Royals lose 7th straight, fall to .500

The Kansas City Royals lost their seventh straight game in depressing fashion, falling 7-2 to the Washington Nationals to bring their record to 64-64 after 128 games.

Wade Davis was in full form tonight, surrendering seven runs on eight hits over six innings. It's actually a small miracle that he made it through six, which should help the bullpen after Bruce Chen only went 3 2/3 innings Friday night. Big Trade Wade, however, didn't actually do anything to help the Royals win this game.

The first three batters of the game hit singles, with Bryce Harper driving in Denard Span for the first run of the game. Davis managed to escape the first inning only allowing the one run, but the wheels would fall off later.

The Royals managed to tie the game in the bottom of the third. Alcides Escobar led off with a single, then advanced to second base when Emilio Bonifacio slapped a one-out single. Eric Hosmer plated Escobar with a single of his own, bringing Billy Butler to the plate with two on and one out.

Unfortunately, Butler hit a groundball right to Chad Tracy, setting up an easy 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.

The Nationals blew the game open in the top of the fourth. Ryan Zimmerman worked a leadoff walk, then advanced to third on a Harper single. Wilson Ramos drove in Zimmerman with a sacrifice fly, then Adam LaRoche was intentionally walked to put two runners on.

Tyler Moore narrowly missed a three-run homer, settling for an RBI-double to give the Nationals a 3-1 lead. Tracy then roped a single to left, plating the two runners in scoring position.

Ian Desmond drove in the Nationals final two runs, blasting a two-run shot off Davis in the top of the sixth. Desmond has been an absolute stud for Washington in a mostly disappointing season, entering Saturday with a 4.3 fWAR.

Kansas City put two runners on against Jordan Zimmermann in the fourth inning, but failed to drive in any runs. The offense was quiet until the eighth, when they managed to score a second run.

Bonifacio hit a one-out single, advancing to second on a Hosmer groundout and to third on a Butler infield single(!). Mike Moustakas plated Bonifacio with a two-out single, then Justin Maxwell drew a walk to load the bases. David Lough followed with a strikeout, ending the threat.

Zimmermann worked a solid 7 2/3 innings, giving up two runs on eight hits. The right-hander fanned seven, only issuing one walk. The Royals also hit seven groundouts against Zimmermann compared to two flyouts, making their offensive effort seem more futile than normal.

Butler and Moustakas each had a pair of hits, but the team managed nine singles with no extra base hits.

The Royals are now 11 ½ games back of the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central and 10 ½ 8 games back of the Boston Red Sox for the second Wild Card spot. The dream is dead, you may resume not paying attention to this team during the rest of the year.