KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals’ latest letdown left plenty to examine in its own right — a 4-0 Monday eveninv loss to the Texas Rangers at Kauffman Stadium, where the result was basically settled before the clock hit 7 p.m. on a 6:40 start.
But the greater significance of this one more needs a wide-angle lens than a microscope. With the loss, the Royals dropped to 1-10 at home — a putrid start, yes, but one even more dangerous considering the city’s potential other interests.
KC, to be fair, wasn’t supposed to compete this season. It wasn’t presumed to make the playoffs. This was a transition year after the team moved on from president of baseball operations Dayton Moore and manager Mike Matheny last season, with the organization also committing to a complete pitching overhaul from the minor leagues up.
But there was still some hope that maybe this team could surprise. Maybe stay in the race until the summer months? Hang around .500? Perhaps see where some hope and confidence might take you in an AL Central division without a true juggernaut?
So far ... nope, nope and nope. The young Royals have already torpedoed almost all of those preseason dreams with their 4-13 start, meaning that a team already fighting for relevance has stacked the odds against itself.
The NFL Draft will come to Kansas City next week. And the Kansas City Chiefs are the Super Bowl champs, meaning they don’t need extra help to become the area’s dominant storyline.
Monday’s result, though, was actually the kind of one that the Royals might rather people not know about.
The Rangers’ start? A grounder to third where Royals third baseman Hunter Dozier threw it away. Then a bunt that Dozier double-clutched for his second error in consecutive batters.
Josh Jung followed with a towering home run to left, and three batters in, the air had already been sucked out of the home stadium.
Unfortunately for the Royals, their pitching and defense were their strong points Monday night. Rangers starter Jacob deGrom threw four no-hit innings before leaving as a precaution with right wrist soreness, but the Royals mustered just one hit on the bullpen after that — a clean single up the middle from Matt Duffy in the fifth.
No runs, one hit, two errors in a two-hour, two-minute game. The Royals have now lost four in a row and seven of eight, while remaining the only MLB team without at least two home wins.
They’ll have two more chances against the Rangers coming Tuesday and Wednesday. But time is quickly running out if they hope to keep a city’s attention through the long summer months.
Key moment
Dozier put the Royals in a bind to start with an errant throw and bobble on the first two balls in play, but Jung made sure those gaffes were costly.
Jung picked on a Jordan Lyles 0-0 offspeed pitch down the middle, connecting on a towering shot to the left-field bullpen that made it 3-0 before Royals fans had settled into their seats at Kauffman Stadium.
Player of the game
Lyles, to his credit, gutted out additional innings even after allowing a pair of early home runs to Jung and Marcus Semien.
The Royals right-hander stayed in eight innings, allowing four runs (two earned) while striking out three with three walks.
Injury report: Bubic getting second opinion
Royals manager Matt Quatraro said before Monday’s game that left-handed pitcher Kris Bubic was getting a second opinion on his arm injury after initial scans showed “underlying concerns.”
Bubic, placed on the injured list over the weekend with a left flexor strain, admitted after Saturday’s game that he felt forearm tightness early that day before pitching through it with decreased velocity. The 25-year-old had been one of the Royals’ best early-season stories before that outing, putting up 13 strikeouts with one walk in his first 11 innings of 2023.
What’s next: The Royals continue a three-game series against the Texas Rangers at 6:40 p.m. Tuesday, as Brad Keller will face Nathan Eovaldi. The Royals’ Brady Singer will match up against Martin Perez in the series finale at 1:10 p.m. Wednesday.
