'Need to play better': Royals' frustration grows amid losing streak

CHICAGO -- The Royals were four games below .500 when they began a 10-game stretch against American League Central opponents on May 4. They wanted to seize the opportunity ahead of them as they began the month playing better overall.

They worked their way up to 17-19 at one point and finished a winning homestand last week. But they could not continue it this week, getting swept out of Chicago with Thursday’s 6-2 series-finale loss to the White Sox at Rate Field.

The Royals finished that important stretch against division opponents at 4-6, and are now 19-25 on the season. Thursday’s loss marked their fourth in a row.

One step forward, two steps back.

“We can’t let these series happen,” shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. said. “I believe we’re the better team. We’ve got to go out there and show it.”

The first two games of this series against the surging White Sox were tough one-run losses, not exactly end-of-the-world devastation. They were close, good games that the Royals ended up on the wrong side of -- irritating, sure, but sometimes part of the game. Thursday’s loss was a different feeling. Whether it was frustration because of how the series played out overall or how this game transpired specifically, well, it was probably all of the above.

“Just how sometimes we go through spurts of really good baseball and -- not bad baseball -- but it’s just not where we are or should be,” Witt said. “It’s not the type of team that we are.”

On Thursday, it started right away. The Royals jumped on White Sox starter Anthony Kay quickly, with singles from Maikel Garcia and Witt and a sacrifice fly from Lane Thomas. With one out, this was a spot for a big inning.

Instead, Salvador Perez struck out swinging on an elevated fastball out of the zone, one that should have been ball four. He was visibly frustrated as he walked back to the dugout.

After Nick Loftin was hit by a pitch to put two on base, Vinnie Pasquantino struck out swinging to end the frame.

“Need to figure [it] out myself,” Perez said. “Left a couple of guys with runners in scoring position the last three games, so I need to figure out how to get better and help my team to win.

“... Everything changed after that, you know? Loftin hit-by-pitch. I chased the fastball up. Maybe [it could have been] bases loaded and everything can change. It’s about one pitch, one swing, anything can change. So that was frustrating in that moment. Need to play better.”

After Perez grounded into a double play with Witt on second base in the fifth inning, the Royals' catcher is just 8-for-48 with runners in scoring position this year with a .500 OPS. The Royals will continue to rely on Perez in the middle of the lineup. They know how things could change and how he could carry the offense; he’s done it for years. But Perez acknowledged the lack of production on Thursday.

“Trying to chase too many pitches out of the strike zone,” Perez said. “Take what they give you. They know I’m super aggressive, so if they give me some walks, I need to be patient and keep the line moving. Get on first base and let the guy behind me do it.”

The Royals’ offense is averaging just 3.1 runs per game on the road this year, worst in the Majors, and they’ve been held to four runs or fewer in 16 of 21 road games.

That was the case again Thursday, but the hole they found themselves in kept getting deeper as starter Kris Bubic battled his way through an 84-pitch outing, allowing five runs in four innings.

No rotation is perfect all year. But Royals starters have had one quality start in their last eight games, and that’s a tough stretch for a team built on the strength of its rotation.

“We’re accustomed to quality starts regularly,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “We haven’t gotten them in this stretch. That’s unfortunate. We believe in those guys and we know they’ll be better.”

Production with two outs has hurt Royals pitchers all year, and Munetaka Murakami’s two-out walk in the first inning hurt Bubic, who allowed a two-run homer to Randal Grichuk to immediately put the Royals in a deficit they never overcame.

“I felt like it happened a few times when I got to two strikes, where they were fouling off a lot,” Bubic said. “Some of it you tip your cap, some of it’s just lack of execution on my part.

“... Just hoped for a better effort than that.”