Royals lose game and series against Rockies 3-1 while the bats continue to slumber

Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Against a left-handed pitcher with no recent track record to speak of, the offense avoided strikeouts and got a few hits but couldn’t mount a comeback, losing a two-run game to the Rockies in Colorado despite putting two runners on in the ninth inning.

Seth Lugo wasn’t as dominant in this game as he was on Sunday against the Guardians, but he still pitched well enough for a win. He allowed three runs in six innings, two of them earned. It was his 15th good start out of 19. Josh Vernier shared this depressing stat after the loss:

The offense was truly abysmal, going 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position. You can’t even blame the bullpen, as Chris Stratton and Sam Long each contributed a scoreless inning. The blame clearly lies with the hitters. Vinnie Pasquantino contributed the only run and RBI, hitting a solo home run with two outs in the sixth inning to bring himself home. Hunter Renfroe also had three hits, including a double, the only other extra-base hit.

Boston lost, so the Royals missed a chance to close the gap. The Guardians and Twins each won, so the Royals each fell further behind. The Astros also lost, so the Royals retain their one-game lead over them as the first loser in the AL.

I don’t know what to tell you about this team. We all knew they were probably playing above their capabilities at the beginning of the season, but I wasn’t the only one who thought that even when they got back down to earth, they would still be a very good team that could win a lot of games with a good rotation and a shifty but sometimes dominant lineup.

Baseball-Reference’s Simple Rating System still has the Royals as the fourth-best team in the AL and the seventh-best team in the major leagues. But that’s little consolation as they lose their second straight series, their third straight game, and the fourth of their last five games.

The Royals can avoid a sweep tomorrow before having an off day on Monday. If they can do that, they’ll have to move past Brady Singer and face a right-hander making his major league debut: Tanner Gordon. He has a 5.35 ERA in the PCL this year, so the Royals are probably lost. The game starts at 2:10 p.m. Central time.