September 16, 2026 · AL West
Kansas City Royals vs Houston Astros
vs
Game Highlights
Scoring summary
| INN | BATTER | PLAY | SCORE |
|---|---|---|---|
| T4 | John Rave | John Rave homers (6) on a fly ball to right field. Michael Massey scores. | KC 2, HOU 0 |
| T8 | Michael Massey | Michael Massey homers (12) on a fly ball to right field. | KC 3, HOU 0 |
| T8 | Carter Jensen | Astros challenged (tag play), call on the field was upheld: Carter Jensen doubles (33) on a line drive to right fielder Jorge Barrosa. Josh Rojas scores. Isaac Collins scores. Carter Jensen to 3rd. Throwing error by right fielder Jorge Barrosa. | KC 5, HOU 0 |
| B8 | Isaac Paredes | Isaac Paredes out on a sacrifice fly to center fielder Kyle Isbel. Jorge Barrosa scores. | KC 5, HOU 1 |
| B9 | Yainer Diaz | Yainer Diaz homers (12) on a line drive to left field. | KC 5, HOU 2 |
Box score
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| HOU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Pitching & bullpen
How the game was pitched — the starters, the bullpen sequence and each arm's role, and the pitch counts behind them.
Royals
AWAY
5
Daniel Lynch IV started for Royals, leaving with a 2–0 lead. Out of the bullpen, Nate Pearson took the roughest line.
workload · innings pitched
-
Daniel Lynch IV
Starter
5.0
72
0
3
W
Pitch-by-pitch: what Daniel Lynch IV threw
CSW 25% 1st-pitch strike 47% 4.2 pitches/PAPitch # % Whiff CS Foul Ball In play Changeup 24 33% 4 3 6 7 4 Sinker 19 26% 0 5 5 6 3 Four-Seam Fastball 11 15% 0 2 3 3 3 Slider 9 13% 1 0 3 3 2 Knuckle Curve 9 13% 1 2 1 4 1 - Craig Kimbrel Middle 1.0 17 0 0 HLD
- Nolan Hoffman Middle 0.1 6 0 0 HLD
- Anthony Gose Middle 0.2 5 0 1 HLD inherited 2, stranded 2
- Nate Pearson Middle 1.0 16 1 0
- Steven Cruz Middle 1.0 20 1 3
Astros
HOME
2
Cristian Javier started for Astros, leaving trailing 0–2. Out of the bullpen, Enyel De Los Santos took the roughest line.
workload · innings pitched
-
Cristian Javier
Starter
5.1
85
2
2
L
Pitch-by-pitch: what Cristian Javier threw
CSW 24% 1st-pitch strike 63% 3.5 pitches/PAPitch # % Whiff CS Foul Ball In play Four-Seam Fastball 36 42% 3 8 5 13 7 Sweeper 32 38% 4 5 3 12 8 Changeup 9 11% 0 0 3 4 2 Cutter 8 9% 0 0 3 3 2 - Bryan King Setup 1.1 18 0 1 inherited 2, stranded 2
- Enyel De Los Santos Middle 1.1 28 3 2 inherited 2, stranded 2
- Tatsuya Imai Reliever 1.0 18 0 1
Where the game turned
2 runs
- Rave HR (2)
Batting lines
AWAY · KC
| BATTER | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carter Jensen C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .232 | .319 | .453 | .772 | 2B |
| Bobby Witt Jr. SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .278 | .359 | .444 | .803 | SB |
| Vinnie Pasquantino 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .237 | .325 | .387 | .712 | |
| Salvador Perez DH | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .229 | .273 | .378 | .651 | |
| Michael Massey 2B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .282 | .316 | .443 | .759 | HR (12) |
| Kyle Isbel CF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .221 | .268 | .328 | .596 | |
| John Rave RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | .219 | .310 | .447 | .757 | HR (6) |
| Josh Rojas 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .240 | .283 | .340 | .623 | |
| Isaac Collins LF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .221 | .327 | .335 | .662 | |
| Nick Loftin RF | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .231 | .318 | .374 | .692 | |
| Jac Caglianone PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .278 | .328 | .485 | .813 |
HOME · HOU
| BATTER | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jeremy Peña SS | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .277 | .329 | .470 | .799 | 2B |
| Yordan Alvarez DH | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .310 | .428 | .594 | 1.022 | 2B |
| Isaac Paredes 3B | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .257 | .354 | .430 | .784 | |
| Jose Altuve 2B | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .243 | .303 | .392 | .695 | |
| Yainer Diaz C | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .277 | .309 | .439 | .748 | HR (12) |
| Christian Walker 1B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .222 | .295 | .412 | .707 | |
| Joey Loperfido PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .214 | .311 | .330 | .641 | |
| Daulton Varsho CF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .224 | .285 | .355 | .640 | |
| Jorge Barrosa RF | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .199 | .288 | .340 | .628 | |
| Cam Smith RF | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .213 | .278 | .397 | .675 | |
| Nelson Velázquez LF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .196 | .259 | .423 | .682 |
Pitching lines
AWAY · KC
| PITCHER | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | NP | ERA | DEC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daniel Lynch IV | 5.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 72 | 3.29 | W |
| Craig Kimbrel | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 4.50 | HLD |
| Nolan Hoffman | 0.1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4.35 | HLD |
| Anthony Gose | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0.00 | HLD |
| Nate Pearson | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 2.51 | |
| Steven Cruz | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 20 | 4.13 |
HOME · HOU
| PITCHER | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | NP | ERA | DEC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cristian Javier | 5.1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 85 | 5.31 | L |
| Bryan King | 1.1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 4.89 | |
| Enyel De Los Santos | 1.1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 28 | 4.67 | |
| Tatsuya Imai | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 5.13 |
Manager comparison
AWAY · KC
Lineup 4.6 R
Bunts 3.1 R
IBBs 2.5 R
HOME · HOU
Lineup 5.5 R
Bunts 2.3 R
IBBs 0.7 R
Recent form
AWAY · KC
3-7
L4
-11 run diff
LLLLWLLLWW
HOME · HOU
3-7
L3
-18 run diff
LLLWLWLLLW
Season series: 1-2 with KC listed first across 3 prior meetings.
Keep reading
How RunsLeft analyzes games
Standard content on this page comes from the MLB Stats API. The pitching analysis describes how the game was pitched — the starter's line, the bullpen sequence and each arm's role (opener, bulk, setup, closer), pitch counts as a fatigue signal, and the leverage context where the game turned. Reliever roles are inferred from how the manager used each arm up to that date. It describes structure and constraints; it does not grade the manager.