Royals carved up by George Kirby and Mariners offense in 6-2 loss

It’s the eighth straight loss to Seattle in Seattle

As a shorthand, you can kind of tell how well the Royals played in a game depending on how many highlights the Kansas City Royals or Bally Sports KC accounts tweet out. Even if the Royals end up losing, there can definitely be action to point out or cool plays that happened.

That did not happen in tonight’s game, a 6-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners that extends Kansas City’s losing streak in Seattle to eight straight games. This was the only highlight either account tweeted: a nice gap double by Michael Massey to plate a pair of runs and bring the tying run to the plate.

On the Mariners’ side, there were a lot of highlights. Brady Singer was shaky and left all sorts of pitches in the middle of the plate as gifts to Seattle hitters. Luke Raley hit one such pitch for a home run in the second inning, and Cal Raleigh and Dylan Moore got a double each against Singer. Over the course of four innings, Singer gave up nine hits and one walk. Brady managed to add on a clean fifth inning and struck out six overall, so it wasn’t a game-killing outing by any stretch.

Unfortunately, George Kirby—who I picked to win AL Cy Young this year—was brilliant outside of a bizarre first inning when he loaded the bases on consecutive hit batters. But with the bases loaded, Michael Massey struck out and Nelson Velazquez grounded out and the Royals’ biggest threat all night disappeared with nothing to show for it.

There’s just not a lot to say about this one. Kansas City got a pair in the eighth inning on Massey’s aforementioned double, but with another chance with at least one runner in scoring position, Velazquez struck out against Mariners closer Andres Munoz. To be fair, Munoz is a monster, but regardless of the pitcher on the mound you have to take advantage and the Royals did not. And in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Royals and Chris Stratton gave both their runs right back.

After tonight’s loss, Kansas City falls to third place in the division following a win by the Cleveland Guardians (who scored a whopping seven runs in the last two frames of the game) and an off day by the Minnesota Twins (who have won a nearly inconceivable 17 of their last 20 games). If the season ended today, though, the Royals would still squeak in as the third Wild Card slot.

Still—the Royals are on pace to win 94 games. We’ll take that, even if there are duds now and then.