Facing elimination, the KC Royals must fix their ailing offense for ALDS Game 4

Unless they fix their ailing offense — and do so quickly — the Kansas City Royals will begin going their separate ways for the winter after Game 4 on Thursday night. The excruciating 3-2 loss they suffered Wednesday at the Yankees' hands in Game 3 of the American League Division Series has them on the edge of the MLB Playoffs cliff. Now, it's do or die.

Say what you will about all the walks — an inexplicable and ugly nine in all — that Royals pitchers issued to New York on Wednesday evening. Complain that because Hank Aaron Award nominee Bobby Witt Jr. didn't try to steal second, he wasn't positioned to score on Salvador Pérez's single in the bottom of the eighth. Fret over manager Matt Quatraro's decision to permit left-handed reliever Kris Bubic to pitch to dangerous right-handed hitter Giancarlo Stanton, a fateful move that resulted in the Yankee slugger belting the solo home run that proved to be the difference in Game 3.

All those things hurt — especially Stanton's blast — and their collective sting remains.

But it's time for the Royals to face facts. The primary affliction from which this team suffers is its lack of clutch hitting — or perhaps more accurately, its lack of much hitting at all.

And it starts, unfortunately, with the Big Three.

It's time for Bobby Witt Jr., Salvador Pérez, and Vinnie Pasquantino to hit

Witt Jr., Perez, and Pasquantino have been Kansas City's offensive bread and butter all season; as they go, so go the Royals. Proof of the three sluggers' indispensable value lies not only in the numbers they put up during the regular season, but in the sudden drop in the offense's effectiveness when Pasquantino missed the team's final 27 games after fracturing his thumb Aug. 29 against Houston, and now — when it matters most — in their combined postseason slump.

Witt Jr., who led the majors in hits (211) and average (.332) this season, is slashing .182/.217/.182 with just one hit — the single he picked up in Wednesday's loss — in the postseason. Although Pérez's leadoff home run triggered Tuesday's fourth-inning, game-winning, four-run outburst, he's driven in only one run since the playoffs began. And Pasquantino has just two singles to show for his 19 at-bats.

Without the immediate correction that needs to come Thursday evening, this is a malady that will force the Royals out of the playoffs.

But truth be told, the three stars aren't entirely to blame for the fact that Kansas City is averaging 2.8 runs per game this postseason.

The KC Royals just aren't getting it done at the plate

As a team, Kansas City is batting .240 in the postseason, including .237 in the ALDS. They have only six extra-base hits. Pérez's Game 2 home run is one of just two they've hit in the playoffs (MJ Melendez has the other, and he's batting .176). Tommy Pham is hitting .167, Hunter Renfroe is still hunting his first hit, and Yuli Gurriel, who's playing first base while Pasquantino serves exclusively as DH, is batting .235 without an RBI.

Yes, Maikel Garcia is at .316, but four of his six hits came in one game. If you take that contest out of the equation, Garcia is just 2-for-14. Garrett Hampson is a perfect 3-for-3, Kyle Isbel is hitting .273, and Michael Massey is slashing a robust .368/.429/.526 — but those three have six RBI collectively, and Hampson owns three of them.

The main problem is obvious — the Royals aren't getting the job done at the plate. That needs to change on Thursday night if they want any chance at all of advancing to the AL Championship Series.

More MLB Playoffs News from Kings of Kauffman