Kansas City Royals swept out of Baltimore to end road trip

The past 10 days were uneven to say the least. There was an impressive sweep of Detroit and a hard-fought series win in Boston. Then came … whatever that was in Baltimore.

The Kansas City Royals can’t get out of Baltimore fast enough and won’t be looking forward to returning. After being outscored 17-2 during last year’s road series, they once again were crushed in the Charm City.

This time around the Kansas City Royals just scored three runs TOTAL against the worst pitching staff in the American League.

One run against Ubaldo Jimenez. One run against Dylan Bundy. One run in the ninth inning of a six-run game.

None against Jeremy Hellickson or anybody else in a 6-0 loss on Wednesday night.

Kansas City Royals

It was a nightmare that just wouldn’t end.

There was the rain delay with the Orioles already up 3-0 in the third inning. Another break in the action while Mike Moustakas and, eventually, Ned Yost gave home plate umpire John Tumpane a piece of their minds. There was even a brief pause when it looked as though the Kansas City Royals might challenge the final out of the game.

I think most fans were more than happy to see bench coach Don Wakamatsu wave his hand to indicate the team wouldn’t challenge the call.

A merciful end to the misery.

A few days ago, the Kansas City Royals were riding high. Friday’s triumph against the Red Sox gave the team nine wins in a row. The team even bounced back from Saturday’s disappointing defeat to rally for a series win on Sunday.

The Kansas City Royals scored four runs in the eighth inning of that come-from-behind victory. That’s one more run than they managed in 27 innings against the team with the second-worst ERA in all of baseball.

It’s almost unfathomable how often this offense can disappear without a trace.

The most frustrating part is that it usually coincides with great pitching performances.

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Danny Duffy had a stellar outing in Monday’s opener ruined. Jason Vargas had just one bad inning on Wednesday. With the way the offense was playing, though, the game felt over once Caleb Joseph‘s home run landed in the seats with two outs in the second inning.

Vargas allowed just three runs (all in that second inning). He kept the Kansas City Royals in the game until Brandon Maurer allowed three runs in the bottom of the eighth.

In all honesty, keeping Zach Britton from adding a save to my fantasy team was all Maurer did. One of those patented four-run frames did not appear to be on the cards.

They sure didn’t come against Hellickson, who tossed seven scoreless frames in his Orioles debut.

The Kansas City Royals had just four singles and a double on the night. Their best scoring opportunity came in the sixth inning on a walk to Melky Cabrera, who reached base three times, and a double by Eric Hosmer.

But with those guys at second and third and nobody out, Salvador Perez popped out. It was the third straight at-bat the All-Star catcher got himself out on the first pitch.

Moose followed with a controversial strikeout. It appeared as though the third strike might have been fouled into the dirt before Joseph snagged the ball, likely building up some anger that came out after his ninth-inning strikeout.

Jorge Bonifacio, starting for the first time in the series, grounded out to end the threat.

The Royals will hope a return to Kansas City for six games will be just what the doctor ordered. (It’s safe to assume Dr. Vargas said something similar to this after the game, right?) First comes four games against Seattle, and then comes the first two of the annual I-70 series against St. Louis.

Ryan Lefebvre might have said it best during the ninth inning of the FSKC broadcast.

Next: Q&A with Central Division rival

“It’s time to go home,” he said.

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