Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino will miss 6-8 weeks with broken thumb after disastrous play

On Thursday night, the Kansas City Royals lost to the Houston Astros — and it all came down to one disastrous play. As a result, the Royals will also be missing their first baseman for potentially the next two months.

First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino will miss 6-8 weeks with a broken right thumb on Thursday night, the Royals announced Friday. Pasquantino sustained the injury after a throw from reliever Lucas Erceg hit the outside of his glove.

Kansas City fell the Astros 6-3 after giving up four runs in the bottom of the 8th inning in Houston. The first of the four runs came off a failed barehanded catch-turned-failed throw to first, which left Erceg and Pasquantino injured and forced them both to exit early.

In other words, with one play, the Royals lost their first baseman, their reliever, the lead and, later, the game.

Pasquantino made his MLB debut in 2022 with the Royals, and became Kansas City's starting first baseman this season. His injury is likely to keep him out at least through the end of the regular season, and likely into the playoffs.

Erceg's injury status has not been announced, but his injury did not appear as severe.

It's a tough blow for the Royals, who are 75-60 and are only 1.5 games back from the Cleveland Guardians to win the AL Central. Kansas City is still in potential wild card position, but will need to stay strong throughout the rest of the season in order to secure a playoff spot — and will now need to do so without their starting first baseman.

The team has three games remaining in the series against the Astros before returning home for a series vs. the Guardians.