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Kansas City Royals’ slide hits five games as Indians complete sweep with a shutout

Thursday afternoon saw the disappointing ending to a dreadful series for the Kansas City Royals.

They’d come into their homestand with an abundance of hope and optimism after a solid road trip and with their top pitching prospect set to debut.

Four games later, the Cleveland Indians had swept the Royals right out of first place in the AL Central Division. The Indians did so with three come-from-behind wins, which only added anguish for the Royals.

The Royals were shut out for the second time this season, 4-0, in front of an announced 9,250 on Thursday as the Indians swept the four-game series at Kauffman Stadium. It marked just the fourth time the Royals were swept in a four-game series by the Indians in franchise history, the first time at Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals’ record fell to 16-14 this season, and their losing skid extended to five games

“Well I mean, did you think it was going to be peaches and roses all year? We were going to go through something like this at some point,” Royals All-Star second baseman/outfielder Whit Merrifield said.

“And you find out a lot about a team and a lot about the men in there when you get punched in the mouth. We got punched in the mouth this past series. Let’s see how we can respond. Let’s see what kind of team we’ve got. Let’s see what kind of men we’ve got in there.”

Offensively, the Royals were held to four hits — all singles — and they went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position.

Andrew Benintendi, Jorge Soler and Salvador Perez and Merrifield had the Royals only hits, and Soler and Perez both registered theirs in the bottom of the ninth.

Indians starting pitcher Triston McKenzie held them to two hits through the first five innings. They worked four walks against McKenzie, but McKenzie benefited from one of the three double plays the Royals hit into in the game.

Three of McKenzie’s five strikeouts also came with men on base, including with two men on in the fourth inning after a Carlos Santana walk and an error that allowed Perez to reach.

“We just kind of didn’t string things together,” Merrifield said. “I feel like we had some good at-bats. We had some guys hit balls hard. Whether it was hitting into a double play or lining out or just missing a ball but being on time and making a good swing, it just kind of wasn’t falling our way today. … That’s kind of the way it goes sometimes. Credit to (McKenzie) for throwing pretty well.”

Royals starting pitcher Danny Duffy (4-2) had allowed just two earned runs and four total runs this season entering the day.

On Thursday, the veteran left-hander allowed three runs (all earned) on eight hits and one walk in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out six.

Duffy’s 1.26 ERA ranks third best for a Royals pitcher through six starts to begin a season behind Zack Greinke in 2009 (0.40) and Jason Vargas in 2017 (1.19).

“He had one of the better fastballs again,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said of Duffy. “The ball was jumping for him. He elevated really well. I thought he used glove-side. Changeup was sharp. He gave us a chance. He kept us in that game. I know there were a couple pitches, but we also had some two-strike balls off the end of the bat that ended up turning into a couple runs. I thought he continued to do what he’s been doing all season long and gave us a chance.”

Duffy gave up three hits in the first two innings, including a lead-off double in each inning. He pitched around the first-inning double with the help of back-to-back strikeouts. However, he gave up a run in the second after Harold Ramirez’s double and a RBI bloop single up the right-field line by Amed Rosario.

The Indians (17-13) doubled their scoring output with three consecutive two-out singles in the fifth inning. The third single, a ground ball by Jordan Luplow through the infield and into left field, drove in the Indians’ second run of the day.

Duffy came one pitch away from getting through six innings and having held the Indians to two runs. Instead, a lead-off walk to Franmil Reyes came back to bite him in the sixth. With Reyes on second base following a wild pitch, Duffy gave up an RBI triple to Rosario on a 1-2 changeup smacked into the left-center-field gap.

“I still haven’t gone back and looked at it, but seeing what I saw first-hand I felt like I put it where I wanted to,” Duffy said. “Maybe if I wanted everything I’d ever dreamed of, it would be down and away a little bit farther. But it was away. He just kind of went and got it. That’s one where you’ve got to tip your hat there.”

The Indians added a run on Reyes’ solo home run off of Jake Brentz in the eighth inning.

Duffy expressed confidence in the team’s ability to bounce back with three more games remaining in the homestand. They begin a series against the Chicago White Sox, the preseason favorite in the AL Central, on Friday night.

“Nobody is putting their head down,” Duffy said. “Nobody is sulking. We know what we’ve got in that clubhouse. We know what we’re capable of. We’ve shown it already. We’re going to continue to show it when we come out of this. (Friday) is a big day. You’re only as good as your next game. So we’re going to go out there tomorrow and do our thing.”

First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. Friday. Brad Keller (2-3, 8.06 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Royals against Chicago’s Carlos Rodón (4-0, 0.72 ERA).