2021 KC Royals: A Week of Highs and Lows

2021 Kc Royals: Get the Brooms Out

On Monday, the Royals took on the Detriot Tigers in an afternoon game. KC won that game 3-2 where the bullpen pitched three scoreless frames. Scott Barlow, Greg Holland, and Josh Staumont closed the door on the four-game sweep of the Tigers. This was the first time the Royals have swept a team in a four-game series since 1999. During this game, Salvador Perez would exit due to an injury, however, Salvy missed no time this week.

Interleague Play

To continue the road trip, the 2021 KC Royals then traveled to Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates in a two-game set. The KC bats were quiet on this Tuesday night game where the team could only squander four hits that night. The only run for the club came from a Carlos Santana infield single. Pittsburgh took game one of the series with a close 2-1 score.

Game two of the series was when the KC bats woke up. Jorge Soler and Hunter Dozier drove in runs on extra-base hits in the first inning off Mitch Keller and gave the Royals an early 3-0 lead after one inning. KC would then hold the lead for the rest of the night and win the game 9-6. Josh Staumont again shut the door for the Royals and got his third save on the 2021 season.

Battle in the Land of 10,000 Lakes

Over the weekend, KC made their first trip to Minnesota to take on the Twins who were slumping coming into this weekend. Despite the struggles for Minnesota, they put up nine runs on KC on Friday in a blowout win. Brady Singer had to exit the game due to an injury during the game but is said to be fine after the game.

Saturday"s action was all for KC as the club put up a total of 11 runs. The Royals got to Matt Shoemaker early and led 9-0 after four innings. Salvador Perez, Ryan O"Hearn, and Andrew Benintendi all had homers during the game. As for the 2021 KC Royals pitching staff, Danny Duffy continued to have one of the best starts in MLB. Duffy pitched 18-straight shutout innings going into the seventh inning of Saturday"s game, however, he gave up a home run that ended that streak. Duffy saw his ERA at one point be 0.31. After this weekend, Duffy goes into his next outing with a 0.60 ERA.

Sunday"s game was one to forget for KC fans as the Twins won 13-4 in the final game of the series. Brad Keller continued to struggle after a dreadful start to the season. Keller went four innings on Sunday and gave up seven runs, however, only two of those runs were charged to Keller as the Royals made a few errors. Keller now has an 8.06 ERA in 2021 which is a huge red flag for the Royals. Keller came into the 2021 season as the team"s ace but has not been close to anything he was in 2020.

Whats Next?

After winning six of nine on the road trip, the 2021 KC Royals return home for a week-long homestand. KC starts off the week against Cleveland in a four-game set. Kansas City"s top pitching prospect Daniel Lynch is penciled in to start Monday"s game and make his MLB debut.

As for this weekend, KC is scheduled to take on the White Sox Friday through Sunday. KC struggled against the White Sox in 2020 but wants to continue the success they saw in the two games they played in Chicago earlier this season.

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