The Kansas City Royals made history last night. And judging from the fact they lost to the Chicago White Sox by a harrowing score of 22-1, these are records to forget. Per Fox4's Sports Anchor Harold Kuntz, the Royals tied the most runs given up in a single game in team history (1994's 22-11 loss to the Boston Red Sox). KC's collapse also marked the clubs worse loss margin in franchise history at a whopping 21 runs.
To say the Royals' 2026 season has been disappointing is one thing; however, they had been rising somewhat high in the month of June. They'd been playing some of their best baseball, despite the continuous injuries to star pitchers Seth Lugo and Cole Ragans and hitters like Vinnie Pasquantino and Maikel Garcia. Even during Bobby Witt Jr.'s handful of absences, KC put up games where they scored six, 12, and 10 runs.
What happened during the series-opener in Chicago marked a season-low and perhaps the final mental blow of any hope that Kansas City could dig itself out of the depths of the American League standings. Before last night's debacle, the Royals looked like they had a fighting chance, just six games under from the last Wild Card spot. Now nearing the trade deadline and past the midseason mark, things look murky for the Boys in Blue.
Last night's 21-run loss to the White Sox was the straw that broke the camel's back on the Royals 2026 season
Pair last night up with the series-finisher against Tampa Bay, and the Royals' pitching has given up 35 runs in just two outings. And the Royals' batting lineup certainly won't get off easy either. They have provided almost nothing to speak of over these two games. Heck, they were lucky to score anything versus Tampa on Thursday night, as the Rays' pitchers had performed a no-hitter going into the ninth inning.
If it hadn't been for a Carter Jensen moonshot with Starling Marte on the bag after a walk, Kansas City would have been shut out. Last night's 29 at-bats produced just four hits to 10 strikeouts and one run scored on a Michael Massey ground ball double-play with the bases loaded and no outs. All three batters got on base, not because of some frenzy hitting, but three consecutive walks that amounted to a single run.
Matt Quatraro is simply running out of answers at this point. His starting rotation has been obliterated by injuries for over a month, the bullpen is one of the worst in recent memory, and the offense, despite what should hold some meaningful talent, either isn't consistent enough or perhaps just not as good as previously thought.
The only thing the Royals can do is try to shake last night's historically bad defeat off and go into tonight with a fresh mind to compete. Hopefully, having Michael Wacha on the mound should enliven the ballclub as he's been one of the very few constant pieces of production this year.
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