The Royals started the second month of the regular season with a road series win against the Toronto Blue Jays, taking two out of the three games. They would return to Kaufmann Stadium and lose two of three games to the reigning World Series champion Texas Rangers.

Monday, April 29th: Toronto 6, Kansas City 5

Kansas City started the week with a loss in which Jonathan Bowlan made his season debut. Signs of rust were apparent as he gave up three home runs in two-and-two-thirds innings. In total, he gave up six hits, four runs and three walks.

The Royals scored the first two runs of the game in the first inning with RBI hits from Nelson Velazquez and Michael Massey, but four unanswered runs from the Jays put KC behind 4-2 after three innings.

Kyle Isbel got the Royals back within a run with an RBI single in the fourth inning, but white-hot Davis Schneider got Toronto a run right back. Isbel proceeded to hit a homer to straightaway center field getting them back within one, but again the Blue Jays responded. This time, it was a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. RBI double.

Freddy Fremin hit a solo blast in the top of the eighth inning, and Kansas City had runners on the corners in the ninth inning, but they were left stranded.

Tuesday, April 30th: Kansas City 4, Toronto 1

A gem from Cole Ragans helped Kansas City even the series. The Royals ace threw for six-and-two-thirds innings giving up one run, four hits and three walks with nine strikeouts.

Michael Massey gave KC the lead in the top of the second inning with a two-run home run to center field.

After a few scoreless innings from both teams, Bo Bichette cut the Toronto deficit in half with an RBI single in the sixth inning.

In the eighth inning, the Royals got a pair of insurance runs with RBI doubles from Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino.

James McArthur shut the door in the ninth inning with a perfect ninth inning for his seventh save of the season.

Opposing pitcher Jose Berrios was handed his second loss of the season, both of which have come against the Royals. His ERA is among the best in the American League, but Kansas City has gotten the better of him in both of their matchups against him this season.

Wednesday, May 1st: Kansas City 6, Toronto 1

Seth Lugo made another quality start and another case for why he should be an All-Star and a serious contender for the Cy Young Award. He went seven full innings and gave up just two hits, one run and two walks with eight strikeouts. Lugo picked up the win giving him a 5-1 record and an ERA of just 1.60.

As for the offense, it took some time to get into the flow of the game. It was scoreless until the sixth inning when Witt Jr. struck first with an RBI single. Salvador Perez got his first RBI of the week to get them their second run of the inning, followed by a Massey RBI ground out.

Danny Jensen got Toronto on the board with a solo home run in the seventh inning, but a half-inning later, Massey hit a two-run home run to answer and put the game out of reach.

Massey was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate after what has been a bit of a slow start to his season that started late due to him recovering from a back injury he suffered early in spring training.

Friday, May 3rd: Kansas City 7, Texas 1

It was a promising start to the weekend with Kansas City getting a comfortable win on Friday against Texas.

The Rangers started with the early 1-0 lead, though, with reigning World Series MVP Corey Seager getting an RBI single in the third inning.

Hunter Renfroe got the equalizer with a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning.

The difference in the game was the six-run seventh inning which began with an RBI single from Isbel. It continued with RBI singles from Witt Jr. and Pasquantino, and it was capped off with another vintage moment from Salvy as he hit a three-run bomb to left field.

Brady Singer’s lone start of the week was a beauty as he went six full innings and gave up just one run, four hits and no walks with eight strikeouts.

Saturday, May 4th: Texas 15, Kansas City 4

Unfortunately, Friday’s win would be the only victory during the weekend as it was followed by a double-digit loss on Saturday.

Michael Wacha had easily his worst effort in a Royals uniform giving up seven runs, nine hits and a walk in three-and-two-thirds innings.

The Rangers scored three runs in the third, fourth, and seventh innings and put up five more in the ninth inning for good measure.

Offensively for Kansas City, Michael Massey continued to get his numbers up with three hits and Maikel Garcia had a pair of hits as well.

Sunday, May 5th: Texas 3, Kansas City 2 F/10

Sunday’s 3-2 loss was a heartbreaker and one that they will circle back to, should the Royals fall behind a team in the standings by a game or two by the season’s end.

The Royals had a 2-0 lead going into the eighth inning thanks to a sacrifice fly and an RBI double by Pasquantino in the first and third innings, respectively.

In the eighth, Seager brought home the first run via a sac fly, and Jonah Heim tied the game in the top of the ninth with one out on a solo home run off the right field foul pole.

In the tenth, Nathaniel Lowe got an RBI single with runners on the corners and one out on a sharp liner to right.

With a chance to extend the game, the Royals were unable to get the ghost runner over from second. The Rangers wisely intentionally walked Witt Jr. and Velazquez was unable to keep the game going with two outs as he flew out to right field to end the game.

Overall, Sunday’s loss separated this past week from being a great week to just a fine week. Kansas City got four great starts this week but turned it into just three wins.

Up next, the Royals welcome in the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers (20-13), who are coming off losing two out of three games on the road to the Chicago Cubs in what was a crucial battle for the lead in the division. The Royals will have Ragans, Lugo and Singer pitch in the series, who will give them a chance in each of the games in the series.

This upcoming weekend, Kansas City will go out west to face the lowly Los Angeles Angels (12-22) for a four-game series starting on Friday. The Mike Trout-less Halos are coming off losing two games out of three on the road to the Cleveland Guardians. Before they face the Royals, the Angels will be in Pittsburgh to face the Pirates in a three-game set. Starters for that series are to be determined.

Going into the week, the Royals are tied for second in the AL Central standings thanks to the Minnesota Twins rallying on a piece of processed meat for a 12-game winning streak, their longest since 1991 (they later went on to win the World Series), which was snapped on Sunday. Both teams are 2.5 games back of the first-place Cleveland Guardians. Minnesota and Kansas City are also tied in the wild card race for the second Wild Card spot.