Injuries, underperformance spotlight need for 'pen arms

KANSAS CITY -- The Royals saw two relievers exit Sunday’s game early because of injuries. Another reliever allowed three runs in the ninth inning to turn a one-run deficit into an eventual 7-3 loss to the Cubs at Kauffman Stadium.

There are two days until Tuesday’s 5 p.m. CT Trade Deadline, and the Royals’ search for a bullpen arm has only been illuminated the past few days as they ended a 5-4 homestand out of the All-Star break by losing four of their last five games.

“I’m not looking at the record or standings or anything like that,” outfielder Hunter Renfroe said. “I know we have to go out and win every single game as we possibly can. The ones that hurt us are the ones that we are winning and somehow give up. We’ve got to go out there every single day with the mindset that we’re going to win a ballgame and play as hard as we possibly can.”

On Sunday, starter Cole Ragans allowed four runs in 5 2/3 innings and exited in the sixth with the Royals down one run. Righty John Schreiber threw one pitch to get a groundout, but he tweaked his knee in his rush to cover first base to get that third out.

Schreiber grimaced in pain and was limping slightly while walking off the field. The Royals announced he left the game with right knee patella tendon discomfort.

“When I touched the bag, there was just some right knee discomfort,” Schreiber, who will get more imaging Monday, said. “I’ll get some recovery tonight and hopefully feel better tomorrow. Obviously the hope is for some recovery. Hopefully after tonight, there’s a little bit more strength.”

Manager Matt Quataro turned to righty Hunter Harvey, the Royals’ early Deadline acquisition, for the seventh inning. Rain had started to fall, and Harvey slipped slightly while throwing his warmup pitches on the mound.

That tweaked something in his lower back, and he exited with a left lower back spasm after recording two outs, walking two batters and throwing just seven of his 22 pitches for strikes. He looked increasingly uncomfortable after each pitch, especially to Ian Happ, his last batter.

“It’s interesting because he’s new, and I don’t know all his mannerisms,” Quatraro said. “So I don’t exactly know what to think of things. But it seemed to get more and more pronounced as the inning went on.”

Quatraro said Harvey will get treated Sunday night and Monday before the Royals’ series opener against the White Sox in hopes of getting the spasm to calm down.

“We’ve all had back spasms, and sometimes they come and go like that for no reason,” Quatraro said. “Other times, they linger. We certainly hope it goes away quickly.”

Although the Royals won’t know more about the status of either Schreiber or Harvey until Monday, it sounds like it could have been a lot worse. Still, it’s never easy to see injuries happen, and it underscores why the Royals would like more high-leverage relievers before Tuesday’s Deadline.

To increase their depth. And to have more options.

After Angel Zerpa threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings on 12 pitches to get the Royals into the ninth inning still only trailing by a run, closer James McArthur allowed three runs. McArthur has 17 saves this season, and 13 of his last 18 outings since June 2 have been scoreless.

But he’s allowed at least one run in four of his last six outings, including five runs Wednesday against the D-backs while blowing his fifth save of the year and three more runs on Sunday. His season ERA is up to 5.44.

The Royals’ 4.27 bullpen ERA is why the unit has been a major target ahead of the Deadline, to help with the playoff race they envision themselves in for the final two-plus months of the season. The front office also doesn’t want to mortgage the club’s future by trading away top-tier prospects it envisions helping Kansas City win the next few years.

And Quatraro has been steady in his confidence in the 27-year-old McArthur.

“Everybody’s going to go through bumps in the road,” Quatraro said. “Whether that’s the team or an individual, you’ve got to be consistent. You’ve got to stay with guys. You’ve got to hope there are things we can do to help them, too. It’s not just, ‘Go get them.’ The pitching [coaches] work with guys, try to identify whether it’s delivery, pitch usage, pitch shape, mentality, all those things -- every ounce of our effort is poured into these guys. And they give it back, too, to try to be as good as they can be.”