Bobby Witt Jr. and Cole Ragans lead the Royals over the Orioles 1-0 to open an AL Wild Card Series

BALTIMORE (AP) — As Bobby Witt Jr. prepared to make his much-anticipated playoff debut for the Kansas City Royals, he took a moment after the final notes of the national anthem rang out at Camden Yards on Tuesday to soak it all in.

The bright lights on a cloudy afternoon. The 41,506 roaring souls in the stands, most supporting the host Baltimore Orioles. The orange towels twirling in their hands.

“I'm like, ‘This is where you want to be,’” Witt said afterward. “This is the spot you want to be in. And this is what makes you a baseball player. This is what you dream of."

Witt showed why he is one of the game's biggest young stars, bringing home the only run with a single Tuesday to back six terrific innings from another playoff first-timer, Cole Ragans, and helping the Royals return from a nine-year postseason absence with a 1-0 victory over the Orioles in Game 1 of their AL Wild Card Series.

“It’s kind of fitting for him to drive in the run. He’s been the leader of the offense — him and (Salvador Perez) — all year,” KC's Michael Massey said. “Having him up in that situation is what we want as a team.”

Witt, the 24-year-old shortstop who led the majors with 211 hits and a .332 batting average this season, bounced the ball through the infield off a 95 mph, first-pitch cutter from 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes with two outs in the sixth.

Burnes used that cutter to get Witt out in his first two at-bats.

“He took some pretty bad swings on it, weak contact, so it was a pretty good pitch,” Burnes said. “He didn’t hit it very hard. It just found a hole, and that was the difference.”

Maikel Garcia came around to score after drawing a walk, stealing second — Burnes allowed runners to swipe a major league-high 41 bases this season — and moving to third on a groundout.

Garcia is another postseason rookie, as is Lucas Erceg, who earned a four-out save, emblematic of an up-and-coming Royals club that lost 106 games last season but used a 30-win improvement to get back to October for the first time since winning the 2015 World Series.

Witt copped to some butterflies in the ninth, and Erceg said he needed to slow himself down after realizing he wasn't sticking to his normal routine on the mound. But otherwise, these KC Kids sure seemed to be right at ease in the glare when games matter the most.

“Pretty much just be yourself,” Witt said. “That’s what we do as a team.”

Now the Royals can end this best-of-three series and advance to an AL Division Series against the New York Yankees by winning Game 2 in Baltimore on Wednesday. Kansas City sends All-Star Seth Lugo to the mound to face Zach Eflin.

Baltimore has lost its last nine postseason games.

Ragans left after 80 pitches because of cramping in his left calf, and the bullpen handled things the rest of the way. The All-Star lefty was terrific, mixing a 98 mph fastball with a variety of off-speed offerings while allowing just four hits and striking out eight.

Burnes looked every bit the ace Baltimore hoped it was getting when it acquired him from Milwaukee in February.

“He did his part,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said.

The AL's All-Star starter this season exited to a standing ovation after giving up a leadoff single in the ninth. He allowed one run, five hits and that one key free pass to Garcia.

“The walk hurt," Burnes said. "The walk cost us the game.”

He became the first starter to throw a pitch in the ninth inning of a postseason game since Washington's Stephen Strasburg in Game 6 of the 2019 World Series.

But Baltimore's sluggers — the team's 235 homers trailed only the Yankees — could not come through.

The Orioles got a runner to third in the third inning, but Jordan Westburg flied out to the warning track in left field. They put men at the corners in the fifth, but Ragans struck out James McCann and 2023 AL Rookie of the Year Gunnar Henderson.

“A big spot,” said Ragans.

Hyde's take? “That hurt.”

And in the eighth, with a pair on and two out, Erceg replaced Kris Bubic and got Anthony Santander to ground into a fielder's choice with thousands of spectators on their feet.

“It's going to be louder. It's going to be bigger, whatever,” said Witt, whose father was a pitcher in the majors. “But you just have to know this is the game I grew up playing, loving."

Royals: Vinnie Pasquantino came off the injured list after being out since Aug. 29 with a broken right thumb. He went 0 for 3 with a walk as the DH.

