KC Royals fall in series opener against Arizona Diamondbacks | Key moments, commentary

The Kansas City Royals came close to taking a weekend series against the Los Angeles Angels, but the LA squad took the first and third games of the series by a combined three runs.

That trend of close losses continued Monday, as KC had a chance to defeat Arizona but fell 5-4 while leaving 10 on base.

Earlier in April, KC took two of three from the San Francisco Giants, which included a gem of a pitching performance from Kris Bubic and some production from the middle-of-the-lineup hitters. But Bubic has since been shut down (Tommy John surgery) and KC’s offense has struggled to cobble together runs.

Before Monday’s game KC had scored more than three runs just twice in its last nine contests, winning 11-8 against the Angels on Saturday and falling 5-4 to Atlanta just over a week ago. The hope for KC, of course, is that those outings will become much more commonplace as the season chugs along — and that they’ll carry over to some home games, too.

The Royals are 1-12 at Kauffman Stadium thus far and starting to hear some boos from the KC crowd.

First things first, a new road series against Arizona began on Monday. Follow along with commentary from The Star during Monday’s game.

This story was originally published April 24, 2023 at 8:41 PM.