The Kansas City Royals were defeated by a final score of 8-2 on Sunday, as they lost to the Baltimore Orioles. It was a difficult way to end the first half of the season, as both the pitching and offense failed to perform well. Starting pitcher Seth Lugo had a disappointing beginning to the ball game.
Lugo only allowed two earned runs. However, he also threw 89 pitches across just four innings, and he was removed after the fourth inning. He did have six strikeouts, but Lugo allowed a number of base runners. The right-handed hurler ended up giving up four hits and two walks in an underwhelming performance.
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Lugo may be a trade candidate before the upcoming deadline. His trade value is not especially high right now, though. Teams may have interest in him since he is a veteran with a proven track record, but Lugo has not pitched especially well this year.
The 36-year-old now holds a 4.56 ERA across 19 starts. He has also recorded 86 strikeouts in his 104.2 innings of work.
Lugo will attempt to turn things around after the All-Star break.
Lugo did not have his best outing, but the bullpen did not help matters. Matt Strahm allowed five runs while another run later scored, as the relievers combined for six runs allowed.
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Offensively, Kansas City recorded two runs on nine hits. Lane Thomas had a big game with three hits, while Bobby Witt Jr. added two hits. The Royals were able to get runners on base, but they failed to consistently drive in runs.
Overall, it was a challenging ball game for the Royals to say the least.
The Royals’ first half of the season is over, and they are tied with the Los Angeles Angels for the worst record in the league at 38-59 overall.
At this point it seems like a distant memory, but Kansas City expected to compete before the season began. Expectations were high for the ball club. Between underperformance and injuries, things have not gone according to plan for this Royals team.
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They still feature a number of young players with potential, so the idea of Kansas City bouncing back next year and competing is not out of the question. Unless they completely shock the MLB world this year, though, the Royals are probably not going to make a competitive run this season.
Nevertheless, their future remains intriguing.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source ca.sports.yahoo.com ’
