That was something

Just add another brutal ending to the brutal ending pile.

The Royals and Diamondbacks couldn't score a run in regulation. Then, the teams exploded for a combined nine runs in the tenth. Nine is an odd number, which means the game, which had been deadlocked all afternoon, was finally decided. The Diamondbacks scored five. The Royals could only plate four, ending the game on a strikeout looking. The final: Diamondbacks 5, Royals 4. Ugh.

I'm not sure I've ever seen anything quite like this.

It turns out, I haven't seen anything quite like that. When ballgames get weird, we can always count on Sarah Langs to let us know exactly how weird the game got.

Voila.

It was just the third game in the last 56 years to go scoreless through nine and then have both teams offensively explode for four or more runs in extras. The A's and Astros in 2015 both scored twice in the 10th before Houston scored three in the 11th with A's answering with two more in the bottom of the inning and falling short. The White Sox and Mariners game was scoreless through 13 innings before both teams put up five runs in the 14th. Chicago then got two in the 16th to claim the victory.

I'm not sure where Monday's Royals and Diamondbacks tilt fits in with these two games because I'm not a fan at all of the Manfred Man, but I'd probably rank it as the second weirdest, behind the Sox and Mariners.

Just what you want to see at the yard when the heat indexes are touching triple-digits. Ichiro may have to amend his baseball wisdom to include September in Kansas City, not just August.

I'm not ashamed to admit that Craig Kimbrel's tenure with the Royals has been...I believe the word I'm searching for is intriguing. Through his first nine outings with Kansas City, Kimbrel threw nine innings, allowing just three hits and three walks against six strikeouts. He allowed one unearned run in his previous outing to Monday that resulted in a Royals loss to the Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend, but otherwise, he's been spotless.

I didn't have hopes of any kind when the Royals brought Kimbrel onto the roster. More bullpen chum for the sharks that are MLB hitters. Then again, I haven't had any hopes for this bullpen since the second game of the season. The relievers have flirted with rock bottom all summer. Kimbrel couldn't be any worse. Besides, I figured he was washed. That means his success has been a pleasant surprise.

Those nine outings were very good. Unfortunately, Kimbrel couldn't hit a perfect 10.

With the Manfred Man on second to start the 10th, Ildemaro Vargas pushed a bunt just under the wrist of a diving Kimbrel. I'm not sure he had to dive. Had Kimbrel been able to stay on his feet to pick up the ball, even though it was a solid push bunt to the third base side of the mound, Kimbrel had an opportunity for the out at first. It was an awkward play, but one we should drop in the "that should've been made" column.

Lars Nootbar then opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly. After a fly out for the second out of the inning, it looked as though the Royals could escape with minimal damage. Too bad Royals relievers are required to record three outs. That third out seems to be the most difficult. It was again on Monday as Arizona went into attack mode against Kimbrel. Single. Single. Intentional walk. Single. Single. By the time the hit parade was over, the Diamondbacks had crossed the plate five times. That 0-0 game felt like forever ago. Heat has a way of warping pavement and time.

These were the pitches that went for singles against Kimbrel. There was a lot to feast on.

The elevated four-seamer out of the zone was the bunt. The sweeper down was a good piece of hitting on a first pitch that Geraldo Perdomo pulled into right field. John Rave booted the ball that resulted in two runs coming across. That didn't help.

Otherwise, it was fat city. The sinker and the four-seamer were too often left in imminently hittable locations. The Diamondbacks, unperturbed by their offensive ineptitude over the first nine innings of the game, decided that now was the time to produce.

The Royals, to their credit, did not offer unconditional surrender. Kyle Isbel worked a four-pitch walk to open the frame with reliever Gerardo Carrillo missing badly on all four. Carter Jensen followed that with a run-scoring double on an elevated 2-2 splitter. The Royals were on the board and threatening for more.

Bobby Witt Jr. was hit by the next pitch to load the bases. That was huge because the game could now be tied with a single swing of the bat. Alas, Vinnie Pasquantino could not even get one across, going down on strikes. A bit of an upset there, as Pasquantino has generally done well when he's had a runner to bring home from third with fewer than two outs. He got twitchy and chased a running 2-2 fastball that was outside of the zone.

That brought up Salvador Perez. We should never doubt The Captain. He answered the call with a bases-clearing double to cut the deficit to one.

On a day were offense was non-existent, Perez would be your hitter of the day. He went 3-5 with two singles to go along with his tenth inning double. I kind of love this chart on the pitches where Perez collected his knocks.

It's such a Salvy pitch chart.

As the tying run, Perez was lifted for Tyler Tolbert. Tolbert advanced to third on a fly out from Michael Massey. That brought up Nick Loftin. Loftin saw six pitches and did not swing the bat.

That was your ballgame.

Look, that's a difficult sequence. Dennis Santana on for Carrillo got a lucky first strike call on a slider that was well below the zone. Santana almost let the PA get away with the next three pitches all up and off the plate. The reliever then found himself and absolutely dotted the corner with a cut fastball up and away and then a slider that rode up and in.

Loftin challenged the 3-1 call on the cutter. That's not an exceptionally bad challenge in my book because, if successful, he would've been on first. The pitch Loftin should've challenged was the first one, obviously. That would've really tilted the battle in his favor. Yet he was able to claw back the advantage by not chasing on any of the next three offerings.

I'm also fine with Loftin not swinging on 3-1. He needed to focus on pitch and location, and that location had to be his happy zone, wherever he decided it was. Clearly, given where the cutter finished, it was not.

Now on the 3-2 pitch, he has to swing. Has to. It's a crime to see your team chip off four runs from a five-run deficit only to watch strike three fly past to end the game. You have to be in swing mode, ready to battle. It may not be your pitch, but at 3-2, you're not entirely battling on your terms at the plate. And Santana delivered a pitcher's pitch.

What the Royals offensive ineptitude did was spoil another outstanding performance from your AL Pitcher of the Month of August, Noah Cameron. He stumbled a bit in his first outing of September, a loss against the Miami Marlins last week, but he was strong on Monday, delivering six innings of shutout baseball, striking out seven and walking just two.

Cameron was working his slider more than usual and it was, as always, an effective pitch at generating whiffs, although his entire repertiore was working at avoiding lumber on the afternoon. Of everything, I was probably most impressed by his four-seamer that got a 50 percent chase rate. Only three of his four-seam fastballs were put into play.

Of the 13 batted balls in play, just two left the bat at an exit velocity greater than 95 mph. No wonder Cameron was able to stay steady out there in the heat. The Diamondbacks just couldn't get a read on his pitches and couldn't make solid contact. Extra points from me for Cameron for being able to manage another afternoon under the broiling sun. The box score says the game time temperature was 84 degrees. That sounds really, really comfortable. It was not.

As the Royals are looking to 2027, Cameron is doing his part for claiming a role at the front of the rotation. I figured him as a candidate for regression but he's made adjustments and has been even better. That gives me plenty of hope for the future with Cameron as a number two or three starter.

As you can see from your inbox, I'm back at the keyboard after some time away. The week prior to Labor Day is a perfect time to get away to New York to take in some tennis. I'll usually try to fit in a game at Citi Field while I'm there, but this year the only series the Mets played at home was against the Giants. After watching the Royals stumble through the entire 2026 season, I'm not subjecting myself to that.