Royals stumble against Astros, miss out on series sweep

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Kansas City's six-game winning streak has been snapped.

The Royals (14-15) took a 7-3 defeat in their series finale with the Astros (14-13) at Kauffman Stadium, dipping their record back below the .500-mark. Despite Sunday's loss, Kansas City was awarded the series win after posting back-to-back shutouts against Houston in the first two contests.

The Astros assembled a 4-0 lead in the first five frames, courtesy of a three-run home run from Yordan Alvarez and an RBI single from Jeremy Peña. Those two hits highlighted the damage dealt to Royals starter Kris Bubic, who tossed five innings on the mound and allowed four runs on five hits with four strikeouts.

Bobby Witt Jr. cut into the team's four-run deficit with an RBI double in the home half of the fifth but three more runs followed for the Astros. Peña continued his two-hit day at the dish with a two-RBI double to left field to push Houston's lead to 6-1 in the sixth inning, and then, Yainer Diaz added a solo shot in the seventh frame to give his team its biggest advantage of the afternoon.

Despite the four-run loss, Kansas City actually out-hit Houston by an 11-9 margin. Jonathan India and Salvador Perez each finished with two hits, and both India and Drew Waters joined Witt Jr. in the RBI category with a late sacrifice fly and run-scoring triple, respectively. However, manager Matt Quatraro's group finished just 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven runners on base.

Up next - The Royals hit the road for the Sunshine State. First pitch of Kansas City's upcoming three-game series with Tampa Bay is scheduled for Tuesday, April 29. at 6:05 p.m.