KANSAS CITY -- The one thing Royals right-hander Jakob Junis wanted to do was finish 2019 strong.

It hasn’t quite gone that way.

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Junis struggled once again, allowing seven hits and five runs over just 2 2/3 innings in the Royals’ 12-3 loss to the Astros on Sunday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium. Houston completed a three-game sweep of the Royals, who had won four straight series.

It was the shortest outing of Junis’ 77 starts during his career.

Junis got through a scoreless first inning before the Astros rocked him for three runs in the second and two more in the third. The big blows were a home run by Yuli Gurriel and a two-run double by Abraham Toro.

“He didn’t have anything going today,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “It was kind of crazy because he’s really struggled lately in the first inning and then kind of settled down from there. But he came out razor sharp in the first and I thought, 'Man, he’s going to be really good.' But by the second inning and third inning, his command was off. He didn’t have his slider.”

Added Junis, "I came out and felt good that first inning, a couple of strikeouts. That's how I wanted to start the game, come out on a high note. The last few outings I've been getting hit a little bit early. It was nice to come out and have a good first inning. But after that ... lost my command a little bit.”

Junis, who is expected to be a significant part of the rotation in 2020, has a 7.25 ERA over his past six starts. His season ERA ballooned to 5.24.

“I think the innings are adding up for him right now this time of year,” Yost said. “I’ll take a day or two and look at things and see if that might have been his last start of the year.”

Junis has thrown 175 1/3 innings this year. Last year, he threw a career-high 177.

Is Junis feeling fatigue?

"It's a lot of starts, a lot of innings,” Junis said, “and getting through September is a grind. It's like that for everybody, obviously. I'll just take it one start at a time."

The Royals’ offense was mostly quiet again after having scored just one run in each of the previous two games in the series.

Jorge Soler tripled in a run in the first inning, his first triple since 2015 and only the third of his career.