Royals bumble and stumble their way to a loss to last-place Red Sox
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A seemingly tired group of Royals showed up at Kauffman Stadium on Thursday night and appeared to sleep-walk through one of their worst performances in recent memory.
The Royals kicked the ball around for three errors, got horrible starting pitching and didn't bother with much of an approach at the plate in a dismal 6-3 loss to the lowly Boston Red Sox in front of 28,673 fans.
Royals manager Ned Yost dismissed the notion that his club was mentally fatigued after a tough six-game road trip through New York and Detroit.
"No, I didn't see (any dragging)," Yost said.
The Royals' lead in the Central dropped to a half-game over idle Detroit. Meanwhile, the Cleveland Indians, who have a victory in waiting over the Royals in a suspended game to be played later, swept a doubleheader from Minnesota and are just four games back.
The Royals mustered only six hits against Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz, who entered the game with a 5.29 ERA.
"He pitched OK," Yost said. "We're just not hitting right now. We've seen this all season, though, where one big hit will open the flood gates for us."
3 UP
-- Nori's bat. If there is one Royals hitter right now who is consistently giving the team solid at-bats, it is Nori Aoki. He led off the game with a double (and was stranded, of course), got an infield single in the second, drew a walk in the fifth and hit a wicked liner to deep right that was caught in the seventh.
-- Coming around? Lorenzo Cain may be coming out of his recent funk. He smacked a double to deep left-center in the second inning and scored. He also singled in a run in the sixth with two out, a big run at the time as it pulled the Royals within 4-3.
-- Casey's relief. Reliever Casey Coleman came on in the third inning with the bases loaded and one out, and the game about to get totally out of hand. The Red Sox already had scored twice in the inning to take a 3-2 lead. Coleman, though, did a great job to stop the bleeding right there by getting Jackie Bradley Jr. to roll into a double play. Solid work. "He did a nice job of keeping us close," Yost said.
3 DOWN
-- Gordon's day. The Royals' offense simply got off to the wrong start after Aoki led off with a double and Omar Infante bunted him to third. The Red Sox played their entire infield back, even at the corners, conceding the run. But Alex Gordon struck out, his last swing a rather unsightly wave at an off-speed pitch. Gordon grounded out in the third and had a chance for redemption in the fifth with a runner on, but flied out harmlessly to right. In the seventh, Gordon came up with the tying run on first and one out. He struck out again. Gordon now is 1 for his last 22 and 3 for his last 34.
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-- Awful defense. The Royals, who pride themselves on being one of the best defenses in all of baseball, continue to struggle making the routine play, especially first baseman Eric Hosmer. Hosmer let a grounder go right through his legs in the second, an error that allowed the Red Sox to take a 1-0 lead. It was the fourth error for Hosmer in just over a week -- almost unheard of for a first baseman. Shortstop Alcides Escobar also made an error that led to another unearned run in the fourth. Yost said the Royals did not lose focus. "The play to Esky was a tough hop," Yost said. "Hosmer ... yes, he should make that play." Mike Moustakas made a bad throw for an error as well in that inning. Yikes. In the eighth, Hosmer had a chance to make a nice, lunging play on a liner from Jemile Weeks, but Hoz couldn't come up with that and it went for a two-run double to pretty much end the suspense.
-- Down night for the Down Under. Australian Liam Hendriks, so effective in his first start for the Royals against Minnesota, was a disaster this time around. Granted, Hendriks didn't get help from his defense in the second inning, but the wheels suddenly came off for him in the third inning as he walked two batters and hit another while also giving up two hits. That was enough as Yost pulled him and the Royals trailed, 3-2. It is a tough spot for Hendriks to be thrust into a key start in the playoff chase, but he didn't show much Thursday. "I just seemed to lose my command in that third inning," he said. "I was trying to aim it, I guess, instead of just trying to throw through it. It wasn't acceptable."
You can follow Jeffrey Flanagan on Twitter at @jflanagankc or email him at jeffreyflanagan6@gmail.com.
