The Kansas City Royals have endured their two worst losing streaks of the season over the past three-plus weeks.
The dismal closing performance is hampering their bid to end a playoff drought that began after their 2015 World Series title.
The Royals will try to at least temporarily halt their struggles when they host the San Francisco Giants again on Saturday.
Kansas City (82-72) lost 2-1 in Friday’s opener of the three-game set to run its losing streak to five games. The Royals lost seven in a row to begin the stretch in which they have dropped 14 of their past 21 games.
Kansas City was in great shape for a playoff berth in late August before the swoon began. The Royals since have fallen out of the American League Central chase and are one of four teams battling for the final two wild-card spots.
The Royals will arrive at the ballpark Saturday with a one-game lead over the Minnesota Twins, a two-game edge over the Detroit Tigers, and a three-game cushion over the Seattle Mariners.
Kansas City is now four games behind the Baltimore Orioles for the top wild-card spot.
Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. was the bright spot Friday with three hits to increase his major-league-leading batting average to .334.
San Francisco’s Heliot Ramos also had three hits and drove in one run and scored one. Ramos fell a homer short of the cycle.
In his last at-bat in the eighth inning, Ramos hit a liner to right field that Kansas City’s Adam Frazier made a diving catch on to rob him of another extra-base hit.
“Honestly, I had it in my head and I was thinking, ‘OK, let’s get a good pitch to hit and a good at-bat,'” Ramos said of a possible cycle. “I didn’t want to try to do too much. I felt the last three weeks, I was hitting the ball hard and there was something that wasn’t clicking.”
Ramos is batting .270 with 21 homers and 70 RBIs during his breakout season in which he was named an All-Star.
The Royals have just four runs over their last three losses. On Friday, Kansas City was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and pushed across only one run in the ninth after loading the bases with one out.
Garrett Hampson hit a sacrifice fly for the team’s lone run. He narrowly missed an extra-base hit that would have at least tied the game when his liner down the third-base line was just inches foul.
“You got to make your own breaks,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said afterward. “We’ve had every opportunity to hit the ball in the gap or hit a line drive through the middle. You don’t control any of it once the ball leaves the bat.
“We’ve got to just keep putting ourselves in the opportunities to get guys on base and force the action, and hopefully we break through.”
All five Kansas City hits were singles.
“We hit the ball hard but didn’t have anything to show for it,” Frazier said. “We just need a timely hit or two.”
Right-hander Brady Singer (9-11, 3.53 ERA) will start Saturday in search of his first win since Aug. 18. He is 0-3 with a 5.40 ERA over his last five outings.
Singer lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 on Sunday when he gave up four runs and six hits over five innings.
Singer is 0-0 with a 5.73 ERA in two career starts against the Giants. LaMonte Wade Jr. is 2-for-5 with a homer off Singer.
The Giants (75-79) will send right-hander Landen Roupp (0-1, 3.02 ERA) to the mound on Saturday. It will be the rookie’s third start and 22nd appearance of the season.
Roupp received a no-decision against the San Diego Padres on Sunday when he allowed just two hits over five scoreless innings. The Giants lost 4-3 in 10 innings.
–Field Level Media
