Royals Get Swept By Tigers, Run Risk of Being 10.5 Back At The Break

So much for being competitive at the break. The Royals tailspin heading into the All-Star Break that they are hosting is complete. They have now lost eight of their last ten games, losing three straight to the Twins and then the Tigers while splitting a four game series with the Blue Jays along the way. They were outscored 60 - 45 in the past ten games, with their runs scored inflated significantly by the 11 they scored en route to an 11 - 3 win against the Blue Jays this past Monday. Given that they're allowing six runs per game in the past ten, it's should come as no surprise that Kansas City has struggled. The reason for their struggles is pretty obvious.

If pitching is the currency of baseball, these Royals are [insert expletive here] broke. But, hey, Trust the Process™.

Having plugged [insert fungible left-handed organizational filler here] into the rotation to face the surging Tigers, [legitimate #9 starter] got hit around to the total of five earned runs allowed on one walk, seven hits, and two home runs allowed. His five strikeouts were encouraging, but [middling left-handed non-prospect] was unable to make it out of the fifth inning, leaving two runners on base for Prince Fielder to drive in on his home run off of Tim Collins.

The Royals did manage one run off of Missouri native and Mizzou alum Max Scherzer as Salvador Perez hung dong for the fourth time of the season. For those keeping track at home, Perez has now played in 13 games. One could certainly say he's been on fire. At least there's one bright spot to an otherwise miserable nine days of baseball.

At least the Futures Game is coming up in less than an hour to tease us with promise that will surely be squandered or unrealized. Four days away from this team couldn't come at a better time.