The Kansas City Royals were hoping to earn a series win against the defending AL East champs and show how they stack up against one of the top teams in the league.
But the Royals’ bats did little, and they lost 5-0 to the Orioles on Sunday at Kauffman Stadium, giving the O’s a 2-1 series win and taking the season series against the Royals 4-2.
Baltimore’s Cole Irvin (1-1) gave up just four hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings, earning his first win since beating the Royals last June.
“We had trouble squaring him up,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “I’m not sure if he was locating. Sometimes it looks like they were set up in and he threw away and vice versa. So give him credit. He spun the breaking ball in there and cut it when we thought he was going to sink it, and we just couldn’t barrel him up.”
The Royals (13-9) left nine on base and went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position against the Orioles (14-7). It marked the first time the Royals were shut out this season after being blanked 15 times last year.
The Royals certainly liked their chances on taking the series after winning the opener 9-4 Friday night before sending ace Cole Ragans to the mound Saturday. But Ragans gave up seven quick runs and the Orioles held on late for a 9-7 win, which set the stage for Sunday’s finale.
But Royals starter Seth Lugo (3-1) gave up back-to-back homers to Colton Cowser and Jordan Westburg in the third inning, and the Orioles added two more in the sixth against Lugo.
“Couple of missed locations and that’s what happens at this level,” said Lugo, who gave up four runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings while striking out one and walking one.
Salvador Perez had two walks offensively, but the Royals had just one extra-base hit — a double by Bobby Witt Jr. in the first inning.
“They were competitive games,” Quatraro said. “Today we didn’t get much going. We had a couple chances there where we just didn’t capitalize. But overall, when a team shuts you out, you got to tip your cap. We just couldn’t execute. But the rest of the games were competitive.”
UP NEXT
The Royals will begin a four-game home series with Toronto at 6:40 p.m. Monday. Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (1-1, 2.08 ERA) will start for the Blue Jays (12-10). Right-hander Brady Singer (2-0, 1.54 ERA) will start for the Royals.
