KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals are heading in the wrong direction with the season’s final month underway.
On Tuesday, the Royals dropped their seventh consecutive game, on “Bark at the Park” day, no less. The Royals suffered a 7-1 loss to the Cleveland Guardians at Kauffman Stadium in front of 14,813 fans (and about 500 dogs) in attendance.
Kansas City now sits at 75-65. The Guardians (80-59) picked up another game in the American League Central and have a 5 1/2-game lead over the Royals with 22 games to play.
The silver lining: Both the Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox also lost. So, Kansas City didn’t lose ground in the AL wild-card race. The Royals are 4 1/2 games ahead of the Red Sox for the final wild-card spot. They are one game behind the Twins.
Guardians 7, Royals 1 … Game recap
After recording two hits on Monday, the Royals continued to struggle at the plate.
Kansas City mustered just four hits in Tuesday’s loss. Bobby Witt Jr. had two hits while Tommy Pham and Salvador Perez added singles.
Third baseman Paul DeJong provided the lone Royals run. He hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning after the club loaded the bases with no outs, and Kansas City failed to cash in any further. Perez lined out and MJ Melendez struck out to end the scoring threat.
Shortstop Brayan Rocchio fueled the Cleveland offense. He blasted a two-run homer and recorded four RBIs.
Royals relievers Sam Long and Lucas Erceg allowed five combined runs in 1 2/3 innings out of the bullpen. Cleveland scored all five between the seventh and eighth innings, as Steven Kwan drove in a pair of baserunners with a two-run single.
The run support was enough for Guardians starter Tanner Bibee. He allowed one run in six innings and earned his 11th victory.
The Royals have been outscored 39-17 during their seven-game losing streak.
Here are more notables from Tuesday’s game:
Brady Singer looks solid in start
The Royals starters continue to put together strong outings. Singer added to the recent streak by allowing two runs in 5 2/3 innings.
