Royals Shellacked II – Electric Boogaloo

Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

After Friday night’s 10-1 evisceration at the hands of the Twins of Minnesota, and all the post-game weeping, wailing, writhing, and drinking (Freud’s famous 4 Stages of Grief), the Royals and their fans awoke Saturday morning hopeful, determined to cleanse away the shame and stench of ignominious defeat. But as all you other losers already know, redemption can be a cruel mistress. And the Royals lost big for the second straight game,  7-1.

James Shields struggled out of the gate in this one, which isn’t all that unusual, giving up a home-run to the first hitter he faced – 2B Brian Dozier. Even the first two outs recorded were on hard hit balls. He was visibly frustrated with himself, and may have had an early inkling this wasn’t going to be his day.

Trouble exploded in the second inning, as the Twins scored six times on only three hits — one a 3-run homer by 1B Joe Mauer — along with two fielding errors (Moose and Shields) and three walks. The Royals were not a factor in the game from that point on.

If you’re looking for positives, Shields threw 3 and 2/3 scoreless innings after the disastrous 2nd. Danny Duffy threw 2 and 1/3 scoreless innings in relief, and Alex Gordon hit two doubles.

The good news is that even though they’ve been outscored 17-2 in the first two games of this series, it still only counts as two losses. If the Royals can go out and win 4-3 on Sunday, they flip the mojo, and the positive chi can follow them South to Houston, their next series opponent beginning Tuesday.

The Royals offense has been pathetic so far this year – last in the league in Slugging Percentage and runs. Their record now stands at 4-6 on the young season. Good starting pitching has prevented a worse beginning to the season, but the offense isn’t doing its part.