Early runs and a bad offense lead to Royals loss

In the second game of a series between two division dwellers, the Royals secured a series loss with a combination of bad hitting and two multi-run innings by the Rangers early.

Things looked promising for the Royals early on, starting the game off quickly with a runner on third against Cole Hamels with nobody out. This later turned into runners on first and third with one out, but a far too familiar site came to fruition with Salvador Perez grounding into a double play, ending the Royals early rally.

The Rangers took that momentum into their favor quickly, scoring two in their second turn to bat against Jason Hammel. Both runs coming by way of a Delino DeShields double, who seems to always turn into a second mold of Mike Trout when he plays the Royals.

The run scoring for the Rangers wasn’t over. They tacked on two more the following inning, these two coming from the bat of Isiah Kiner-Falefa and glove of Mike Moustakas.

The Royals scored their only run on the night in the fifth inning when Rosell Herrera punched a single into left field with two outs, scoring Alex Gordon from third. Herrera was the only player in the lineup with two hits tonight.

If you’re looking for a positive from this game, the bullpen didn’t allow anybody to touch home plate. For a bullpen that has struggled mightily and seems to be getting worse by the day, 3.1 scoreless innings of relief can be a welcome sight.

Much like they have recently, the Royals couldn’t get any momentum built up against the arms of Jake Diekman and Keone Kela in the eighth and ninth innings. Six batters up, six batters down. Keep in mind the Royals haven’t scored a run past the fifth inning since June 9th.

The season series with the Rangers will wrap up tomorrow. A struggling Jake Junis will take the hill. A recently inept Royals offense will face off against Austin Bibens-Dirkx, who will be making his third start of the year. The Royals tagged him for six runs in 6.1 innings earlier this year.