Royals fall to Braves, 10-2

The Royals led early, but they ultimately could not complete a season sweep of the Atlanta Braves.

The final score was 10-2, Atlanta.

The first two runs of the game went to the Royals, as Meibrys Viloria doubled home a run in the second, and Nicky Lopez reached on a bunt single to score Ryan McBroom two innings later. Mike Montgomery was handed a 2-0 lead, but he couldn’t make it out of the fifth.

Atlanta got two runs in the fifth to tie, and then they went ahead with a three-run sixth after a handful of Royals relievers contributed to a horrendously pitched inning. Jacob Barnes was called upon as the fire extinguisher, but he walked Billy freaking Hamilton, so he proved to be a pretty lousy fireman. Then Heath Fillmyer came up and a bunch of dudes scored.

Ultimately, Barnes was tagged with the loss because his runs were the go-ahead ones. Josh Donaldson hit a bunch of doubles and drove in a few more runs later in the game. Things got out of hand.

Brett Phillips, who is still not starting for some sort of stupid reason, made the play of the night when he made an absolutely dynamite catch in the seventh inning. He went into a full-extension dive to rob an extra-base hit as the crowd erupted behind him. He still can’t hit consistently, but he’s such a jolt of energy that I’m not sure how they’re not playing him every day down the stretch of this lost season.

The Royals are 58-101. They have three games this season remaining, and they’re all against the Minnesota Twins. The first 15,000 fans will get a Ned Yost poster on Friday night as the Royals’ skipper begins his final series as manager.