Royals blown out by Astros 10-3, drop fifth in a row

The Houston Astros jumped out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back in a 10-3 rout of the Royals on Friday night, the fifth loss in a row for Kansas City.

Brady Singer had looked like a different pitcher since returning from a demotion to Omaha, allowing just three runs in his last three starts. But he ran into trouble with the long ball against the Astros allowing three home runs and seven runs in five innings of work. The first dinger was in the second, a two-run blast by Aledmys Diaz to put Houston up 2-0. Diaz would drive in another run in the fourth, this time on an RBI single to score Yuli Gurriel.

The Astros broke the game wide open in the fifth inning with two more blasts. Jose Siri led off the inning with an infield single, and old friend Martín Maldonado followed up with a two-run blast to make it 5-0. Yordan Alvarez, fresh off signing a six-year, $115 million deal, showed why he’s worth that money with another two-run blast to make it 7-0.

Royals relievers have struggled with command all year, and Ronald Bolaños exemplified that in the sixth. After loading the bases, he walked in a run to make it 8-0. Michael Brantley would knock home another run before Bolaños walked in yet another run to make it a 10-0 blowout.

The only highlight of the game for the Royals was a three-run home run in the sixth by Bobby Witt Jr. It was his seventh home run of the year, more than any rookie except Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena, who has eight.

Aside from that, the Royals were pretty lifeless on offense, collecting just six hits and two walks while striking out nine times.

The Royals drop to 16-34, their worst record after 50 games since 2006.

Kansas City and Houston will continue the three-game series Saturday afternoon at 3:10 with Kris Bubic expected to get called up to start against Luis Garcia.