'Wheels completely fell off': Clarke, 'pen roughed up in KC loss

MINNEAPOLIS -- By the time the two-strike slider Nick Pratto hit off lefty Brent Headrick hit the foul pole in right field, signaling a home run, the Royals' dugout erupted with energy in what was now a tie game against the Twins in the eighth inning.

Not 10 minutes later, that energy was deflated just as quickly.

The Twins hammered reliever Taylor Clarke for five runs on five hits in the eighth inning of the Royals’ 8-4 loss on Monday night at Target Field, further illuminating the bullpen questions following the trade that sent setup man Aroldis Chapman to the Rangers last week.

“It’s just tough, costing the team wins,” Clarke said. “They’re relying on me, especially with no Chappy now. Someone’s got to step up. I haven’t been able to do that the last two weeks. That’s been the part that hurts the most.”

The Royals’ bullpen locked down the win over the Dodgers late Saturday -- even with the run Clarke allowed -- in part because of Carlos Hernández’s two innings and Scott Barlow in the ninth inning.

But the Royals need another reliable arm beyond those two, and they have continued to stay the course with Clarke. On Monday, the Royals were eyeing Hernández for the bottom of the seventh inning if they had tied the game in the top of the frame. When that didn’t happen, Collin Snider gave them a scoreless seventh. The eighth was Clarke’s for the middle of the Twins' lineup, and they wanted Hernández warm for the ninth if the score was tied.

Clarke did not give them that chance.

Edouard Julien crushed a first-pitch fastball from Clarke, depositing it 413 feet into right-center field for the go-ahead, pinch-hit homer.

“I saw the pitch clock winding down and was like, ‘Oh crap,’ and I stepped on the mound and threw,” Clarke said. “I don’t think I thought that one all the way through. I think the fastball is just not riding as much as it usually is. I was trying to work on that today in the bullpen pregame. And it just hasn’t been there. Something that I need to reevaluate.”

The wheels fell off from there. With one out, Clarke walked Joey Gallo, then allowed four consecutive singles -- including a bunt hit from Michael A. Taylor that Clarke couldn’t field cleanly.

“My message to him is we still think he’s really good,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “We have confidence in him. We’re going to keep putting him out there in leverage or any situation we feel good about. He’s in a little bit of a rough patch right now, but we’ve seen what he can do on the positive side, and we’re going to keep working with him.”

Ever since he allowed a solo home run to Shohei Ohtani on June 17 -- snapping a career-best scoreless streak at 16 innings over 15 games -- Clarke has allowed 15 runs on 19 hits in 5 2/3 innings.

“It was going so good for awhile, and then the wheels completely fell off,” Clarke said. “It wasn’t even gradual. I don’t know. I wish I had more of an answer for you. I feel like I’m doing everything the same, just the results aren’t there. I have to scrap it over and start from [scratch], from the beginning.”

Until other relievers beyond Hernández and Barlow -- who will likely be traded before the Aug. 1 Trade Deadline -- emerge as high-leverage contenders, the back end of games could be a rollercoaster, as Kansas City’s 5.02 bullpen ERA is third-worst in baseball.

And more will fall on the young offense to pick up the pieces.

They did so Monday, starting with Maikel Garcia’s first career leadoff home run on the first pitch of the game. The Royals' third baseman went 2-for-3 on Monday and now has four consecutive multi-hit games -- three of those as the Royals’ leadoff hitter. He has batted 11-for-15 with one double, one homer, two walks and two stolen bases in that stretch.

Royals starter Austin Cox, making his second-career start, allowed three runs in 4 2/3 innings, departing after the go-ahead sacrifice fly in the fifth inning. Relievers Jose Cuas and Snider kept the Royals close before Pratto’s homer.

But a three-game winning streak has eluded the Royals before. And it did again Monday as questions swirled around who Kansas City can count on in the ‘pen.

“The leverage situations vary from day to day, different spots in the lineup,” Quatraro said. “All those things change day to day. But we have a lot of confidence in Clarkie, and we’re going to stick with him.”