By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
The Kansas City Royals losing streak moved to six games on Saturday afternoon at Comerica Park, dropping another game to the Detroit Tigers and losing 3-1.
The Royals could not overcome a rough fifth inning where the Tigers scored all their runs on one hit, a three run home run by Spencer Torkelson driving in Javier Báez and Kerry Carpenter. Freddy Fermin's first home run of the season in the seventh inning was the lone Kansas City run.
Seth Lugo took the loss on the mound, falling to 1-3, pitching 6.2 innings and giving up all three runs on five hits, striking out five and walking two. Daniel Lynch and Carlos Estévez combined to pitch the final 1.1 innings giving up no hits. Jonathan India (3-4) and Fermin (2-4, 1 RBI) led the way hitting in the loss.
Prior to the game, the Royals did make a roster move optioning MJ Melendez to Triple-A Omaha. It was the corresponding move for outfielder Mark Canha returning from the 10-day injured list.
Melendez had only logged four hits in 52 plate appearances this year, with one double and one home run. He was slashing .085/.173/.170 with 20 strikeouts in 16 games. With Canha ready to be activated after the minimum 10-day IL stint, the Royals had to make a move. They believe this will allow Melendez to go to Triple-A, get everyday at-bats and try to show sustained production to find a way back to the big leagues.
The Royals entered Saturday having gone just 1-7 on their current 10-game road trip, and the offense is struggling, with just 2.95 runs per game this year. That amplified Melendez’s struggles. Even more so because the Royals weren’t able to land a corner outfield bat over the offseason, instead entering the season needing Melendez or Hunter Renfroe to bounce back from tough seasons. Renfroe is hitting .130 with a .383 OPS this year and is not playing every day.
Now, the goal for Melendez is to go to Triple-A and keep working on the swing changes he has been working on since the offseason -- without the pressure of needing results every night at the big league level. He’ll likely join Omaha for its road series in Toledo on Tuesday and get everyday at-bats there. How soon he returns to Kansas City remains to be seen.
“As I shared with [Melendez], there are very few players in this world who don’t get optioned at some point,” general manager J.J. Picollo says. “It’s certainly not the end of his career. We’d like to think it’s just the start of a new beginning. Take advantage of the opportunity to go out and play in Triple-A, play well and get back here. Here, it’s about performance. You’ve got to be able to perform.”
Kansas City and Detroit wrap up their series tomorrow. The Royals send Michael Wacha to the mound, still searching for his first win, taking on Tigers ace and last year's AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal. First pitch is at 12:40pm, pregame coverage begins at noon on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM).
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.