As I said yesterday the Royals did nothing to bolster their starting rotation and relying on Jason Vargas and Danny Duffy to carry the load wasn’t going to get them over the hump in the A.L. Central.  Vargas pitched well, except for the second inning when the Orioles scored three runs and that was more than enough.  The Royals lost 6-0 without putting up much of a fight in this series.

The Royals scored just three runs on 15 hits over the 27 innings and were shut down by Jeremy Hellickson who threw seven outstanding innings in his Baltimore debut.

”We definitely didn’t hit the ball well in this series,” said Mike Moustakas, who was ejected for arguing a called third strike. ”They pitched the ball great and we just didn’t have any offense going.”

Yes, even the Orioles who are a game below .500, made moves to improve their starting rotation in hopes of getting back into the playoff race.  Here’s a team that would need to leap past three teams to gain just the second wild card and they were busy at the trade deadline.  Meanwhile, the Royals stood down on July 31.

Maybe I’m wrong and Trevor Cahill is the answer, but when he was acquired Ned Yost said Cahill was the number five starter “for now.”  Cahill makes his second start since being acquired in a July 23 trade with San Diego, facing Seattle at home Thursday night. He allowed five runs over four innings in his debut vs. Boston last Saturday.

Maybe this is just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  For whatever reasons, the Royals don’t play well in Baltimore.  They were swept at Camden Yards last year and have lost seven straight.

W L PCT GB Streak
Indians  57 48 .543 0  -3
Royals   55 51 .519 2.5 -3
Twins    51 54 .486 6  1
Tigers   49 57 .462 8.5 2
White Sox 41 64 .390 16 -2