Lyles strong, but bats do little vs. Rangers

KANSAS CITY -- The throw Hunter Dozier released from the infield dirt next to third base cut wide, pulling Vinnie Pasquantino off first base. The bunt Dozier fielded next bobbled out of his hand. Just three pitches into Monday’s game, the Rangers were threatening with two on and nobody out.

Two batters later, Josh Jung made sure those two errors on the Royals’ third baseman proved costly, crushing starter Jordan Lyles’ middle-middle slider 441 feet into left field. Five minutes into the Royals’ eventual 4-0 series-opening loss to the Rangers, the air deflated out of Kauffman Stadium.

The air wasn’t yet gone from the Royals’ dugout – there was a lot of game left at that point – but 2 hours, 2 minutes later, the frustration was palpable in yet another loss. Kansas City is now 4-13 this season and 1-10 at home, having lost four consecutive games and seven of the past eight.

It’s the worst 17-game start for the Royals since 2018, when they began 3-14.

“I don’t care if it’s home or road, it’s frustrating to lose,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “Everybody in there is frustrated. It’s not any way that we wanted to start the year, but by no means does that define how the whole year is going to go.”

But it is how the first 17 games have gone -- roughly 10% of the season, but a bad start regardless. Rangers ace Jacob deGrom no-hit the Royals through four innings before exiting with right wrist soreness, and the Kansas City offense mustered just one total hit.

The Royals were shut out for the fourth time this year, and in their last seven consecutive home losses, they’ve scored just 14 runs total.

“Everyone’s trying to get on track individually,” Royals starter Jordan Lyles said. “We’ve had a couple arms throw the ball well, but offensively, I know these guys are scratching to get going, to have a good four or five days in a row. Obviously, that’s going to come throughout six months of baseball. It stings, it lingers a little bit more at the start of the season, record-wise.”

To his credit, Lyles recovered quickly after the first inning and gutted out eight innings. A scoring change that came after the game made all three runs in the first inning unearned. But Lyles still wants that slider back to Jung, and the right-on-right changeup he threw to Marcus Semien in the third for a solo homer.

“Just an unfortunate first inning,” Lyles said. “Obviously, Hunter feels bad for those couple plays. … Other than that, it was a lot of first-pitch outs, a lot of popups. Not too much traffic after that.”

Lyles threw 17 pitches in the first inning and had put the Royals in a hole before they even stepped to the plate. The outing could have quickly gone sideways.

Instead, Lyles did what Kansas City signed him to do and turned in the longest start by a Royal this season. The 32-year-old right-hander gave up four runs (one earned) in eight innings, allowing just three hits. He walked three and struck out three.

The Royals signed Lyles to a two-year deal this offseason to be a veteran innings-eater on a team full of young pitchers. On Monday, Lyles needed 95 pitches to get through eight innings. He nearly pitched the ninth, but the Royals needed to get righty reliever Taylor Clarke work after four days off.

“That sums [Lyles] up,” Quatraro said. “He’s a true pro. Things don’t get to him. They don’t bother him. You’re going to have to beat him. You’re going to have to keep coming after him and knock him out of there if you want to because he’s going to keep doing his thing. He’s got enough weapons to keep all kinds of hitters off balance.”

Lyles relied on his fastball and worked quickly, needing just six pitches in the second inning. In the fourth, he needed just four pitches. He wasn’t getting any long breaks, either, with the Royals' offense struggling to get anything going.

Matt Duffy’s one-out single in the fifth was the first and only hit of the game. Just three other batters reached base on Monday -- Nate Eaton on an error, Bobby Witt Jr. and Pasquantino on walks.

“[Lyles] was incredible, and that’s why I felt so bad when I didn’t make those two plays,” Dozier said. “He looked really good for us, and I wish we could have played better behind him and get some runs for him. But that’s baseball.”