Royals kick fans below belt again, blow six-run lead

The Royals had the opportunity to do something they hadn’t done all year: go two straight series without losing either one. They took a 6-0 lead in the second inning, and it looked like they were well on their way to doing that.

Then those jerks blew the lead and lost the game and the series. Cue the Price is Right fail horn.

Everything fell apart for Kansas City after a fabulous six-run second inning, and the end result was a 7-6 loss in Chicago that decided the series.

I get that losing games might actually be what’s in the best interest of the franchise going forward. People want the first draft pick. But do you actually have confidence that they won’t just screw up the pick anyway? And if they have to lose, do they have to kick their fans in the ass over and over again?

Here’s the good part, which was the second inning: the Royals hit three home runs. Jorge Bonifacio singled, and Ryan O’Hearn homered. Rosell Herrera walked, Hunter Dozier singled, and Whit Merrifield homered. Then Alex Gordon homered. Three homers. Six runs. 6-0, Royals.

And then came the fourth inning, where Heath Fillmyer completely, totally pooped his pants. This all happened in a row: single, single, homer, single, homer, homer. The Royals went from 6-0 to 6-6 in less than two innings. Fillmyer’s ERA roared to 4.57. With Danny Duffy supposedly coming off the DL to start in Tampa this week, somebody is losing their rotation spot, and this wasn’t exactly a showcase to keep Fillmyer in it.

The score was deadlocked for exactly one inning, and that’s when Brian Flynn gave up the lead on an RBI-single to Omar Narvaez. 7-6, Chicago.

The White Sox bullpen, which is terrible, held the Royals without a run for the rest of the game. Everything is sad.

Jason Hammel was the only good part of the game, which is... frightening. He put up two scoreless innings and struck out four men to keep the margin at one run. His ERA dropped under 6.00. It is now a Kershaw-esque 5.99. Pop the champagne!

Other notes: Whit Merrifield stole his 27th base of the year, which is tied for the AL lead. Alex Gordon hit his 169th homer to move him into 4th place all-time in team history. Jorge Bonifacio had three hits to continue his week-long surge. And Alcides Escobar didn’t play, which is super nice. Can’t wait to see him and Lucas Duda playing tomorrow with more young guys on the bench.

The Royals are now 38-86, closing in on 50 games under .500. They’ll next travel to Tropicana Field to play four games with the Rays. Tomorrow’s game starts at 6:10 pm.