Big 6th inning dooms Royals, drop 4th straight in 6-1 loss to Guardians

Across the last three weeks, the Royals had scored two runs or fewer seven times. They added to that total tonight.

After being swept by the Twins, Kansas City’s road trip got off to an 0-4 start thanks to the cold offense, falling 6-1 to the Guardians.

The Royals record drops to 25-63 while Cleveland improves to 43-44. Kansas City is just a half game up on the Athletics for the worst record in baseball.

The Royals drew first blood quickly. Bobby Witt Jr. singled and stole his 26th base of the season before scoring on Nick Pratto’s RBI single.

Kansas City threatened again in the 2nd, loading the bases thanks to back-to-back walks from Maikel Garcia and Witt Jr. The walks brought a struggling Salvador Perez to the plate, flying out to end the threat.

The Royals only had a run to show for the first two innings, but forced Guardians starter Tanner Bibee to throw 47 pitches.

Cleveland got one back in the bottom half on Andres Gimenez’s solo homer, tying the game at 1-1. And unfortunately for Royals’ starter Jordan Lyles, there wasn’t any more run support coming.

Lyles had one of his better starts of the season, giving Kansas City five innings of one run ball, striking out five and walking nobody. He left without a decision before the wheels fell off for the Royals’ bullpen in the 6th.

Amir Garrett started the inning by surrendering back-to-back homers to Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor, putting his squad in a 3-1 hole. A walk and two stolen bases from Gimenez helped plate the Guardians 4th run on a rare error from Nicky Lopez off the bat of Will Brennan.

The other Naylor brother joined the party, driving in Brennan on an RBI double, boosting the Cleveland lead to 5-1. Garrett took the loss and was tagged with four runs, though two of them were unearned.

The 6th proved to be the difference, with the Guardians adding an extra run in the 8th for good measure, setting the final score at 6-1.

Up Next: Royals at Guardians, Friday, July 7, 6:10 PM CDT, Progressive Field. LHP Daniel Lynch (2-3, 4.14 ERA) v. RHP Aaron Civale (2-2, 2.96 ERA).