Noah Cameron has struggled a bit recently for the Kansas City Royals.
Perhaps the memory of a stellar major league debut — against Tampa Bay last year — will provide added motivation for Cameron (4-4, 4.20 ERA) to get back on track. He will look to help the Royals record a fourth straight road victory on Wednesday night when they face the Rays at St. Petersburg, Fla.
The promising left-hander stepped onto a major league mound for the first time on April 30, 2025, at the Rays’ then-temporary home of George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. Pitching for the team he rooted while growing up in St. Joseph, Mo., Cameron took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and yielded only one hit in 6 1/3 innings of Kansas City’s 3-0 victory.
“You can’t put it into words,” Cameron said after that outing. “It’s something I’ve always dreamed about, especially with this team.”
Cameron went on to finish 9-7 and post a 2.99 ERA over 24 starts that season. He finished fourth in the 2025 American League Rookie of the Year voting.
This season, however, has been inconsistent for Cameron, who’s allowed eight runs (seven earned) over 9 1/3 innings over his last two starts. He gave up six earned over 30 innings of his five prior starts.
Cameron allowed four runs (three earned) on eight hits in five innings during the Royals’ 14-6 home victory over St. Louis on Thursday.
Kansas City pitchers have held the Rays to six runs in winning the first two contests of this four-game set. Meanwhile, the Royals got a solo homer and two-run shot from Tampa native Jac Caglianone during a 12-5 win Tuesday.
“Just soaking in every moment of (playing near home),” Caglianone told Royals.TV.
Caglianone is batting .373 with nine homers and 19 RBIs in 20 games this month.
Even with Maikel Garcia (hand) on the injured list and Bobby Witt Jr. day-to-day with an MCL sprain, the Royals have totaled 50 runs while winning five of their past six games.
Tampa Bay is 9-18 in its last 27 games.
“We knew there were going to be some hiccups that were going to come along the way,” Rays pitcher Drew Rasmussen said. “Unfortunately, we’re going through ours right now, but I don’t think it’s the end of the world.”
Despite the Rays’ struggles, star Yandy Diaz is batting .397 during a 21-game home on-base streak.
A staple in Tampa Bay’s rotation since early May, scheduled Wednesday starter Griffin Jax (2-5, 3.67 ERA) is 1-1 with a 1.20 ERA in his last three starts. The right-hander yielded two solo homers, two other hits and struck out five without a walk over five innings of the Rays’ 5-2 victory against the Washington Nationals on Friday.
It was Jax’s first winning decision as a starter since Oct. 2, 2021. That previous win came at Kansas City, when he allowed two walks and a hit over five scoreless innings for Minnesota.
Jax is 2-2 with a 3.08 ERA in 26 career appearances (three starts) vs. the Royals. He has never faced Caglianone or Royals teammate Carter Jensen, who is batting .357 during a 14-game hitting streak.
–Field Level Media
