KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Royals are closing in on a major league futility record.
The Royals extended their scoreless streak to 43 innings, five shy of the record, getting shut out for a fourth straight game in a 12-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night.
Kansas City hasn't scored since the second inning of a 3-2 loss to Colorado last Thursday, and it was blanked three times over the weekend by Cleveland. The 1968 Chicago Cubs and the 1906 Philadelphia Athletics hold the major league record at 48 innings.
The 1992 Cubs were the last team to be blanked in four straight games, and it hasn't happened in the AL since the 1964 Washington Senators -- nine years before the adoption of the designated hitter. No team has been shut out in five straight games since at least 1913, according to information gathered from baseball-reference.com.
"I hate to say it, but it's all about learning how to lose," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "This can really wear you down and prolong streaks like this for a long time because it's very hard when you're losing these types of games because disappointment sets in, frustration sets in.
"At the end of the day if we haven't scored in four days, I can still look at this group knowing that this group has been all in for four days. They've played to the last out for four games. There is nothing more than I can ask from them."
The Royals were two games out of first place on July 28 after a nine-game winning streak. Since then, they have lost 19 of 29 and are 10 games behind AL Central-leading Cleveland and three games back of Minnesota for the final AL wild card.
Austin Pruitt (7-4) pitched six one-run innings for Tampa Bay, and Matt Andriese allowed one more hit while getting a three-inning save, his first this season.
Lucas Duda, Wilson Ramos and Logan Morrison went deep for Tampa Bay, with Duda getting his 25th and Morrison his 32nd of the season. Evan Longoria and Morrison hit back-to-back doubles after Duda's shot in the third off Ian Kennedy (4-10).
Kennedy was removed after Ramos' homer later that inning. He allowed seven runs on two homers and four doubles, two walks and a sacrifice fly. Kennedy has allowed 15 runs and 19 hits, six of them home runs, in 10 innings in his last three starts. He is winless in a club record 17 consecutive home starts.
"It's not the way I want to pitch," Kennedy said. "It's the worst I've done in a while that I can think of. I've been stringing some bad, bad outings in a row. That makes it really frustrating."
Morrison hit a three-run homer, his third in two games, in the ninth.
"Pruitt and Andriese did a great job," Morrison said. "Gave the guys at the back end of the bullpen some well-needed, well-deserved rest. Another `W' on the way to where we need to go."
Rookie right-hander Pruitt, who gave up four home runs to Toronto in his previous start, walked one and struck out six.
"I was hitting my spots for the most part, and executing all of my pitches," Pruitt said. "LoMo (Morrison) made some unbelievable plays behind me. Holy smokes! That was awesome. That kind of put a little extra fire in me."
Morrison logged four assists with some dazzling glove work at first base.
"It was a complete game for LoMo," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "He made tremendous plays. Took away two or three hits, I think, so he did it on both sides of the ball."
Lorenzo Cain doubled with one out in the fourth for Kansas City's first hit. He reached third on Melky Cabrera's fly out, becoming the first Royal to touch third base since the fourth inning Saturday. Cain also doubled with two out in the ninth.
Andriese, who was just activated from the 60-day disabled list after a hip injury, allowed one walk and a double a Cain with two out in the ninth.
The Rays snapped an eight-game skid at Kauffman Stadium. They had lost 15 of their previous 16 games in Kansas City.
SKOGLUND OPTIONED
Royals rookie LHP Eric Skoglund, who gave up seven runs and retired only four batters in a start Sunday at Cleveland, was optioned to Triple-A Omaha.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Rays: Andriese (right hip stress reaction) was activated from the 60-day disabled list. The Rays optioned RHP Chih-Wei Hu to Triple-A Durham and designated for assignment IF Taylor Featherston.
Royals: LHP Brian Flynn, who was just recalled from Triple-A Omaha, left with a grade one left groin strain after throwing his warmup pitches in the sixth inning. ... Mike Moustakas (bruised knee) made his first start at third base since Wednesday.
UP NEXT
Rays: RHP Alex Cobb is 5-3 with a 2.90 ERA in his past dozen starts.
Royals: Rookie RHP Jake Junis is 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA in his past six starts.
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More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
The Royals extended their scoreless streak to 43 innings, five shy of the record, getting shut out for a fourth straight game in a 12-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night.
Kansas City hasn't scored since the second inning of a 3-2 loss to Colorado last Thursday, and it was blanked three times over the weekend by Cleveland. The 1968 Chicago Cubs and the 1906 Philadelphia Athletics hold the major league record at 48 innings.
