The Kansas City Royals went 5-2 over the last seven games since their opening weekend series against the Minnesota Twins. They won one of three games at the Baltimore Orioles and got a four-game sweep over the Chicago White Sox at home over the weekend.

Monday, April 1st: Baltimore 6, Kansas City 4

In Monday’s 6-4 loss, The Royals struck first with a pair of home runs from Bobby Witt Jr. with the bases empty and a two-run home run from Salvador Perez in the third inning.

In the next inning, they would give the lead right back with an RBI single from Anthony Santander and a two-run home run from Ryan Mountcastle to make it 3-3.

Michael Wacha was solid overall despite allowing the crooked number as he went five full innings, and gave up three hits, three runs and one with five strikeouts in his Royals debut.

Kansas City threatened in the top of the eighth inning with the bases loaded and one out, but they came up empty with Hunter Renfroe popping out in the infield and Nick Loftin striking out.

The O’s broke the tie with Mountcastle getting an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Maikel Garcia tied it back up 4-4 with a sacrifice fly to right field bringing home Dairon Blanco.

However, Baltimore would get a walk-off home run from sophomore second baseman Jordan Westburg with one out against Nick Anderson.

Tuesday, April 2nd: Kansas City 4, Baltimore 1

Kansas City bounced back in rainy conditions on Tuesday evening with a 4-1 win thanks to some offense early in the game. Loftin got the Royals on the scoreboard first with an RBI in the top of the second inning. Garcia brought two more runs in one batter later with a two-RBI double to go up 3-0.

Baltimore got their lone run in the third inning with Colton Cowser hitting an RBI double to left field.

The Royals immediately retaliated with another run in the next half inning thanks to an RBI triple from Garcia.

The rest of the game was dominated by Royals pitching. Alec Marsh made his season debut after a solid rookie season in 2023. The 2019 draftee went seven full innings giving up just two hits, one run and one walk while striking out five. Relief pitching was just as good for Kansas City in the remaining two innings allowing just one baserunner and Will Smith getting his first save of 2024.

Wednesday, April 3rd: Baltimore 4, Kansas City 3

Wednesday’s loss was all about missed opportunities for the Royals. They left eight total baserunners on base. Kansas City hit the ball well with ten total hits including nine off Baltimore’s Opening Day starter and 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes.

The Royals had a 3-0 lead going into the eighth inning thanks to Cole Ragans’ near-perfect start. In his second outing of the season, Ragans pitched six-and-a-third innings and allowed no runs, one hit and two walks with seven strikeouts.

However, James McArthur would allow two earned runs in the eighth inning which gave Baltimore a chance in the ninth inning. The O’s would take advantage with James McCann getting a walk-off two-RBI single.

Thursday, April 4th: Kansas City 10, Chicago White Sox 1

Kansas City came back home and took out their frustrations of a blown series sweep on the road on the lowly Chicago White Sox, who are mindlessly wandering about looking for a new identity in a rebuild.

The Royals got almost all their runs on the short ball with just two home runs despite the impressive ten runs.

The game was competitive up until the bottom of the seventh inning. Kansas City had a narrow 2-1 lead until they came up with eight runs. Kyle Isbel and Garcia both hit RBI singles to bring the first three runs in. Three more came home on an error from White Sox shortstop Braden Shewmake. The final two came home on a two-run homer from MJ Melendez.

In Seth Lugo’s second start as a Kansas City Royal, he was impressive once again. Although he gave up eight hits, he only allowed one run with just two walks and three strikeouts. Thursday was also Lugo’s first win in a Royals uniform.

Friday, April 5th: Kansas City 2, Chicago White Sox 1

For the second straight day, the Royals pitching staff allowed just one run. In Friday’s 2-1 win, Brady Singer looked borderline unhittable. He went six-and-a-third innings and allowed just three baserunners with one earned run and four strikeouts.

The bats weren’t great, but they were good enough. Perez continues to fight off father time as he went 3-for-3, including an RBI double in the first inning.

Melendez had the other RBI as he brought Blanco home in the bottom of the eighth inning for the game-winning run.

Saturday, April 6th: Kansas City 3, Chicago White Sox 0

The first six innings of Saturday’s game saw no runs for either team with both starters, Chris Flexen and Michael Wacha, pitching gems.

However, Flexen was worn down in the bottom of the seventh inning and the Royals put up three runs. Melendez hit another home run which brought two runs in and Garcia hit a bloop single to shallow right field to bring home the third run.

Wacha finished his outing after a full seven innings and allowed two hits, no runs and one walk with eight strikeouts. Anderson and Chris Stratton combined for the remaining two innings and they limited the drama with Stratton getting the save.

Sunday, April 7th: Kansas City 5, Chicago White Sox 3

After combining for just two runs in their first three games of the series, on Sunday the White Sox matched that total in the fourth inning and surpassed it in the fifth to take a 3-0 lead.

Kansas City cut into that lead in the bottom of the fifth with Hunter Renfroe hitting his first home run as a Royal which got them back within a run.

Melendez continued to stay white-hot as he homered to take the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning to go up 4-3. They got an additional run later in the inning on an error for some insurance.

Marsh went four-and-two-thirds innings and gave up eight hits, but he gave up just one walk and three runs with three strikeouts. John Schreiber got the win and has been a bright spot for the bullpen as he hasn’t given up a run in any of his five relief outings so far this season.

Right now the Royals are in an unfamiliar spot with a winning record of 6-4. Their starting pitching has statistically been the best in the MLB, their hitting has shown promise and the bullpen is starting to come around.

You don’t want to make too many assumptions about a ballclub just ten games in, especially with one of those series being against one of the worst teams in baseball, but it appears that Kansas City will be at the very least competitive this season. At best, this division is up for grabs and winnable for the Royals if the first 1/16th of the season is indicative of how the season will go.

Up next, Kansas City will put their four-game winning streak on the line for a three-game home series against the 2022 World Series Champion Houston Astros, who are off to a slow start under new manager Joe Espada with a record of just 3-7. They finish up their four-game series at the Texas Rangers on Monday night after dropping two of the first three games of the series.