Karns Struggles on the hill; KC Royals Offensive Woes Remain

The KC Royals offense was once again one of the main focuses on their second straight loss to the Texas Rangers.

The KC Royals lost their second game in a row to the Texas Rangers with a final score of 6-2. Nathan Karns let up six runs in 4.2 innings which raised his season ERA to 6.35. The offense was the same as almost any night this season; pitiful. But hey, at least they scored tonight though after the dreadful 1-0 loss last night in 13 innings so we can’t complain.

Actually yes we can.

This offense is bad, and I don’t mean that jokingly, but the Royals entered tonight dead last in the majors in runs scored with a measly 41. To put things in perspective, the Milwaukee Brewers are currently first in runs scored, and have over doubled the Royals total with 83. The Royals have six games this season in where they scored one run or fewer, which is absolutely horrendous as much as that pains me to say. The KC Royals need to figure this out fast or their season could be in jeopardy by the month of May.

The game started out on a good note. Alex Gordon walked after being hit with a baseball for the Royals-record 78th time in his career. Lorenzo Cain hit it in the right-center gap and scored Gordo from first for the KC Royals first run in 13 innings.

The offense looked better, I even got a little hopeful. Just to only see three hits for the rest of the game (besides the ninth) and the Rangers belt homer after homer. Four to be exact.

The Royals have only hit one home run since Saturday.

The call-up of Jorge Bonifacio was an exciting one; I saw him in Spring and his bat impressed me the most out of any player not currently on the MLB roster. He didn’t have the type of performance Whit Merrifield put up in his debut, but Bonifacio is a legitimate contender to see some playing time in the future.

And then, the pitching…

I’m not sure how much we can expect out of Nathan Karns this season, who has pitched pretty well for the most part until his start tonight. One of the starters was bound to eventually let in some runs so the fault shouldn’t be laid on his shoulders only. The offense only gave him one run of support for the entire game.

If I had to pick two players who stood out tonight, I would choose Cain and Scott Alexander. Cain showed his discipline once again by drawing another walk and getting an RBI double in the first inning. Alexander pitched an inning of relief and struck out two, trying to keep the damage that had already been done to a minimum.

Takeaways

Eric Hosmer‘s continued awful start at the plate. While he did finally get a hit, I felt like the Rangers misplayed it in the infield. The average is hovering just under .200 and for a player who was supposed to lead the Royals in offensive production this season… well, actually he’s fitting in just fine.

Additionally, the defense looked incredible in the eighth inning and provided some of the only highlights the Royals had in this game. Gordon had a diving catch to steal a hit away from Robinson Chirinos and Alcides Escobar had a vintage Derek Jeter jump-throw from shortstop to nab Jurickson Profar at first.

The offense finally found the right holes in the ninth inning and were able to scratch a run with three hits before a game-ending double play by Escobar. Still, in the last frame the Royals got as many hits as they had in the first eight. Something positive has to come from that.

This game simply showed what the Royals have been lacking so far: offense. The Rangers were able to hit the long ball which put them ahead early, and they never looked back. Simply put, something needs to change in order for this team to get back on track. Whether it is the lineup order or a callup, something needs to ignite this team.

Positive Thoughts After A Rough Game

And also, you can’t forget about these pants.

Next: Why To Hate the Rangers

The KC Royals will square off against the Rangers again tomorrow night at 7:05 C.T. in an Ian Kennedy v (TBD) matchup. The Royals are now 7-9 on the season and will need to win the next two games of the series to earn a split. The KC Royals now sit two games back of the first-place Cleveland Indians in the AL Central.