Lugo (16-9, 3.00 ERA) will be making his first postseason start. Eflin went 10-9 with a 3.59 ERA combined for Tampa Bay and Baltimore in 2024.

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Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. throws to first base to put out Baltimore Orioles' Ramon Urias in the seventh inning during Game 1 of an AL Wild Card Series baseball game, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Baltimore. The Royals won 1-0. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson, left, bobbles the ball, allowing Kansas City Royals' Maikel Garcia (11) to steal second base during the sixth inning of Game 1 of an AL Wild Card Series baseball game, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Spectators react before Game 1 of an AL Wild Card Series baseball game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Kansas City Royals, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Corbin Burnes (39) walks back to the dugout after he was removed in the ninth inning during Game 1 of an AL Wild Card Series baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Baltimore. The Royals won 1-0. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Cole Ragans throws in the fifth inning during Game 1 of an AL Wild Card Series baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Baltimore. The Royals won 1-0. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (7) and catcher Salvador Perez celebrate their team's win over the Baltimore Orioles after Game 1 of an AL Wild Card Series baseball game, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Kansas City Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. (7), Lucas Erceg (60), Yuli Gurriel (18) and others celebrate after Game 1 of an AL Wild Card Series baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Kansas City Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. (7) hits in an RBI single during the sixth inning of Game 1 of an AL Wild Card Series baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Baltimore Orioles' James McCann (27) loses his bat on a swing in the third inning during Game 1 of an AL Wild Card Series baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, as Royals catcher Salvador Perez, center, makes the catch Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Corbin Burnes throws in the third inning during Game 1 of an AL Wild Card Series baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Kansas City Royals right fielder Tommy Pham (22) slides on the grass after he made a catch on a fly ball by Baltimore Orioles' Ryan Mountcastle for an out in the second inning during Game 1 of an AL Wild Card Series baseball game, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Baltimore Orioles' Jordan Westburg (11) reacts after striking out during the first inning of Game 1 of an AL Wild Card Series baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Cole Ragans (55) delivers during the first inning of Game 1 of an AL Wild Card Series baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Baltimore Orioles' Cedric Mullins (31) reaches second base with a double against Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., left, in the third inning during Game 1 of an AL Wild Card Series baseball game, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

SWANNANOA, N.C. (AP) — Cadaver dogs and search crews trudged through knee-deep muck and debris in the mountains of western North Carolina on Tuesday looking for more victims of Hurricane Helene days after the storm carved a deadly and destructive path through the Southeast.

Meanwhile, across the border in east Tennessee, a caravan including Gov. Bill Lee that was surveying damage outside the town of Erwin drove by a crew pulling two bodies from the wreckage, a grim reminder that the rescue and recovery operations are still very much ongoing and the death toll — already surpassing 160 — is likely to rise.

The storm, which was one of the deadliest in U.S. history, knocked out power and cellular service in some towns and cities, leaving many people frustrated, hot and increasingly worried days into the ordeal. Some cooked food on charcoal grills or hiked to high ground in the hopes of finding a signal to let loved ones know they are alive.

In Augusta, Georgia, Sherry Brown was converting power from the alternator of her car to keep her refrigerator running and taking “bird baths” with water she collected in coolers. In another part of the city, people waited in line more than three hours to try to get water from one of five centers set up to serve more than 200,000 people.

The devastation was especially bad in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where at least 57 people died in and around Asheville, North Carolina, a tourism haven known for its art galleries, breweries and outdoor activities.

“Communities were wiped off the map,” North Carolina’s governor, Roy Cooper, said at a news conference Tuesday.

In Swannanoa, a small community outside Asheville, receding floodwaters revealed cars stacked on top of others and trailer homes that had floated away during the storm. Roads were caked with mud and debris and pockmarked by sinkholes.

Cliff Stewart survived two feet of water that poured into his home, topping the wheels on his wheelchair and sending his medicine bottles floating from room to room. Left without electricity and reliant on food drop-offs from friends, he has refused offers to help him leave.

“Where am I going to go?" the Marine Corps veteran said Tuesday. “This is all I’ve got. I just don’t want to give it up, because what am I going to do? Be homeless? I’d rather die right here than live homeless.”

