CLEVELAND — Cole Ragans managed to pitch through a left hamstring cramp for 7 2/3 innings and get his first win this season.
“The hammy started to tighten up and I just didn’t want to push it,” Ragans said after leading the Kansas City Royals over the Cleveland Guardians 4-2 on Sunday.
A 27-year-old left-hander who finished fourth in AL Cy Young Award voting last year, Ragans struck out 10 and walked none while allowing two runs — one earned — and four hits.
Ragans (1-0) felt a nagging pain in his hamstring throughout the game, but it intensified after he got Austin Hedges to pop out for the second out of the eighth inning. Lucas Erceg relieved and got the last out of the inning. Carlos Estévez allowed a leadoff single in the ninth, then struck out three straight batters for his fifth save in six chances.
“You don’t want it to where it turns more serious than it actually is," Ragans said. "There was no reason to keep trying to pitch.”
Kansas City was optimistic Ragans will take his next turn, likely Friday in Detroit.
“He was honest with us throughout the game and was honest with us when he started feeling in more in the eighth inning,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “He was trying to be smart and not push through it, which was the right thing to do.”
Ragans threw 89 pitches and became the second pitcher in Royals’ history to have 10 or more strikeouts in three consecutive starts after Kevin Appier in 1996.
Cleveland took a 2-0 lead in the second when Daniel Schneemann hit an RBI double and continued home on shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.’s throwing error. Ragans then retired nine straight batters and 17 of his last 18.
Kansas City rallied when Salvador Perez hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning and Maikel Garcia had a two-run double in the fifth.
“I try to get quick outs,” Ragans said. “If I’m filling up the strike zone, then (the hitters) are going to have to swing the bats. I just try to get ahead in the count and stay ahead and trust the guys behind me to make plays. If they are swinging early in the count, it might help you later to get them to chase some pitches.”
