KC Royals lose 6th consecutive game in Saturday’s shutout vs. San Francisco Giants

The Kansas City Royals continued to search for their disappearing offense on Saturday against the San Francisco Giants.

And, so far, the mystery remains unsolved.

The Royals were limited to five hits in a 9-0 loss at Kauffman Stadium. The Giants started a second rookie pitcher as right-hander Landen Roupp took the baseball.

Roupp tossed five scoreless innings and earned his first career win. The Royals were 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base.

“I think that sometimes it’s easy to just press, and I feel like as a team that’s maybe what we are doing right now,” Royals outfielder MJ Melendez said. “But it’s just kind of getting back to the basics. ... We’re hitting balls hard and sometimes just getting really unlucky.”

The Royals have scored four runs across 41 innings, a stretch that dates back four-and-a-half games.

“A loss is a loss and they do all count the same,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “You know, these guys feel it and they are hurt, right. They put their blood, sweat and tears into this for seven months. They don’t want to play baseball like that.”

The Giants didn’t have trouble scoring on Saturday. San Francisco duo LaMonte Wade Jr. and Matt Chapman hit four combined homers.

Wade homered in consecutive at-bats against Royals right-hander Brady Singer. Chapman followed with homers in the fourth and sixth innings.

“Four home runs, obviously, not what you want to do,” Singer said. “Just tried to stay and compete in the (strike) zone.”

Singer allowed six earned runs in 5 ⅓ innings.

The Giants tagged the Royals with six runs in the sixth inning. Mike Yastrzemski hit a three-run homer off Royals reliever Carlos Hernandez to put the game out of reach.

“We’ve just got to look ourselves in the mirror,” Melendez said. “Obviously, we know what’s going on. We know the last couple of games, how they’ve been — it’s not something that is foreign to us. We’ve been here and overcome it before. So why not do it again?”

KC fell to 82-73 with its sixth consecutive loss. The Royals are a half-game ahead of the Minnesota Twins for the second spot in the AL Wild Card race and just one game ahead of the Tigers, who sit outside the playoffs.

“We’ve all done a really good job of showing up and being ready to compete,” Singer said. “That’s what we have been doing all year. (We are) in a little bit of a rut here. But all you can do is show up tomorrow, prepare the best you can prepare and go out there and compete.”

Missed previous Royals coverage?

Game 1: Royals lose fifth consecutive game in Giants 2-1 victory

Royal Wisdom: Hitting coach Alec Zumwalt shares inspirational message following loss

Here are more notables from Saturday’s game:

Injured Royals take next steps in recovery

Two Royals pitchers could be close to a late-season return. Prior to Saturday’s game, Royals veterans Michael Lorenzen and Will Smith threw live batting practice to a handful of hitters at Kauffman Stadium.

Several Royals personnel watched from the dugout. Lorenzen, who is recovering from a left hamstring strain, continues to make strides. He had two “ups” on Saturday and has made a few rehab starts recently.

“I think Lorenzen looked completely healthy,” Quatraro said. “You would look for signs of him favoring his leg and he did not look like that at all. And, I know he felt good leading up to this, and that was encouraging.”

Lorenzen has been sidelined since Aug. 28. Smith is nursing low back spasms that have put him on the shelf. Both pitchers faced a group of hitters that included Tommy Pham, Dairon Blanco and minor-league prospect Carter Jensen.

“He’s been throwing bullpens and hopefully this is a big step,” Quatraro said of Smith. “We will find out tomorrow how he bounces back.”

What’s next on the KC Royals’ schedule?

The Royals will play their final regular-season home game on Sunday. KC has posted a 45-35 record at Kauffman Stadium.

Right-hander Seth Lugo will start in the series finale against the Giants. He looks to add a 17th victory to his American League Cy Young résumé.

Lugo has a 3.42 ERA in 16 home starts.

The Giants will start reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell on Sunday afternoon. Snell is 4-3 with a 3.31 ERA in 19 starts.