Exhausted emergency crews worked around the clock to clear roads, restore power and phone service, and reach those still stranded by the storm, which killed at least 166 people in six states, including many who were hit by falling trees or trapped in flooded cars and homes. Nearly half of the deaths were in North Carolina, while dozens of others were in South Carolina and Georgia.

President Joe Biden, who is set to survey the devastation in North and South Carolina Wednesday, estimated the recovery could cost billions.

“We have to jump start this recovery process,” he said Tuesday. “People are scared to death. This is urgent.”

More than 150,000 households have registered for assistance with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and that number is expected to rise rapidly in the coming days, said Frank Matranga, an agency representative.

Nearly 2 million ready-to-eat meals and more than a million liters of water have been sent to the hardest-hit areas, he said.

The storm unleashed the worst flooding in a century in North Carolina, dumping more than an estimated 2 feet (61 centimeters) of rain in places.

Cooper said Tuesday that more than two dozen water plants remained closed and were not producing water.

Active-duty U.S. military units may be needed to assist the long-term recovery, he said, adding that Biden had given “the green light” to mobilizing military assets in the near future.

A section of one of the region’s main arteries, Interstate 40, reopened Tuesday after a mudslide was cleared, but a collapsed stretch near North Carolina’s border with Tennessee remained closed.

Residents and business owners wore masks and gloves while clearing debris Tuesday in Hot Springs, North Carolina, where almost every building along the tiny town's main street was heavily damaged.

Sarah Calloway, who owns the deli and gourmet grocery Vaste Riviere Provisions, said the storm arrived in town frighteningly quickly. She helped fill sandbags the day the night before, but they turned out to be useless. The water rose so rapidly that even though she and others were in an apartment on an upper floor, she feared they would not be safe. They called to request a rescue from a swift water team.

“They tried to get to us, and at that point they couldn’t,” she said. “Luckily, that was when the water started to recede.”

“It was really challenging to watch how quickly it rose up and then just to watch whole buildings floating down the river. It was something I can’t even describe,” she said.

In the Black Mountain Mobile Home Park in Swannanoa on Tuesday, Carina Ramos and Ezekiel Bianchi were overwhelmed by the damage. The couple, their children and dog fled in the predawn darkness on Friday as the Swannanoa River’s rapidly rising waters began flooding the bottom end of the mobile home park. By then, trees were blocking the roads and the couple abandoned their three vehicles, all of which flooded.

“We left everything because we were panicking,” Ramos said.

Their children were staying with Ramos' parents and did not want to even see the devastated trailer.

“My daughter was crying, panicking," Ramos said. "She says she doesn’t want to see her room full of toys, all thrown everywhere.”

The widespread damage and outages affecting key communications infrastructure left many people without stable access to the internet and cellular service, the Federal Communications Commission said.

Mayor Zeb Smathers of Canton, North Carolina, expressed frustration Tuesday that so many of his constituents were still without cellphone service with no clear timetable for when it would be restored.

“People are walking the streets of Canton with their phones up in the air trying to catch a cellphone signal like it’s a butterfly,” he told The Associated Press. “Every single aspect of this response has been extremely crippled by lack of cellphone communication. The one time we absolutely needed our cellphones to work they failed.”

Teams from Verizon were working to repair downed cell towers, damaged fiber cables and provide alternative forms of connectivity across the region, the company said in a statement.

AT&T, meanwhile, said it launched “one of the largest mobilizations of our disaster recovery assets for emergency connectivity support.”

The efforts to restore service was made more challenging by the region’s terrain and spread-out population, said David Zumwalt, president and CEO of the Association for Broadband Without Boundaries.

Helene blew ashore in Florida late Thursday as a Category 4 hurricane and upended life throughout the Southeast, where deaths were also reported in Florida, Tennessee and Virginia.

Across Georgia, Helene’s inland path knocked out power and shattered lives from Valdosta to Augusta, where a line of cars waiting to get water Tuesday stretched at least a half-mile (0.8 kilometers) down the road.

“It’s been rough,” said Kristie Nelson, who had no idea when her electricity would be restored. “I’m just dying for a hot shower.”

With at least 36 killed in South Carolina, Helene passed the 35 people who were killed in the state after Hurricane Hugo made landfall north of Charleston in 1989.

