'It's frustrating': Royals searching for ways to stop skid  

BALTIMORE -- When manager Matt Quatraro writes out the Royals’ lineup every day, he’s well aware of the youth on the roster.

With the exception of veteran captain Salvador Perez, most players in Kansas City’s lineup have less than two seasons in the Majors.

That’s going to lead to highs and lows as they learn the ups and downs of a Major League season. Right now, they’re experiencing the lows.

The Royals lost their fifth consecutive game with Saturday’s 6-1 loss to the Orioles at Camden Yards and are staring at a potential 0-6 road trip this week if they don’t salvage a win in Sunday’s series finale.

Kansas City has been outscored 30-11 on the road trip to Miami and Baltimore. The Royals have scored two or fewer runs in seven of their last nine games. They are 1-8 over that period.

Saturday’s game featured more than a few bat slams and helmet tosses following frustrating moments. Some had to do with the Orioles’ stellar defense -- like when Anthony Santander made an ovation-deserving catch at the right-field wall on Maikel Garcia’s fly ball in the first inning -- while some had to do with the Royals’ mistakes.

Kansas City left nine on base and went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, continuing a trend it struggled with at the beginning of the season: The offense’s .644 OPS with runners in scoring position ranks third-worst in the Majors this year.

“It’s been a handful of days now where we’ve struggled to score,” Quatraro said. “Nobody is going to be happy with that. These guys are all diligent workers, they give their best, and when it’s not coming through or getting the results, it’s frustrating.”

First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino was slumping over the last three weeks before he was placed on the injured list with right shoulder instability on Saturday, but he was still one of the Royals’ top hitters as a big bat in the middle of the lineup.

Now, they’ll have to have someone step up.

With Pasquantino sidelined, Nick Pratto will continue to get everyday playing time, just at first base (his natural position) instead of left field. Pratto’s 0-for-5 day with three strikeouts at the top of the lineup Saturday snapped a 16-game on-base streak when he started, but he’s by far the Royals’ hottest hitter right now. Pratto leads the team (min. 100 plate appearances) with his .822 OPS. In 13 games hitting leadoff, Pratto has reached base to begin the game eight times.

Behind him, the Royals need Bobby Witt Jr. (5-for-20 on this road trip), MJ Melendez (5-for-19) and Perez (3-for-18) to get going, all of whom went 1-for-4 on Saturday.

Primarily manning left field will be Edward Olivares, who returned Saturday from a one-day absence on the restricted list (for a personal matter) and went 3-for-3 with a walk -- which he drew during a 14-pitch plate appearance. Olivares fouled off seven consecutive pitches at one point against Orioles reliever Austin Voth to mark the longest plate appearance by a Royal since Mark Teahen’s 14-pitch at-bat on Aug. 13, 2009, in Minnesota.

Olivares’ plate appearance was the longest in which a batter reached safely since Joe Randa drew a 14-pitch walk on April 3, 2003, against the White Sox.

“My forearms are a little tired,” Olivares said. “I had to call a timeout, get a break, then get back to it. … Just tried to get on base and compete. In my mind I said, ‘Hey, you have to compete. I’m better than him. So let’s go.’”

The offensive slump is magnifying the pitching mistakes. Brady Singer, fresh off 5 2/3 scoreless innings against the Rockies, continued his rollercoaster season with a bumpy start Saturday. Singer allowed four runs on six hits in 4 1/3 innings, with three walks -- all of which came in a 39-pitch first inning.

“It was a climb back,” Quatraro said. “... Then he got it under control. Got to go back out for the fifth, thought it was a good thing for him as far as trying to figure out his delivery, release point.”

Singer’s fastball command was key to his start against the Rockies; the lack of it was the downfall of his start Saturday. Without the sinker landing in the zone, Singer had to rely heavily on his slider and some on his changeup.

“Try to do the best I could with those pitches,” Singer said. “Mechanics were out of whack today a little bit. Just keep trying to work on getting it smoothed out. That’s really all I can do is get it back in the zone, get it back working.”