ARLINGTON -- Royals starter Michael Wacha deserved a better outcome for his performance on Saturday.

Wacha returned to the rotation just three weeks after fracturing his left foot and impressed by throwing five innings of one-run ball against the reigning World Series champion Texas Rangers.

“What a competitor,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “He’s pitching on a hurt foot, battling back this whole time without it really being 100%.

"Coming out here and pitching that well against that team is really impressive. That’s a huge part of what he means to this team.”

Unfortunately for Wacha, the Royals' offense continued its struggles and a leaky bullpen appeared in the late innings of what became a 6-0 loss to the Rangers.

Despite being saddled with the loss, Wacha saw more positives than negatives.

“I felt like the ball was coming out good,” Wacha said. “I felt like I was ahead on most guys, and I like to pitch that way. They were in swing mode at times, and I was able to get early and quick contact and the defense was playing great behind me.”

Wacha opened with a 1-2-3 first inning, and then pitched out of trouble in the second inning after allowing the first two batters to reach. He turned in another clean inning in the third, courtesy of a leaping catch on the warning track by left fielder MJ Melendez to haul in a fly ball from leadoff man Marcus Semien.

“MJ with a heck of a play,” Wacha said. “One of the best I’ve seen.”

Wacha’s only blemish came in the fourth inning when Rangers third baseman Josh Smith turned on a 3-2 changeup and sent it over the right-field fence.

“Just a bad pitch,” Wacha said. “I didn’t get the action I was looking for on it. I was hoping it was going to fade away from him. Instead, it came back into his spot, inside part of the zone there. Wish I had that one back.”

Wacha recovered from that, retiring six of the next seven batters to end his day after five innings. He allowed one run on three hits with five strikeouts. Wacha has allowed two earned runs or fewer in each of his last six starts, and seen his ERA drop from 5.50 to 4.07.

Asked if he picked up where he left off, Wacha said: “There’s definitely some stuff I’ve got to work on in between starts, but overall, my body and arm felt good. That’s what I’m most excited about there.”

In the end, Wacha’s effort wasn’t enough to get the Royals back on track as the offense continued to struggle. The Royals were shut out for the second time on this road trip and matched a season-low with just three hits.

The Royals tried to spark the offense before the game by inserting Adam Frazier in the leadoff spot and dropping Maikel Garcia to the seven-hole. Quatraro said the move was made so the left-handed hitting Frazier could start things off against Rangers righty Jon Gray.

But Gray retired the first eight Royals before nine-hole hitter Garrett Hampson reached on a two-out single in the third. Frazier followed with a single, but Gray ended the threat by retiring Bobby Witt Jr.

Those hits by Hampson and Frazier were the only ones allowed by Gray, who threw six scoreless innings.

“When he’s on, he’s a really good pitcher,” said Hampson, who was teammates with Gray on the Colorado Rockies from 2018-21. “He was on today. He was not leaving too many pitches middle. We were in between all day, so credit to him. We’ve got to bounce back tomorrow.”

The Royals had just one more baserunner reach. It came in the ninth on a pinch-hit single by Nelson Velázquez. By that point, the Rangers had pulled away by scoring five runs in the eighth.

It leaves Kansas City on the brink of being swept for the first time this season. Globe Life Field hasn’t been too kind to the Royals, either, as they are just 2-9 in the Rangers’ ballpark that opened in 2020.

But Wacha offered this piece of advice for how his team proceeds through this tough stretch.

“I think it’s important to flush it,” Wacha said. “You can’t let those things carry over, linger and be on your mind trying to play this game. We flush it. We move on, and go out there and compete the way we know how to compete.”