By MATT PIKE
The Royals’ bullpen gates at Kauffman Stadium swung open eight times on Wednesday afternoon, a steady dose of relievers jogging to the mound one after another, inning after inning. Together, they ended up making history.
Nine Royals relievers, including opener Angel Zerpa. tossed 10 scoreless innings in the Royals’ 1-0 walk-off win, tying a Major League record for pitchers used in a 10-inning shutout win in the Modern Era. Cleveland also used nine pitchers against Detroit on Sept. 17, 2016.
Salvador Perez was the walk-off hero, lining an RBI single into right-center field in the bottom of the 10th inning for the Royals’ third hit in a game that saw very little offense, driving in MJ Melendez who started the extra inning off at second base pinch running for Vinnie Pasquantino.
Captain Clutch! 🫡 pic.twitter.com/Xp19ufkJNL
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 30, 2025
The victory clinched the Royals’ third consecutive series win and second consecutive winning homestand after losing the previous four.
.The bullpen game featured Zerpa for one-plus innings, Jonathan Bowlan for two and then one apiece from John Schreiber, Taylor Clarke, Hunter Harvey, Steven Cruz, Lucas Erceg, Estévez and Sam Long, who earned the win after navigating around runners on the corners with no outs in the 10th inning.
The Royals are off on Thursday, before hitting the road for a nine game road trip that starts on Friday across the border in Canada against Toronto. Michael Wacha (4-9, 3.53 ERA) takes the mound for the Royals while the Blue Jays starter is currently listed as TBD. First pitch is at 6:07pm, pregame coverage will begin at 5:30 Friday on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM).
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.
