Royals Rookie Makes Blunt Admission After Back-Breaking Guardians Loss: 'It Hurts'

Pitched his heart out and got punished for it

Sep 9, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Noah Cameron (65) delivers a pitch in the fourth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images | David Richard-Imagn Images

The Kansas City Royals sent Noah Cameron to the mound with their backs against the wall on Tuesday night, and the rookie delivered, tossing seven strong innings to lower his ERA to 3.00.

How did the Royals reward him? With exactly zero runs of support and an "L" next to his name in the box score.

Cameron allowed only two earned runs and struck out eight Cleveland Guardians batters, but fellow southpaw Joey Cantillo mystified the Royals and led his team to a 2-0 win, clinching the season series between the two American League Central teams.

Noah Cameron sounds off on tough-luck loss

Aug 2, 2025; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Kansas City Royals pitcher Noah Cameron (65) walks to the dugout after being relieved during the seventh inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images | Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images

Cameron deserved better, but he's about the only Royals player who's shown up to Cleveland with the season on the line. Entering play on Monday, Kansas City was only two games out of a wild card spot. As of Wednesday, they've been leap-frogged by the Guardians and trail the Seattle Mariners by four games, plus they'd also have to make up 2 1/2 games on the Texas Rangers.

Cameron was candid in his postgame comments, making it clear that taking a loss due to poor run support was a painful feeling as a starting pitcher.

“It hurts,” Cameron said, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com. “Definitely, those losses hurt worse than blowouts. It’s part of it.”

It's scary to think about where the Royals might be without Cameron. Dating back to his big-league debut, when he flirted with a no-hitter as a last-minute fill-in for Cole Ragans, he's been there to pick up this veteran group as the rest have all succumbed to injuries. He might only finish third or fourth in the Rookie of the Year race, but he's been more valuable to Kansas City than any rookie could have been expected.

There's only one small silver lining: Cameron may have saved the bullpen for the final two games of the series, which the Royals need to win if they want any shot at a postseason spot.

“My job every night is to throw deep, save the bullpen and give us a chance to win,” Cameron said, per Rogers. “After, a lot of the bullpen guys came over and said, ‘Hey, that’s huge.’”

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