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For Royals, success taking its toll
- Updated: August 5, 2016
ST. PETERSBURG — Up 2-0 in the eighth inning against the Rays on Thursday, the Royals loaded the bases with one out. Salvador Perez fanned on three pitches, and then Alex Gordon struck out. End of threat.
In the top of the ninth, now down 3-2, but with runners on second and third and two out, Royals third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert was an easy strikeout victim. End of threat, end of game.
A year ago, en route to their exciting World Series championship, the hungry Royals would have refused to let important scoring opportunities go to waste. Their trademark as they ousted Toronto and ultimately the Mets was putting the baseball in play — seizing the moment.
Those moments are slipping away this year, and nothing made that more apparent than their two losses to the last-place Rays this week at Tropicana Field.
Wednesday, they were hammered, 12-0. And in Thursday’s matinee, after walking a 2-0 tightrope behind a revitalized Ian Kennedy, Kansas City coughed up the lead and lost, 3-2, after Brad Miller blasted a three-run shot off reliever Joakim Soria in the eighth inning.
Nothing defines this disappointing and frustrating 2016 Royals season more than those two games.
The Royals jetted back to Kansas City after the setback to begin a weekend series at Kauffman Stadium against the Blue Jays, arguably the American League East’s best team, tied for first place entering play Friday.
Toronto swept Kansas City in three games in early July, outscoring them 18-7. For the Blue Jays, it will be their first visit to Kauffman Stadium since the Royals earned their trip to the World Series, winning the AL crown on Oct. 23.
The Royals began the weekend six games under .500, in fourth place in the AL Central. Back-to-back pennants and their first World Series title in 30 years are in the rearview mirror.
A trip to the postseason this year is unlikely.
No matter how determined the Royals have been to not let history repeat, they’ve come face-to-face this summer with reality: Repeating as World Series champion seldom happens.
Not since Joe Torre’s powerful New York Yankees won three in a …
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