This was anticlimactic.
Reliever Matt Strahm walked in the losing run in the 12th inning on Sunday as the Royals dropped a 5-4 decision to the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.
Strahm continued a rash of command issues in this young season. He had not pitched since Wednesday in Minnesota. But Sunday’s game kept going, and Royals manager Ned Yost called on him in the 12th.
The inning began with an infield single from George Springer, who hit a chopper up the middle that second baseman Cheslor Cuthbert could not field cleanly. Cuthbert, who had pinch hit for Raul Mondesi in the 12th, slipped on the play.