When Tennessee Gov. Lee flew to the eastern part of the state to survey damage on Tuesday, residents said the governor and his entourage were the first help they had seen since the storm hit.

“Where has everyone been?" one frustrated local asked. "We have been here alone."

Contributing to this report were Associated Press journalists Gary D. Robertson in Raleigh; Kimberlee Kruesi in Hampton, Tennessee; Jeffrey Collins in Augusta, Georgia; John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia; Rebecca Santana in New Orleans; Shawn Chen in New York; Colleen Long in Washington and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio.

Homes and vehicles that were damaged in a flash flood from Hurricane Helene lie on the side of a road near the Swannanoa River, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Swannanoa, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Search crews look for victims in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Swannanoa, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

A person pushes a wheelbarrow and trash can as clean up in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene begins Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Hot Springs, N.C. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

A person carries a chainsaw as cleanup begins in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Hot Springs, N.C. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

People clean up in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Hot Springs, N.C. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

A building is damaged as water rushed over the roof in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Swannanoa, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

An electrical box is damaged after flash flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Swannanoa, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Andy Brown uses a chain saw to cut apart a tree that destroyed his SUV when it fell during Hurricane Helene on in Augusta, Ga., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Sarah Calloway enters her restaurant to assess the damage left in the wake of Hurricane Helene Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Hot Springs, N.C. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Len Frisbee dumps a wheelbarrow of dirt as he helps with clean up in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Hot Springs, N.C. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

A Madison County sheriff's vehicle passes damaged buildings along Bridge Street in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Hot Springs, N.C. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Vehicles and debris that were caught in a flash flood from Hurricane Helene rest on the side of tae road near the Swannanoa River, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Swannanoa, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

A person enters a heavily damaged building as clean up in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene begins Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Hot Springs, N.C. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Homes and vehicles that were damaged in a flash flood from Hurricane Helene lie on the side of a road near the Swannanoa River, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Swannanoa, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

A person walks past a building heavily damaged during Hurricane Helene Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Hot Springs, N.C. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

A fireman walks through mud as they search for victims of flash flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Swannanoa, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Andy Brown takes a break on top of what remains of a tree that destroyed his SUV when it fell during Hurricane Helene on in Augusta, Ga., Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

A search and rescue dog and handler searches for victims in deep mud in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Swannanoa, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Search crews look for victims in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Swannanoa, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Water is seen outside the banks of the Swannanoa river in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Swannanoa, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

A trailer park that was inundated with water during a flash flood is seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Swannanoa, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Cliff Stewart, who survived a flash flood whilst in a hospital bed, is seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Swannanoa, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Search crews look for victims in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, in Swannanoa, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

People wait to buy groceries as they stand in line outside an Ingles grocery store in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

People wait to buy groceries as they stand in line outside an Ingles grocery store in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Members of the Civil Air Patrol load water for Hurricane Helene relief into a pickup truck at a water station in Augusta, Ga., on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

A worker moves debris in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Drew Merritt, left, and Jeremy King load groceries after standing in line outside an Ingles grocery store in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Volunteers stage water for people in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Rescue workers from the Pamlico County rescue team are shown working in the aftermath of Helene the area of Chimney Rock, N.C., Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Pamlico County Special Operations via AP)

A sign hangs outside a closed barber shop and bar in Asheville, N.C., Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Rescue workers from the Pamlico County rescue team are shown working in the aftermath of Helene the area of Chimney Rock, N.C., Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (Pamlico County Special Operations via AP)

A medical helicopter takes off near downtown in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Employees Linda Bandy, left, and Carissa Sheehan clean up International Moulding frame shop damaged by flood water from Hurricane Helene on North Green Street, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Morganton, N.C. (AP Photo/Kathy Kmonicek)

Debris is seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Carrie Owenby looks at her phone as a neighbor with power dropped an extension cord for neighbors who have no power in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Volunteers stage water for citizens in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Debris is seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

People wait to gather water at Mountain Valley Water in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in West Asheville, N.C., Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins)

Flood debris from Hurricane Helene floats by in Rutherford County, N.C., Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (Tariq Bokhari via AP)

Debris is seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)

Debris is seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, in Asheville, N.C. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)