Royals waste rare Jorge Lopez gem, lose 2-1 to Athletics

The Kansas City Royals lost their 96th game with nearly two weeks to go in the season tonight against the Oakland Athletics. The score was 2-1 as the Royals lineup was limp.

Jorge Lopez, Kansas City’s starting pitcher, came into tonight’s game with a ghastly 6.09 ERA. However, Lopez managed to flummox the Athletics hitters, tossing six innings and only giving up one run. With four strikeouts against only one walk, it was the type of game that you can squint and picture Lopez as a semi-successful failure as opposed to one of the many reasons why this year’s Royals team will reach 100 losses yet again.

Meanwhile, the Royals batters scored one run against a quartet of Oakland Athletics pitchers—including former Royal Joakim Soria. Hunter Dozier and Ryan McBroom had doubles, but the lineup struck out eight times and walked zero. They scored their lone run in the fifth inning on a McBroom sacrifice fly.

The Royals have 10 games left. They will need to win two games to match last year’s performance, three to post an improvement, and seven to avoid another 100-loss season. Considering the rest of their games will be against playoff opponents, that is a tall order.

It is midnight. Sleep well, Kansas City. Dream of pitching prospects, Patrick Mahomes’ arm, and Jack Stack Barbecue. And if it’s morning and you logged on to see how the Royals did last night, bless you. Thank you for your service.