Three Takeaways From the Royals' 8-1 Loss to the Angels
For the second consecutive game, a 2018 draft pick struggles on the mound with lefty Kris Bubic surrendering four home runs in four innings as the Kansas City Royals drop below .500 and extend their losing streak to four.
Kansas City loses falls to 29-30 on the season while Los Angeles improves to 29-32.
Here are three things I took away from tonight's game.
Kris Bubic with another shaky start.
After a stellar May, which saw Bubic pitch to a 1.52 ERA in 29.2 innings pitched, June has not been as kind to the young lefty. In two June starts, Bubic has allowed 9 earned runs in 8 1/3 innings pitched and has surrendered five home runs. Bubic struggled with his command early and left too many pitches up in the zone. Hopefully, for the Royals, this is just a couple of poor starts and Bubic can return closer to his May form.
Ronald Bolaños was electric.
Ronald Bolaños made his second appearance of the season and looked the best he has in a Royals uniform. Bolaños pitched two perfect innings and struck out the first five Angels he faced. Bolaños' outing took some pressure off the bullpen as Jake Brentz and Josh Staumont were the only other relievers used after the poor start from Bubic. The big question is can Bolaños consistently display the stuff he did tonight and become a reliable option out of the pen for the Royals?
Where did the offense go?
While the starting pitching has been poor the last two nights, the Royals scored four or fewer runs for the fourth consecutive game. This is after a seven-game stretch where the Royals averaged eight runs a games. Carlos Santana has gone into a slump as he is 1-for-15 during the losing streak with zero walks. With Hunter Dozier and Jorge Soler continuing to underperform at the plate and Adalberto Mondesi on the injured list, the Royals cannot afford slumps from their first four hitters. This may be unfair to Santana, but with the way the lineup is constructed, Santana along with Salvador Perez, Whit Merrifield and Andrew Benintendi have to produce at the plate for the Royals to score runs.
