KC Royals streak snapped on lifeless evening in Anaheim

Well, the KC Royals winning streak wouldn’t go on forever. But the way it ended has to leave a sour taste in the mouths of Kansas City fans.

So nothing good happened for the KC Royals in Saturday’s loss to the Angels.

Don’t believe me? Quick rundown:

• The Royals had two hits
• Three Angels had at least that many hits
• Albert Pujols had three hits all by himself
• That’s awful, 2017 Albert Pujols is a .240 hitter
• Something named Alex Meyer scattered two hits and struck out nine
• What is an Alex Meyer?
• Chris Young was great again—in opposite land

But because decorum dictates a recap near or exceeding 500 words, your humble narrator shall soldier on. It’s what the greats do, even after a 9-0 loss.

Cameron Maybin led off the bottom of the first with a solo home run against Jake Junis. That set… a certain tone.

Eric Hosmer led off the second with a single. It’s notable because the KC Royals only secured one more hit against Alex Meyer (what IS that, anyway?) on the evening.

Lorenzo Cain singled in the fourth. For laughs, he also stole second base.

Cain would (sort of) have a hand in (sort of) limiting the damage done by the Angels in the fourth. On a Danny Espinosa single (which scored Luis Valbuena and Andrelton Simmons), a Cain-Escobar-Moustakas hook-up cut down Martin Maldonado at third. So… great… except for the two runs that came in.

Pujols homered in the fifth. Kole Calhoun scored too. I’d rather not talk about it.

Calhoun grounded out in the seventh to score Maybin, who had led off with a double and stole third base. NOT GREAT BOB.

The following sequence ended any chance of a KC Royals comeback:

Pujols single. Yunel Escobar single. Valbuena three-run homer. Chris Young standing on the mound as the guy who allowed a three-run home run to Luis Valbuena.

I mean, if we’re looking for silver linings, Travis Wood managed to strike out two and not allow a hit in an inning of mop-up work in a nine-run ballgame. Heck, he even brought his ERA down to nearly 7.00. Progress!

I’m not going to kid you, dear reader: a six-game winning streak is always going to come to an end at some point. But it didn’t have to come to an end in a 9-0 shellacking that featured all of two KC Royals hits. This is disheartening. I am disheartened.

Next: Say Sayonara to Moss

Sunday is a new day. It’s the final day of the KC Royals nine-day road trip, and it would provide Ned Yost’s crew an opportunity to win all three series’ on the West Coast. With Jason Vargas taking the bump, he also has a chance to become MLB’s first 10-game winner. The only person opposite him in this quest is JC Ramirez. First pitch is 2:37 p.m. (CT); Vargy wins.