KANSAS CITY -- Despite the four-run deficit starter Brad Keller put the Royals in to start Monday night’s game against the Tigers, they had every opportunity to close the gap in their eventual 10-3 series-opening loss at Kauffman Stadium.

They just couldn’t capitalize.

• Box score

The Royals left 13 men on base and were a mere 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position, continuing a pervasive problem they have had over the past week -- a stretch in which they’ve lost nine of 10 games. In those 10 contests, Kansas City is hitting just .153 (11-for-72) with runners in scoring position, and it has scored three or fewer runs in eight of those games.

Since the ninth inning on Thursday against Oakland -- the Royals’ one win since June 4 -- they are just 2-for-38 with runners in scoring position.

“We can talk approach until we’re blue in the face,” manager Mike Matheny said. “It’s execution. They know what we’re trying to do. I thought our guys early on did a nice job using the opposite field, getting in deep counts, letting the ball travel. And then we get opportunities to let something big happen, and it’s either we foul off the pitch that we do damage with or it ends up being a count where we chase.

“It’s hitting us hard.”

After Tigers starter Matthew Boyd exited in the third inning with left arm discomfort, they sent eight more pitchers to the mound during the rest of the game. It was an already exhausted bullpen, and the Royals worked it hard Monday, too: They had at least one runner on base in every inning and put two or more on base in every inning except the first and ninth. That’s 18 baserunners with just three runs scored -- while the Tigers tagged Keller for seven runs (six earned) in five innings and Ervin Santana for three runs in four innings.

Twice, the Royals loaded the bases but couldn’t push more than a run across. In the fifth inning, Whit Merrifield scored on Salvador Perez’s single, and Kansas City loaded the bases with one out -- thanks to a double from Jorge Soler and a walk from Hunter Dozier -- only to watch Kelvin Gutierrez strike out swinging and Edward Olivares sharply ground out to second base.

In the sixth, the Royals scored on Soler’s bases-loaded walk, but Dozier popped out to shallow right field to end the inning.

Despite outhitting the Tigers, 14-12, the Royals lost by seven runs.

What’s behind Kansas City’s lack of execution with situational hitting? There are any number of reasons, from the way the opposition is attacking the Royals’ lineup to simply running into bad luck in big spots. But when it persists like it has this past week, one can sense the pressure each hitter is putting on himself in those spots.

“When things aren’t going well and we’re losing games, it’s almost like a press to do more to help us get over that hump,” Merrifield said. “It’s hard to combat. I don’t know how you combat it. It’s just human nature. And it’s something we have to get a little better at -- myself included -- trying to take a step back and just play the game. Let it take care of itself and not try to do more.”

Part of the pressure is because of the stretch the Royals are on. Part of it is because they’re without two big bats in Adalberto Mondesi (left hamstring strain) and Andrew Benintendi (right rib fracture). Part of it is because hitters like Soler and Dozier have yet to produce consistently -- though both have shown flashes recently, including Soler’s three-hit game Monday.

“Guys are pressing about hitting with guys on base, and guys are pressing about us losing,” Merrifield said. “And it’s tough. It’s tough to overcome. You mentally got to push that aside and attack every at-bat, every pitch.. And I can sit here and say that all I want, but I’m guilty of falling into that just like everybody else is. It’s part of being in the big leagues, part of being in baseball. Lot of failure that goes into it, and you got to be able to mentally overcome.”

Merrifield has been adamant all year that he senses something different with this team than those he’s been on since he debuted with the Royals in 2016. That hasn’t changed recently.

“We got guys that want to win so bad and want to be successful so bad that sometimes it can be detrimental, and that can be hard to overcome,” Merrifield said. “We got a lot of guys that care in there. … It’s not hard for us to come in every day excited to be around everybody.

“Guys care, guys love each other, guys are playing for each other. All we can do is ride it out, and hopefully the tide starts turning soon.”