg replaced Bubic and Anthony Santander was selected by the fielder.