KANSAS CITY -- Seth Lugo was unlucky, sure, and wasn’t helped out by his normally stout defense, but Sunday afternoon was the continuation of a concerning trend for the Royals, who began a 20-game stretch against playoff contending teams with a series loss.

Kansas City’s 11-3 loss to the Phillies at Kauffman Stadium was very similar to an 11-2 drubbing the previous day -- defensive miscues, struggling to hit with runners in scoring position and the starter not being able to log a quality start resulting in the loss.

It’s a high bar for a club to be on the right side of all those marks game in and game out, but it’s the formula the Royals have used to achieve their 72-58 mark. Without one, or all, of those going Kansas City’s way, the team has struggled to overcome it.

And it was the same story in the rubber game against NL East-leading Philadelphia. In all three losses during this 3-3 homestand, the starter wasn’t able to go six innings, resulting in nine-plus run performances from the opponent as it took advantage of Kansas City’s shaky bullpen.

Lugo was tagged for six runs (five earned) against the Phillies, allowing 11 hits and walking one. He’s now yielded four earned runs or more in five of his past seven outings after doing so just three times in his first 19 starts of the season.

But it wasn’t all on Lugo. An error by right fielder Dairon Blanco allowed a run to score in the sixth. A passed ball on Freddy Fermin allowed a runner to advance to third with one out. Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia each had tough plays in the infield that they weren’t able to turn for outs, and no one was there to cover first base after Salvador Perez handled Garrett Stubbs’ bunt in the fourth.

“Well, you want them made, absolutely,” Lugo said regarding the plays behind him. “But you try to do what you can to control what you can control -- and execute pitches and get weak contact, get swing-and-misses when you can. That’s the only thing I can do.”

Witt, who blasted his 26th homer in the third inning, added: “Yeah, that’s what we got to do to beat these teams, just do the little things right. That’s what we’re going to continue to get better at.”

The Royals have three batters in the top four in MLB in average with runners in scoring position (Witt, Vinnie Pasquantino and Perez), but the club finished 0-for-11 with RISP against Philadelphia.

Kansas City had two on and none out in the first inning, but was unable to score despite a mental error on Alec Bohm that gave the Royals an extra opportunity with two outs. They were also unable to capitalize on MJ Melendez’s leadoff double in the fourth, Pasquantino’s one-out double in the fifth and Perez’s leadoff double in the eighth.

Similar mistakes sunk the Royals on Saturday, which goes against their identity. The team prides itself on its smart baserunning and defense, but when those fail -- the mistakes are only magnified against teams of this caliber because of limited options in the bullpen and lineup hurting the ability to claw back into games.

“It happens, like you’re going to make your mistakes. It’s nothing that we’re going to dwell on,” said Melendez, who crushed a solo homer in the sixth. “We got a big series coming up, and we’re going to be prepared. And I feel good where this team is at, and I’m excited for these next few games.”

The loss dropped Kansas City to three games behind Cleveland for first place in the AL Central, but the Royals stayed tied for second place with the Twins, who hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. Boston was swept by Arizona, so Kansas City’s 4-1/2 game lead for the third and final AL Wild Card spot stayed put.

The Royals, who are now 4-12 in rubber matches this season, now turn their attention to a crucial four-game set against the Guardians, beginning with Monday’s doubleheader at Progressive Field.

“We got a bunch of competitors on this team, and each of us wants to go out and win every single game,” Melendez said. “Obviously, that’s not realistic, so to get to go back out there as soon as possible is really good for us.”

Witt added: “All the confidence in the world. We’re going out there to their place, and we’re going to enjoy it.”