Royals Broadcast Refuses to Apologize After Pitcher Swears on Live TV
The Kansas City Royals held the worst record in MLB while suffering through an eight-game losing streak last month.
The Royals completed a series sweep of the Seattle Mariners with a 4-1 win on Sunday afternoon, bringing their record to 15-19. And as the Royals claw back to .500, previously pent-up emotions are flowing more freely.
Royals relief pitcher Lucas Erceg came in for the 10th inning in Seattle on Saturday night. He struck out two Mariners en route to earning a save for the second straight game. Afterward, Erceg joined longtime Royals broadcaster Joel Goldberg and threw a heater that the broadcast was not expecting.
“Sorry if I’m stuttering,” Erceg said. “My adrenaline is through the freaking roof, and I [expletive] love this [expletive].”
Erceg immediately realized he’d forgotten he was on live television and apologized, saying, “Excuse my language. Sorry, sorry, sorry. Woo!”
Erceg may have been sorry, but Royals TV isn’t.
“We’re aware of the use of colorful language at the end of last night’s broadcast,” the Royals wrote in a press release issued through Royals TV, the broadcast home of the club. “We wanted to take this opportunity to assure fans, he kinda said it best…no notes.”
Fans in the comments were mostly relieved to see signs of life from Erceg and the Royals after the season seemed left for dead in the first month.
The Royals would obviously love to return to March 27 and redo the first 34 games, but luckily for them, the AL Central is collectively off to a bad start. Even at 15-19, the Royals are only 2.5 games back from the division-leading Cleveland Guardians at 18-17. The Detroit Tigers are 17-17, the Chicago White Sox are 16-18, and the Minnesota Twins are 15-20.
The Royals have a chance to climb up the AL Central rankings this week. They’ll host the Guardians at Kauffman Stadium for a four-game series, beginning Monday, before welcoming the Tigers next weekend and visiting the White Sox from May 12 to May 14.
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This story was originally published May 3, 2026 at 7:59 PM.