Ugly sixth inning leads to a 9-5 loss

Hampson is a treat.

After their 5-3 win on Monday night, the Royals squandered an opportunity to take the series with Cole Ragans on the mound on Tuesday.

The loss snaps a 5-game winning streak for Kansas City.

It was quiet for the first three innings of the game with two All-Stars on the bump. It wasn’t until Kevin Pillar poked a 69 mph RBI-double down the left field line to make it 1-0. Moments later, Anthony Rendon popped a SAC-fly to left field to push the lead to two.

The Royals, however, responded in a hurry. After Bobby Witt Jr led off with a “gift” double, Vinnie Pasquantino ripped an RBI-double to cut the lead in half. Hunter Renfroe tied things up, shortly after, on a single up the middle.

Cole Ragans, who had been bitten by some bad luck in his first five innings, let things unravel in the sixth. Zach Neto led off the frame with a solo shot and two more of Ragans’s runs came into score when James McArthur came in to limit the damage.

Following their three-run sixth, Los Angeles tacked on two more to make it 7-2 with Kansas City down to its final nine outs.

Fortunately, the Royals began to rally in the bottom of the seventh. An RBI double from Bobby Witt Jr and two-run single by Vinnie Pasquantino trimmed the deficit down to two but Kansas City failed to do any more damage.

Even after Ragans, the Royals’ bullpen dealt with runners all night. McArthur, Chris Stratton, Angel Zerpa and Will Smith all struggled.
Los Angeles added two more in the ninth to give flamethrower Ben Joyce a four-run cushion. With that cushion, he cut down Kansas City with ease.

The Royals, 70-56, will try and take the series tomorrow. Michael Lorenzen will duel with former Royal Johnny Cueto. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. CT.