Sunday loss worsens KC Royals skid, muddles MLB Playoffs picture

The KC Royals played their final home game of the regular season Sunday afternoon.

Whether Kauffman Stadium will host any more baseball before the 2025 campaign begins is now in considerable doubt.

That's because the Royals' offense, which thanks to the superb pitching of starter Seth Lugo and lone reliever Kris Bubic, needed to score only three times to win, had nothing for San Francisco. The numbers tell the sad story — Kansas City, stymied from start to finish by Blake Snell and the Giants' bullpen, scratched out only three singles and moved runners into scoring position only once. And when the latter happened, Salvador Perez popped out with the bases loaded to bring the momentarily exciting eighth frame to a quiet, disappointing end.

The team's sorry plate performance laid waste to Lugo's quality start (he gave up two runs in seven innings) and Bubic's two scoreless frames, gave the Giants a 2-0 win and a series sweep, and left Kansas City winless on its final regular homestand. The defeat also stretched the Royals' losing streak to seven games, which ties their Aug. 28-Sept. 3 losing skid for the longest of KC's season.

And it complicated the club's suddenly questionable hopes of earning a spot in this year's MLB Playoffs.

How the American League Wild Card race stands after Sunday's loss

To say the Royals control their own destiny is at least technically true. Because neither Minnesota nor Detroit could overtake them in the American League Wild Card race Sunday, they're definitely in the playoffs if they win their final six regular season games, all of which are on the road against National League clubs Washington and Atlanta. But because winning out is so improbable considering their current malaise, the Royals need some help from others after Sunday's defeat complicated an already complicated postseason picture.

Detroit, which swept three from the Royals to begin the week, beat Baltimore Sunday to move into a tie with the Royals for the second and third Wild Cards; the Orioles have a four-game lead for the first AL Wild Card, which puts the Orioles all but beyond the reach of any other aspirants.

The Twins, who entered Sunday only a half-game behind Kansas City for the second Wild Card, gave the Royals and Tigers some limited aid and comfort by dropping both ends of their doubleheader with Boston. They're now a full game out of the last Wild Card.

But the current situation remains dicey for Kansas City.

First, the Royals and Tigers share 82-74 records with six games remaining on their respective schedules. Fortunately, the tie-breaker goes to Kansas City by virtue of its taking the season series between the two clubs 7-6. Stay even with the Tigers during the final week, then, and Detroit doesn't matter.

Easier said than done? Perhaps. The Royals play the Nationals, who are 18 games under .500, but then face the 85-71 Braves, who stand two games behind the Mets for the National League's final Wild Card berth. The Tigers have things easier, at least on paper — they finish at home with three against Tampa Bay (78-78) and another three with the White Sox, whose awful season will go down as one of the worst in major league history.

And the Twins? The Royals must at all costs avoid a tie with them because Minnesota holds the tie-breaker. Like Detroit, Minnesota finishes at home, hosting NL East cellar-dweller Miami (57-99) and then the Orioles, whose four-game lead over Kansas City and Detroit seems to have them firmly in the AL Wild Card driver's seat.

How this all ends will soon be known. The Royals have hard work to do ... and need some help from their rivals.

More KC Royals content from Kings of Kauffman