The Kansas City Royals have embodied the lyric "riding high in April, shot down in May" from Frank Sinatra's "That's Life".
After ending April leading the AL Central, the Royals have now lost 10 consecutive games. Their latest loss was took place on Wednesday as they were on the short end of a 4-2 games against the Detroit Tigers who just happen to own the worst record in all of MLB.
The Royals have gone from having a 1.5 game lead on the Chicago White Sox to 5.5 games back of the Chisox who are currently on a five game winning streak. The AL Central has quickly turned into a two team race between the Chisox and the Cleveland Indians who are only a game back. Eight of K.C.'s ten straight losses have been to the Chisox and the Tribe and all of those losses came at Ewing Kaufmann Stadium. The Royals have a day game against the Tigers tomorrow before they go to Chicago for a four game, weekend set against the White Sox.
How does one explain the Royals' reversal of fortune? After a 4-4 start, the Royals won 12 of their next 17 games. However, most of those wins came against mediocre teams like the Los Angeles Angels, Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Detroit Tigers. The only .500 or above teams the Royals triumphed against were the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays - winning 3 of 4 against the Jays. But once they had to go up against contending teams like the Chisox and the Tribe the Royals were flushed.
It isn't to say that their season is over in the middle of May. Danny Duffy has put in quality starts and former Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi has shone. But if they can't compete against Chicago and Cleveland then they will have no claim on the AL Central throne much less a Wild Card spot.
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