Royals swept by Astros, division title aspirations take hit

HOUSTON, Texas (KMIZ)

The Royals' recent struggles have now resulted in five straight losses and a bumpier road in the race for a division crown. Matt Quatraro's crew suffered a four-game sweep to Houston, losing the series finale 7-2 on Sunday afternoon.

In their last five games, the Royals have been outscored by their opponents 28-14.

Since the Royals tied the Guardians for first place in the American League Central on Aug. 27, Kansas City has since fallen 3.5 games behind Cleveland for the division lead. However, the Royals do remain comfortably ahead of the Red Sox in the wild card race, sitting 4.5 games ahead of Boston for the final spot in the American League postseason picture.

A trio of Astros' home runs, including two off the bat of Yordan Alvarez, created a three-run Royals deficit after six innings of action. Bobby Witt Jr. tried to ignite a late rally with his 30th home run of the year, but Houston responded with a three-run eighth inning to stall Kansas City's comeback effort.

Tommy Pham was the only Royals player to record more than one hit in the contest, finishing the game with two of the team's seven hits. Witt Jr. and Yuli Gurriel were also Kansas City's only players to record an RBI.

Alec Marsh was charged with the loss after allowing three runs on four hits over five innings of work. He also tallied five strikeouts.

Up next - The Royals enter a pivotal six-game stretch in their playoff race, starting with a series against the division-leading Guardians. Monday's series opener is scheduled to start at 3:10 p.m.