Royals dumped in 3-2 loss to A’s

The Royals lost to the A’s, 3-2, on Sunday. They lost three out of four in the Bay this weekend.

A deadlocked contest was decided on an eighth-inning home run by Matt Chapman, who most of you had never heard of before last weekend.

Ned Yost does a lot of frustrating things, but I think one of the most maddening is how he flip-flops from being a super-strategic, playing the matchups manager one day, and then the next day he’s like “screw it” and gives each pitcher an inning of work regardless of matchups. Ned used Tim Hill to get exactly one out at the end of the seventh, but then he decided to switch it up and give Jason Adam a fresh inning. Adam promptly gives up the leadoff homer to Chapman in the eighth to lose the game.

The A’s got two runs in the second to grab a quick lead, but the Royals answered with two runs of their own in the third. Whit Merrifield doubled and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Salvador Perez also hit a home run, his 11th, to tie the score 2-2. From there, the Royals’ offense went completely silent, collecting four hits over the last six innings.

As a team, the Royals were 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Clutch, these guys are.

Brad Keller continues to pitch well as a starter. He went 5.1 innings and allowed two runs on five hits, striking out four while using 85 pitches. By his next start, he should be able to go up to 100 or so. His ERA is a very nice 2.31.

Sean Manaea started for the A’s and worked into the eighth inning. He gave up two runs. Blake Treinen got the last five outs and earned the win. Adam took the loss; he is 0-1.

And holy crap, I have to mention this: the Royals used Ryan Goins as a pinch-hitter. In the ninth inning of a one-run game. No, we’re not talking about NL rules, where he was replacing a pitcher (which wouldn’t have been an upgrade or anything). They used him as a pinch-hitter. He made an out, because of course he did.

Alcides Escobar, Paulo Orlando, Ryan Goins, and Drew Butera went a combined 0-for-12. None of them should be on a big-league roster. Let’s leave them in California.

The Royals are 22-44. They went 1-6 on a seven-game road trip.

Up next: the Cincinnati Reds, who are equally terrible, come into Kauffman Stadium for a two-game suck-off on Tuesday. We all get a much-needed off day tomorrow to reset. Ian Kennedy pitches for the Royals. Let’s all drink bleach.