It’s becoming an art form — all right, an excruciating art form — the way the Royals keep finding ways to come up short against the Baltimore Orioles.
Saturday’s 6-5 loss extended the streak to 12 in a row and included a rain delay of 1 hour, 52 minutes in the first inning after the Royals had already worked themselves into a 3-0 hole.
It also included another boatload of wasted scoring opportunities, the most grievous of which came in the seventh when the Royals put the tying runs on base at first and third with no outs…and got nothing.
This was an absolutely miserable night at Kauffman Stadium that drove away all but a few hundred hardy souls by game’s end when howling winds were churning whitecaps in the outfield fountains.
It ended with the tying run at second base after Billy Butler pounded a two-out RBI double into the left-center gap against Baltimore closer George Sherrill. The ball seemed to be a game-tying homer off the bat — complete with celebratory fireworks — before it died in the wind.
“That’s all I’ve got,” Butler said. “I can’t hit a ball better than that. I thought it was gone when I hit it, but then you factor in the elements. The wind was blowing in. Those are the breaks.”
It hit the wall instead of going out. The Royals still trailed by one run, and Sherrill closed out the victory by retiring Mark Grudzielanek on a grounder to third for the final out.
Royals starter Brett Tomko, 1-4, turned in an inconsistent effort that included six runs and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings while he was striking out eight and walking none. Three of those runs came on a homer by Kevin Millar in the first inning before the rains forced a halt.
It would have been nice to know if that rain was coming,” Tomko said, “and not even go out there in the first place. But, really, it didn’t bother me. The mound was pretty good.”
The Orioles had not hit a three-run homer all season before arriving Thursday at the I-70 Welcome Wagon. Now, they have hit one in three straight games — something they last did in 2000.
Typical.
Baltimore had also lost five in a row and 17 of 27 before the series opened. The Orioles will go for a four-game sweep this afternoon on Mother’s Day.
The last opponent to sweep a four-game series here was the Twins from Aug. 3-6, 2006.
Baltimore lefty Garrett Olson, a rookie, wobbled at times but got the victory by preventing the Royals from producing a big inning. Olson, 2-0, allowed three runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.
“The best thing he did tonight was he kept his focus,” Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. “You get yourself ready to pitch and then all of sudden it’s taken away from you. You’ve got to wait a couple of hours.”
Four relievers followed Olson with Jim Johnson pulling the seventh-inning escape after replacing Jamie Walker with no outs and runners at second and third. Johnson struck out Butler and Grudzielanek before retiring José Guillen on a grounder to second.
“You know what?” Butler said. “That run (in the ninth) is enough if I do something in the seventh, if I just get a sac fly or something.”
Sherrill’s save was his 13th in 15 opportunities.
The Royals, 15-21, finished with 13 hits, including at least one from eight of their nine starters.
They are now 1-5 on a 10-game home stand that concludes next week with three games against Detroit.
Tomko opened the game by yielding successive singles to Brian Roberts and Melvin Mora but was poised to escape unharmed until testing Kevin Millar with a fourth straight fastball.
“I was trying to go away,” Tomko said, “and it ran up and in.”
Millar turned on it and yanked it 356 feet over the left-field wall for a three-run homer. It was his fifth homer of the year.
The Royals never really recovered. Almost, but that as close as they seem to get against the Orioles.
“There are no excuses,” said Miguel Olivo, who struck out as a pinch-hitter in the ninth. None that matter.
Bob Dutton's vlog | Orioles 6, Royals 5
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