The 1992 Cubs were the last team to be blanked in four straight games, and it hasn't happened in the AL since the 1964 Washington Senators -- nine years before the adoption of the designated hitter. No team has been shut out in five straight games since at least 1913, according to information gathered from baseball-reference.com.
"I hate to say it, but it's all about learning how to lose," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "This can really wear you down and prolong streaks like this for a long time because it's very hard when you're losing these types of games because disappointment sets in, frustration sets in.
"At the end of the day if we haven't scored in four days, I can still look at this group knowing that this group has been all in for four days. They've played to the last out for four games. There is nothing more than I can ask from them."
The Royals were two games out of first place on July 28 after a nine-game winning streak. Since then, they have lost 19 of 29 and are 10 games behind AL Central-leading Cleveland and three games back of Minnesota for the final AL wild card.
Austin Pruitt (7-4) pitched six one-run innings for Tampa Bay, and Matt Andriese allowed one more hit while getting a three-inning save, his first this season.
Lucas Duda, Wilson Ramos and Logan Morrison went deep for Tampa Bay, with Duda getting his 25th and Morrison his 32nd of the season. Evan Longoria and Morrison hit back-to-back doubles after Duda's shot in the third off Ian Kennedy (4-10).
Kennedy was removed after Ramos' homer later that inning. He allowed seven runs on two homers and four doubles, two walks and a sacrifice fly. Kennedy has allowed 15 runs and 19 hits, six of them home runs, in 10 innings in his last three starts. He is winless in a club record 17 consecutive home starts.
"It's not the way I want to pitch," Kennedy said. "It's the worst I've done in a while that I can think of. I've been stringing some bad, bad outings in a row. That makes it really frustrating."
Morrison hit a three-run homer, his third in two games, in the ninth.
"Pruitt and Andriese did a great job," Morrison said. "Gave the guys at the back end of the bullpen some well-needed, well-deserved rest. Another `W' on the way to where we need to go."
Rookie right-hander Pruitt, who gave up four home runs to Toronto in his previous start, walked one and struck out six.
"I was hitting my spots for the most part, and executing all of my pitches," Pruitt said. "LoMo (Morrison) made some unbelievable plays behind me. Holy smokes! That was awesome. That kind of put a little extra fire in me."
Morrison logged four assists with some dazzling glove work at first base.
"It was a complete game for LoMo," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "He made tremendous plays. Took away two or three hits, I think, so he did it on both sides of the ball."
Lorenzo Cain doubled with one out in the fourth for Kansas City's first hit. He reached third on Melky Cabrera's fly out, becoming the first Royal to touch third base since the fourth inning Saturday. Cain also doubled with two out in the ninth.
Andriese, who was just activated from the 60-day disabled list after a hip injury, allowed one walk and a double a Cain with two out in the ninth.
The Rays snapped an eight-game skid at Kauffman Stadium. They had lost 15 of their previous 16 games in Kansas City.
SKOGLUND OPTIONED
Royals rookie LHP Eric Skoglund, who gave up seven runs and retired only four batters in a start Sunday at Cleveland, was optioned to Triple-A Omaha.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Rays: Andriese (right hip stress reaction) was activated from the 60-day disabled list. The Rays optioned RHP Chih-Wei Hu to Triple-A Durham and designated for assignment IF Taylor Featherston.
Royals: LHP Brian Flynn, who was just recalled from Triple-A Omaha, left with a grade one left groin strain after throwing his warmup pitches in the sixth inning. ... Mike Moustakas (bruised knee) made his first start at third base since Wednesday.
UP NEXT
Rays: RHP Alex Cobb is 5-3 with a 2.90 ERA in his past dozen starts.
Royals: Rookie RHP Jake Junis is 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA in his past six starts.
