Royals vs Nationals Final Score: 7-2 Loss Is 7th In A Row For KC

There isn’t much to say as the Kansas City Royals (64-64), who peaked at 8 games over .500, have fallen back to the break even point after a loss to the Washington Nationals (65-64). It is the Royals 7th straight loss and the 9th out of the last 11 games.

Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

On the Mound

The bad Wade Davis showed up Saturday night. The  righty was pummeled by the Nationals over the course of 6 innings. They touched him up for 7 runs and 8 hits and 3 walks. It was as ugly as it sounded.

Luke Hochevar again did his job, throwing 3 scoreless innings, allowing just 1 hit in mop up duty.

At the Plate

The Royals had the same amount of hits as the Nats but lumped very few of them together. Their biggest assault came in the 4th when a soft liner to third by Alcides Escobar left the bases loaded. Billy Butler and Mike Moustakas each had two hits but Alex Gordon went 0-5 from the lead off spot.

This and That

The Royals left 8 on base; the Nationals just three.

All of the Royals hits were singles.

For all practical purposes, the streak has just buried the Royals postseason changes. That being said, over the course of four weeks in late July and early August, baseball was about as fun and exciting in Kansas City as it has been in quite awhile.

KC Kingdom Player of the Game

I’m going to go with Luke Hochevar. Sure, it was 3 meaningless innings at the end of the game when there was little chance the Royals would make up a six-run deficit, but he deserves some recognition for a job well done over the course of the season.

Jul 13, 2013; Cleveland, OH, USA; Kansas City Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas (8) slams his bat after fouling out in the seventh inning against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

• James Shields – 10
• Alex Gordon – 15
  
• Wade Davis – 5
• Lorenzo Cain – 8
• Luis Mendoza – 3
• Billy Butler – 10
• Ervin Santana – 10
• Miguel Tejada – 5
  
• Jeremy Guthrie -5
• Eric Hosmer – 13
• Chris Getz – 3
• Mike Moustakas – 6
  
• Aaron Crow
• Jarrod Dyson – 3
  
• David Lough – 8
• Alcides Escobar – 5
• J.C. Gutierrez
• Jeff Francoeur
• Bruce Chen – 4
• Salvador Perez – 5
• Will Smith – 1
  
• George Kottaras
• Louis Coleman – 2
  
• Bruce Chen – 2
  
• Justin Maxwell – 2
• Greg Holland -2
  
• Danny Duffy
• Luke Hochevar

The Nationals

Washington crept over .500 and now actually have a better record than the Royals.

Shortstop Ian Desmond hit his 18th home run on the year and drove in his 60th and 61st runs. He would lead the Royals in home runs and only three behind Alex Gordon for the team lead in RBI.

Jordan Zimmerman looked terrific, going 7.2 innings, allowing 2 runs on 8 hits and 1 walk. He struck out 7.

Up Next

Ervin Santana (8-7, 3.13 ERA) will try to keep his team from being swept against Dan Haren (8-11, 4.64 ERA) at 1:10.

AL Central Notes

Detroit Tigers (76-53): Max Scherzer went 6 scoreless innings, giving up 3 hits and 4 walks while striking out 11 to earn his 19th win on the sessaon. The Tigers banged out 15 hits but just 3 runs in the 3-0 win over the Mets. Andy Dirks went 3-3, and Austin Jackson, Omar Infante, Miguel Cabrera, and Matt Tuiasosopo all had multiple hits games as well.

Cleveland Indians (70-59): The Indians took down the Twins 7-2 behind Zach McAllister‘s 7.1 innings of 2-run ball. Jason Kipnis and Carlos Santana homered in the game for Cleveland.

Minnesota Twins (57-71): Liam Hendricks was crushed by the Indians by yielding 7 runs on 7 hits in 4.1 innings. Other than Brian Dozier‘s 13th home run of the year, the Twins didn’t muster much offense in the 7-2 loss.

Chicago White Sox (53-75):  Rookie catcher Josh Phegley had a walk off single in the bottom of the ninth to propel the Sox to a 3-2 win over the Rangers. Hector Santiago held the Rangers to just the 2 runs and 5 hits over 6.1 innings.