Kansas City Royals at Los Angeles Dodgers: Final Score & Recap

The Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Kansas City Royals 4-3 on June 14, 2024, at Dodger Stadium in a game that swung dramatically across the middle innings before the home side ultimately prevailed. The DiamondIQ model entered the night giving the Dodgers a 58% win probability, and while Kansas City briefly seized control, that estimate climbed to 100% by the final out.

The decisive turning point came in the fourth inning, when Salvador Perez connected on a home run off Gavin Stone that shifted win probability 22.0 percentage points in Kansas City's favor, giving the Royals a 3-0 lead heading into the bottom half. The Dodgers answered in the fifth, with Miguel Rojas and Chris Taylor both going deep off Cole Ragans — swings worth +19.3% and +13.6% in win probability, respectively — erasing the deficit entirely and flipping the momentum of the game in a single inning. The decisive run arrived in the bottom of the eighth, when Freddie Freeman singled off Will Smith to push Los Angeles ahead 4-3, a hit that added 19.2 percentage points to the Dodgers' win probability and proved to be the game's final margin.

Among individual performers, Miguel Rojas led all batters with a +18.9% WPA and +1.6 RE24, while Perez was the standout for Kansas City at +18.5% WPA and a game-best +1.7 RE24. Freeman added +9.3% WPA despite his modest RE24 of +0.2, his eighth-inning single proving consequential beyond its surface appearance. On the mound, Alex Vesia was the top reliever by the DiamondIQ model's accounting at +15.2% WPA, followed by Daniel Hudson at +10.6%. Cole Ragans absorbed both fifth-inning home runs but still finished with a positive +4.9% WPA for Kansas City, reflecting the overall competitiveness of his outing despite the pivotal damage in that frame.