---
More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
8:15PM,EDT,August 28,2017
Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City,Missouri
Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City,Missouri
| View: Play-By-Play | Pitch-By-Pitch | Inning: All | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Tampa Bay - Top of 1st | SCORE | |
|---|---|---|
| Ian Kennedy pitching for Kansas City | TB | KC |
| Kiermaier doubled to center. | 0 | 0 |
| Duda flied out to right, Kiermaier to third. | 0 | 0 |
| Longoria hit sacrifice fly to center, Kiermaier scored. | 1 | 0 |
| Morrison walked. | 1 | 0 |
| Souza Jr. flied out to center. | 1 | 0 |
| 1 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Kansas City - Bottom of 1st | SCORE | |
| Austin Pruitt pitching for Tampa Bay | TB | KC |
| Merrifield struck out swinging. | 1 | 0 |
| Cain grounded out to third. | 1 | 0 |
| Cabrera grounded out to first. | 1 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Tampa Bay - Top of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Ian Kennedy pitching for Kansas City | TB | KC |
| Dickerson struck out swinging. | 1 | 0 |
| Ramos lined out to right. | 1 | 0 |
| Miller flied out to right. | 1 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Kansas City - Bottom of 2nd | SCORE | |
| Austin Pruitt pitching for Tampa Bay | TB | KC |
| Hosmer struck out swinging. | 1 | 0 |
| Pérez struck out swinging. | 1 | 0 |
| Moustakas grounded out to first. | 1 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Tampa Bay - Top of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Ian Kennedy pitching for Kansas City | TB | KC |
| Hechavarria doubled to right. | 1 | 0 |
| Kiermaier walked. | 1 | 0 |
| Duda homered to right (393 feet), Hechavarria and Kiermaier scored. | 4 | 0 |
| Longoria doubled to left. | 4 | 0 |
| Morrison doubled to deep center, Longoria scored. | 5 | 0 |
| Souza Jr. grounded out to shortstop. | 5 | 0 |
| Dickerson flied out to center. | 5 | 0 |
| Ramos homered to center (436 feet), Morrison scored. | 7 | 0 |
| Flynn relieved Kennedy. | 7 | 0 |
| Miller lined out to second. | 7 | 0 |
| 6 Runs, 5 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Kansas City - Bottom of 3rd | SCORE | |
| Austin Pruitt pitching for Tampa Bay | TB | KC |
| Moss walked. | 7 | 0 |
| Escobar lined out to center. | 7 | 0 |
| Gordon struck out swinging. | 7 | 0 |
| Moss out at second on runner's fielder's choice. | 7 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Tampa Bay - Top of 4th | SCORE | |
| Brian Flynn pitching for Kansas City | TB | KC |
| Hechavarria tripled to deep right. | 7 | 0 |
| Kiermaier singled to center, Hechavarria scored. | 8 | 0 |
| Duda grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, Kiermaier out at second. | 8 | 0 |
| Longoria grounded out to shortstop. | 8 | 0 |
| 1 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Kansas City - Bottom of 4th | SCORE | |
| Austin Pruitt pitching for Tampa Bay | TB | KC |
| Merrifield flied out to right. | 8 | 0 |
| Cain doubled to deep right. | 8 | 0 |
| Cabrera lined out to right, Cain to third. | 8 | 0 |
| Hosmer grounded out to first. | 8 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Tampa Bay - Top of 5th | SCORE | |
| Brian Flynn pitching for Kansas City | TB | KC |
| Morrison flied out to left. | 8 | 0 |
| Souza Jr. flied out to right. | 8 | 0 |
| Dickerson tripled to right, Dickerson out stretching at home. | 8 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Kansas City - Bottom of 5th | SCORE | |
| Austin Pruitt pitching for Tampa Bay | TB | KC |
| Pérez lined out to center. | 8 | 0 |
| Moustakas grounded out to second. | 8 | 0 |
| Moss struck out looking. | 8 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Tampa Bay - Top of 6th | SCORE | |
| Scott Alexander pitching for Kansas City | TB | KC |
| Alexander relieved Flynn. | 8 | 0 |
| Ramos grounded out to pitcher. | 8 | 0 |
| Miller struck out swinging. | 8 | 0 |
| Hechavarria grounded out to third. | 8 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Kansas City - Bottom of 6th | SCORE | |
| Austin Pruitt pitching for Tampa Bay | TB | KC |
| Escobar lined out to second. | 8 | 0 |
| Gordon struck out looking. | 8 | 0 |
| Merrifield grounded out to third. | 8 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Tampa Bay - Top of 7th | SCORE | |
| Ryan Buchter pitching for Kansas City | TB | KC |
| Buchter relieved Alexander. | 8 | 0 |
| Kiermaier walked. | 8 | 0 |
| Duda fouled out to third. | 8 | 0 |
