KC Royals blast 3 home runs ... and get pounded by Phillies for 2nd straight day

The Royals’ first chunk of games against contending teams didn’t go Kansas City’s way. The good news? Plenty of measuring stick games remain.

The Royals dropped Sunday’s series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies, falling 11-3 at Kauffman Stadium. They also lost the first series of a three-week stretch in which all the teams they’ll face would be in the playoffs, if the season ended today.

Power wasn’t a problem Sunday, as the Royals blasted three home runs. The issue was getting runners on base ahead of those shots ... and cooling off the Phillies’ bats.

Neither happened..

All three home runs KC hit — Bobby Witt Jr., Maikel Garcia and MJ Melendez went deep — were solo shots. The Royals went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. They entered the game leading baseball in those situations at .299.

“That’s just baseball, honestly,” Melendez said. “You’re going to have days when you come out as a team and swing amazing, and sometimes you’re not.”

Meanwhile, the NL East-leading Phillies got to starting pitcher Seth Lugo in various ways, none more maddening than in the fourth inning, when they strung together three infield singles to build a run.

“It was pretty frustrating,” Lugo said. “At the same time, I felt like I was making pitches. Stuff like that happens during a game.”

Lugo’s rough patch continues. He surrendered 11 hits in 5 1/3 innings and has dropped six of his last nine decisions. Lugo (14-8) has pitched a career-high 172 innings this season but said he feels fresh.

“I feel great, I feel 100 percent,” he said. “I’m not feeling fatigue out there.”

The Phillies tacked on five runs in the eighth against reliever Will Smith to break it open. A day earlier, they pounded Royals pitching for 11 runs and 18 hits.

On Sunday it was 11 and 16, and things got so bad that center fielder Garrett Hampson was summoned to pitch the ninth. He lobbed 12 pitches, none faster than 56 mph. He wrapped three fly-outs around a hit-by-pitch.

Phillies starter Kolby Allard, who entered the game with a 5.97 career ERA, was at his best wiggling out of trouble.

Melendez led off the fourth with a hustle double. Vinnie Pasquantino doubled with one out in the fifth. The Royals couldn’t get either run home.

Missed previous Royals coverage?

Game 1: Royals begin difficult 20-game stretch with home win

Game 2: Why Royals 11-2 loss to Phillies packed an extra playoff punch

Personal best: Salvador Perez, Hunter Renfroe reach career milestones against Phillies

Here are more notable aspects of Sunday’s game:

Those frantic moments after getting the call-up

Tyler Gentry was at the Buffalo, New York hotel where the Omaha Storm Chasers were lodging, packing his belongings for the next day’s flight.

That’s when he got the call to meet manager Mike Jirschele in the lobby. At the moment, Gentry didn’t know the Royals were placing outfielder Hunter Renfroe on the injured list for hamstring soreness.

Gentry was getting the call to join a major-league team for the first time.

“It was a big rush after that because you’ve got to call your friends and family, get an Uber, get to the airport,” he said.

Gentry was in the Royals’ clubhouse, but not in the starting lineup, on Sunday as KC finished a three-game series against the Phillies.

But he did get in the game. He pinch-hit for Melendez in the eighth. He took a swing at Jose Alvarado’s first pitch, flying out to right field.

In 105 games at Triple-A Omaha, Gentry, the Royals’ third-round pick in the 2020 draft from the University of Alabama, was hitting .256 with 13 home runs and 54 RBIs with a .775 OPS. Eight of those homers have come since July 4. He’s played right field all season.

“He’s been swinging the bat well,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “He plays hard. He has a good arm, hits the ball to all fields.”

Quatraro said he doesn’t expect Renfroe to miss much time.

“We think it’s going to be three to five days,” he said. “We feel like we caught it early.”

Next on the KC Royals’ schedule

The Royals’ journey against top competition continues Monday with a split doubleheader in Cleveland against the first-place Guardians.

Cole Ragans is set to pitch the opener at 12:10 p.m. (Central), with Alec Marsh getting the ball in the second game at 5:40 p.m. The doubleheader was created when a June 5 game was rained out.

“We’ve got a bunch of competitors on this team,” KC outfielder MJ Melendez said. “To get back out there as soon as possible is good for us.”

After Cleveland, the Royals head to Houston to face the AL West-leading Astros for four games. The Royals swept Houston in Kansas City April 9-11.

KC’s tough slate continues with a series against the Guardians at Kauffman Stadium starting Sept. 2, followed by a visit from the Minnesota Twins and a trip to play the New York Yankees.