KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Manager Ned Yost is a man searching and almost begging for answers these days.
Yost's team just got swept by the lowly Astros, the latest a 9-3 dud on Wednesday afternoon.
Asked if his team was a little embarrassed, Yost said, "Yeah, they outplayed us. That's why I was so frustrated (Tuesday) night."
The Royals have lost seven of nine and have fallen to a season-high four games under .500.
The mood of his troops, in Yost's mind?
"They're still fighting," Yost said. "They're frustrated with what's going on."
And, for now, they are no immediate solutions.
"We just keep working hard," Yost said. " ... Yelling and screaming, that doesn't get you anywhere ... but if we don't get this figured out quick, we're going to be in trouble."
3 UP
-- Hat tip to Hayes. Give some credit to catcher Brett Hayes, who after popping out his first time up was 0 for 27 on the season. But he finally got his first hit in the fifth inning when he got fooled on a pitch and stopped in the box as if he had popped the ball up. Actually, the ball hit off the end of the bat and squirted past first base for a single. Hayes then came up in the seventh and socked a solo home run, the Royals' first home run since May 18.
-- Why not? It probably didn't look like a great idea in the fourth inning when first baseman Eric Hosmer hit a single up the middle with two out and decided to try and leg out a double. The Royals were down 5-0 at the time. But keep in mind the Royals' offense has been dead for days, having not even scored a run in 15 prior innings. Hoz hustled his way into second and made it by avoiding the tag. At this point, with such a lifeless offense, you tend to try anything. And this time it paid off when shortstop Alcides Escobar followed with a double to get the Royals on the board.
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-- It was a bright and sunny day. Seriously. I got nothing else. There really isn't a third positive to come out of this day, not for a Royals team that just got swept, got pounded, got embarrassed. They got outscored in the series by the worst team in the American League, 21-5 -- at home.
But hey, it was a pleasant day in Kansas City.
3 DOWN
-- Careless start. OK, so it had absolutely nothing to do with the outcome of this blowout Astros win. But the game got started terribly wrong when Jose Altuve swung at the first pitch and hit a one-hopper to Escobar. Esky flung a good throw to first base, slightly low and near the dirt. Hosmer simply dropped it for an error. It's the type of stuff that slumping teams experience. And, of course, the next hitter, George Springer, belted a two-run homer and the Astros were off and running.
-- Gotta be better against the competition. The Astros started a lineup that featured these averages for hitters 5-6-7-8-9: .192, .204, .140, .151 and .207. Yet starter Danny Duffy couldn't' make it out of the fifth inning. He gave up seven hits, walked five and surrendered five earned runs. Unacceptable.
Duffy explained later that he was suffering from "dead" arm, which happens when pitchers go through periods of muscle and tendon fatigue. His fastball never got above 92 (normally, he hits the mid-90s). But Duffy said he didn't fear injury after talking with team trainers.
"No, we did the exams and it's fine," he said of his arm. "I feel no pain. I was trying to throw (harder) but it wasn't coming out that way. But that's not why we lost. My command was hogwash."
Duffy said he expects the dead-arm stage to last just a few more days.
-- No breaks, either. The Royals did try to muster a couple of rallies to crawl back into the game in the fourth and fifth innings. But each inning ended with a runner in scoring position as Houston left fielder Robbie Grossman made lunging, sliding catches to thwart the rallies. When you're going well, those bloopers fall, runs score and rallies continue. When you're in a funk, those bloopers get caught.
You can follow Jeffrey Flanagan on Twitter at @jflanagankc or email him at jeffreyflanagan6@gmail.com.
