Royals muster little offense in 6-1 loss to Angels

I thought demoting Mike Moustakas was supposed to fix everything?

The Royals lineup continued its season-long slump without Moose, scratching out just four hits and one run in a disappointing 6-1 loss to the Angels. Kansas City managed just two hits after the first inning, and three of their four hits were measly singles. Dayton Moore says we have "plenty of baserunners", and while we did have eleven runners on base tonight, we could never bunch them together. Nori Aoki had a near-perfect day at the plate, reaching base all five times he was up (although once by a throwing error by Erick Aybar), but aside from him, the team reached base just six times. The 2-3-4 spots in the lineup (Alcides Escobar-Eric Hosmer-Billy Butler) combined to go 0-12 with nine runners left on base.

Aoki got the Royals on the board first with a single, a steal, and and advancement to third on a passed ball. Alex Gordon would drive him home to put the good guys on top 1-0. But while the Royals had to scratch and claw for a run, the Angels simply tied the game by hitting the ball over the fence in the second, when Chris Ianetta poked one out for his fourth home run of the year. After Colin Cowgill drove in another run, Mike Trout added a solo shot in the third, giving the Angels a 3-1 lead that was pretty much insurmountable.

Danny Duffy was less than perfect, giving up five runs in his six innings of work, although he walked just two and we should be encouraged that it took just 87 pitches to get through those six innings. Louis Coleman would pitch less effectively and give up a sixth run, although it could have been a lot worse had Lorenzo Cain not done this:

Wow.

But the story of the game is the Royals can't score...AGAIN. They have managed just two runs total in Danny Duffy's four starts this year. Even James Shields feels bad for him. Speaking of which, Big Game James goes tomorrow night for the FOX telecast. The whole nation can witness the weakness of his run support.