The Kansas City Royals find themselves in a tight American League wild-card race as the calendar flips to September.

It’s the final month of the 2025 regular season, and the Royals have work to do. If the Royals are to return to the postseason, they need to leapfrog both the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers.

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They also need to take care of business against the teams further behind in the standings. On Tuesday, the Royals fell short 5-1 against the Los Angeles Angels at Kauffman Stadium.

“It’s a gut punch for sure,” Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino said. “You come into this game and you need it. You’ve got 24 (games) left and you want 24 of them. … And tonight just wasn’t good enough, and we’ve got to find a way to respond.”

The Angels (65-73) strung together four runs in the middle innings. Designated hitter Jo Adell hit a 454-foot homer off Royals starter Michael Lorenzen. It was his 32nd home run as the Angels claimed the lead.

An inning later, Royals reliever John Schreiber allowed consecutive doubles and hurled a wild pitch as Los Angeles extended the lead.

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“I hadn’t thrown a curveball all night,” Lorenzen said. “So, you hope you are saving that. Having it in the back pocket, maybe sitting soft there. And I just gave him what he was looking for speed-wise, maybe.”

The Royals (70-68) recorded just four hits. They struggled against Angels left-handed starter Mitch Farris, who made his MLB debut.

Farris allowed one run in five innings. Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. did the lone damage on the night. Witt hit a triple and later scored in the third inning. It was one of two highlight plays from Witt in the game — more on that in a second.

“He had us tied up a little bit,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “I mean, good off-speed stuff — changeup, specifically — and he elevated his fastball when he needed to.”

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The Royals have lost three of four during their homestand. The offense continues to be inconsistent and it’s proved costly. KC finished 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left five men on base.

“You guys know, the goal is to win series,” Pasquantino said. “We still have an opportunity to do that, but we’ve got to take care of business tomorrow. We’ve got to show up ready to play. And we will. We will regroup tonight, get some sleep and get back here ready to play tomorrow.”

Bobby Witt Jr. shines with defensive gem

On Tuesday, Witt showed why he has a Gold Glove in his collection.

He robbed Angels leadoff hitter Zach Neto of a base hit with a terrific diving stop in shallow left field in the third inning. Witt raced toward the baseball, gathered himself and threw a strike to Pasquantino.

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“That was remarkable,” Quatraro said. “Full extension. To get up and make a throw like that with a good runner, that was really impressive.”

Witt hurled the baseball at 86.6 mph toward the base. His starting depth was 148 feet and his sprint speed was 17.8 feet per second to the baseball.

“That was one of the best plays I’ve seen,” Lorenzen said. “I didn’t think he had a chance and you see him dive for it. I’m hoping he is able to keep it in the infield so the run doesn’t score, and he gets up and throws him out somehow. So I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. Pretty impressive.”

The defensive play helped keep the Angels off the scoreboard. Lorenzen retired the next two hitters — via strikeout — as the game remained tied.

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Later in the frame, Witt came up with his triple and scored on Pasquantino’s sacrifice fly.

What’s next: The Royals are back in action Wednesday night. Royals rookie right-hander Ryan Bergert (2-1, 2.67 ERA) will make his sixth start with the Royals. He owns the best earned run average (minimum 10 starts) among MLB rookies. The Angels have not announced a starter for the game.