KANSAS CITY -- A frustrating first half to a season that began with playoff expectations is wrapping up the same way it started for the Royals: missed chances, failed execution and costly mistakes.
The Royals’ 3-1 defeat to the Mets on Saturday at Kauffman Stadium secured the ninth series loss at home in the past 10 for a club that did so much of its winning at The K a year ago.
Between a 1-for-9 mark with runners in scoring position Saturday, and a 1-for-17 mark so far this series, the Royals have now scored two or fewer runs in 43 games this season -- the most in the Major Leagues. A lot has been made of Kansas City’s struggles in crucial moments at the plate, and while a strong offensive week powered a 6-1 run that put the club in position to work back into the AL Wild Card mix with a strong finish, two close losses have set the Royals back to four games under .500 once again.
That’s why on Saturday, with the Royals trailing by one in the eighth inning, frustration once again boiled over after a review didn’t go Kansas City’s way in a critical situation. A night after Tyler Tolbert’s stolen base was overturned, Bobby Witt Jr. stole second and was called safe after beating the tag and throw -- setting up Vinnie Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia for a chance to tie the game in the eighth.
However, after a lengthy review, Witt was called out for coming off the bag at some point during the slide with the tag applied. The Royals’ dugout erupted, with players shouting and waving their arms at the decision.
“No, I mean, it was a joke,” said Jonathan India, who drove in the lone run in the sixth with one of his two doubles on the day. “I mean, yesterday’s was a joke. I don’t think that’s right. I think he was safe. There was not enough evidence to overturn that, so.”
Manager Matt Quatraro added: “No, I didn’t [think there was enough evidence]. I mean, [Witt] beat it there, clearly, obviously that part wasn’t in dispute. Those guys do a good job keeping the tag on, I can see why they overturned yesterday, I don’t see why they overturned today.”
A matter of inches across tenths of a second cost the Royals an opportunity to tie the game, but again, that’s been one of the themes this season: finding ways to not execute in crucial moments.
“We’re trying to win, so when we don’t score the runs we have the opportunity to score, we’re frustrated,” Quatraro said. “The guys are frustrated. They don’t want to leave guys out there. They’re trying to drive guys in all the time. Again, there are guys trying to get you out who are making good pitches. We got to be a little better.”
The Royals have made moves to try to get better and improve their .625 OPS mark with RISP, the second-worst mark in the big leagues, by DFA’ing outfielder Hunter Renfroe and sending MJ Melendez to Triple-A Omaha while calling up Jac Caglianone, Nick Loftin and John Rave, among others. And that’s in addition to moving around Pasquantino, Garcia and Salvador Perez in the middle of the batting order -- but no fix has proved itself a long-term solution.
India, representing the tying run, was at third with nobody out in the sixth for Witt, Pasquantino and Garcia on Saturday, but once again the Royals couldn’t capitalize.
The home run ball fueled the sweep against the Pirates earlier in the week, but the Royals still sit at 73 homers, the second fewest in MLB, and didn’t hit one Saturday. Without the consistent power or clutch hits, it’s an offense that once again let down a pitching staff that kept the team in it despite a late-notice bullpen game due to Michael Lorenzen’s illness.
“It’s part of baseball,” India said. “We had good opportunities, we just didn't come through today. But it’s part of the game, you know? We all trust each other. We have each other’s backs, and that’s all that matters.”
The Royals will no doubt look to acquire a bat at the Trade Deadline to go with a rotation and bullpen that both sit inside the top five in the American League in ERA, but time is running out to stack wins together before decisions have to be made.
But it can only start as soon as Sunday.
“It would be huge,” India said. “Going into the break with a nice win, some momentum and then come out of the break playing well.”