| Longoria popped out to shortstop. | 8 | 0 |
| Morrison grounded out to third. | 8 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Kansas City - Bottom of 7th | SCORE | |
| Matt Andriese pitching for Tampa Bay | TB | KC |
| Andriese relieved Pruitt. | 8 | 0 |
| Cain fouled out to first. | 8 | 0 |
| Cabrera grounded out to first. | 8 | 0 |
| Hosmer grounded out to shortstop. | 8 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Tampa Bay - Top of 8th | SCORE | |
| Peter Moylan pitching for Kansas City | TB | KC |
| Moylan relieved Buchter. | 8 | 0 |
| Souza Jr. walked. | 8 | 0 |
| Dickerson grounded into double play, shortstop to first, Souza Jr. out at second. | 8 | 0 |
| Ramos grounded out to shortstop. | 8 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Kansas City - Bottom of 8th | SCORE | |
| Matt Andriese pitching for Tampa Bay | TB | KC |
| Bourjos in center field. | 8 | 0 |
| Espinosa at shortstop. | 8 | 0 |
| Pérez grounded out to third. | 8 | 0 |
| Moustakas flied out to center. | 8 | 0 |
| Moss walked. | 8 | 0 |
| Escobar grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop, Moss out at second. | 8 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Tampa Bay - Top of 9th | SCORE | |
| Kevin McCarthy pitching for Kansas City | TB | KC |
| Butera catching. | 8 | 0 |
| Cuthbert at third base. | 8 | 0 |
| McCarthy relieved Moylan. | 8 | 0 |
| Miller singled to left center. | 8 | 0 |
| Espinosa struck out swinging. | 8 | 0 |
| Bourjos walked, Miller to second. | 8 | 0 |
| Puello hit for Duda. | 8 | 0 |
| Puello singled to center, Miller scored, Bourjos to second. | 9 | 0 |
| Longoria popped out to first. | 9 | 0 |
| Morrison homered to right (392 feet), Bourjos and Puello scored. | 12 | 0 |
| Souza Jr. grounded out to third. | 12 | 0 |
| 4 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Kansas City - Bottom of 9th | SCORE | |
| Matt Andriese pitching for Tampa Bay | TB | KC |
| Gordon grounded out to second. | 12 | 0 |
| Merrifield lined out to right. | 12 | 0 |
| Cain doubled to right. | 12 | 0 |
| Cabrera grounded out to catcher. | 12 | 0 |
| 0 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors | ||
| Tampa Bay Rays | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | #P | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| Kiermaier CF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 19 | .273 | .342 | .451 |
Bourjos CF
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | .226 | .276 | .397 |
| Duda DH | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | .205 | .339 | .511 |
a-Puello PH-DH
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .286 | .286 | .286 |
| Longoria 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 22 | .265 | .319 | .438 |
| Morrison 1B | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 15 | .247 | .352 | .521 |
| Souza Jr. RF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 | .251 | .357 | .489 |
| Dickerson LF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | .291 | .337 | .515 |
| Ramos C | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 15 | .243 | .282 | .400 |
| Miller 2B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | .193 | .332 | .320 |
| Hechavarria SS | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | .241 | .265 | .356 |
Espinosa SS
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .164 | .238 | .276 |
| Totals | 35 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 143 | |||
| a-singled to center for L Duda in the 9th | ||||||||||
| BATTING 2B: Kiermaier (13, Kennedy); Hechavarria (7, Kennedy); Longoria (33, Kennedy); Morrison (20, Kennedy) 3B: Hechavarria (2, Flynn); Dickerson (4, Flynn) HR: Duda (8, 3rd inning off Kennedy 2 on, 0 Out); Ramos (6, 3rd inning off Kennedy 1 on, 2 Out); Morrison (32, 9th inning off McCarthy 2 on, 2 Out) RBI: Longoria (71), Duda 3 (15), Morrison 4 (74), Ramos 2 (19), Kiermaier (29), Puello (2) SF: Longoria 2-out RBI: Ramos 2, Morrison 3 GIDP: Duda, Dickerson Rays RISP: 6-10 (Dickerson 0-1, Kiermaier 1-1, Souza Jr. 0-1, Ramos 1-1, Puello 1-1, Morrison 2-2, Longoria 0-1, Duda 1-2) Team LOB: 2 | ||||||||||
Game Information
| Stadium | Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO |
| Attendance | 21,866 (57.7% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 2:43 |
| Weather | 77 degrees, clear |
| Wind | 10 mph |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Marvin Hudson, First Base - Mike Estabrook, Second Base - Bill Welke, Third Base - Dan Bellino |
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