ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ In the minutes after another bullpen cave-in, after a two-run lead had evaporated in a 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, Joakim Soria was tasked with another unwinnable assignment. He sat in front of his locker inside a Tropicana Field cluhbouse and sought to explain how a 1-1 change-up to Tampa Bay's Brad Miller had become the difference on Thursday. He tried to make sense of a season that has become synonymous with his late-game collapses.
"It wasn't a bad pitch," Soria said. "In my view, it was a good pitch. But he hit it out, so it wasn't a good pitch."
In this instance, such distinctions were beside the point. The pitch was an 86-mph change-up with two runners on base. It floated over the middle of the plate and missed its target by an inch or two. Miller, a shortstop with long arms and natural power, stayed on the pitch and dropped his barrel on the baseball, flicking it into the seats in right field.
In the seconds after impact, Soria flung his arms into the air. After a season of frustrating blowups in tight games, he had seen this movie before.
"It's been that way all year long," Soria said. "I make a pitch that felt good (about) ... "
And then, kaboom.
The stumble represented Soria's fourth blown save of the season, wasting a tremendous effort from starter Ian Kennedy. The Royals dropped to 40-2 when leading after seven innings. On the final day of an eight-road trip, the Royals (51-57) ended up splitting a four-game series against Tampa Bay after winning the first two contests.
The Royals lost a golden opportunity to win their first road series of at least three games since early June. They finished 2-6 after an eight-game sojourn through Texas and Tampa Bay. The loss revealed harsh truths about a frustrating 2016 campaign.
In the offseason, Soria signed a three-year, $25 million contract to help bolster a dominant bullpen that had lost the services of Greg Holland and Ryan Madson. In his first season back in Kansas City, he has toed the line between adequate and woeful, a rash of spectacular losses obscuring a solid run in May. After Thursday's loss, Soria's ERA topped out at 4.50. The Kansas City bullpen is just fifth in the American League in ERA after ranking first last season.
Royals manager Ned Yost, of course, had few great alternatives. Luke Hochevar is out for the season after undergoing surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome. Wade Davis is on the disabled list with a flexor strain. Soria had teased over his last three appearances, logging three scoreless innings since his last blowup.
So Yost utilized rookie left-hander Matt Strahm to protect a 2-0 lead in the seventh. He then called on Soria to pitch in the eighth.
"We're to a point with our bullpen _ if we could get to a four-out save _ we might have used Kelvin there," Yost said. "But we just never got there."
When asked if he would consider tweaking Soria's role and limiting his usage in high-leverage situations, Yost offered a bleak outlook.
"I don't know how you do that," he said. "We're just real thin down there. That's a tough one there."
For seven innings, Kennedy had been in line for his first victory since June 26. He allowed just one hit in six scoreless innings while striking out nine. He completed his third straight start without allowing a home run, a season high.
"A personal record, probably," Kennedy joked. "It's just because I've been keeping the ball down, staying behind it."
Left fielder Alex Gordon had given the Royals a 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth, connecting on a two-run homer off Tampa Bay starter Drew Smyly. The blast _ a no-doubt shot to right field _ was Gordon's first in 61 at-bats and represented his eighth homer in 77 games. It was also Kansas City's only offense of the afternoon.
On May 31, the Royals torched Smyly for eight runs and 12 hits in four innings. The onslaught included a first-inning homer from Lorenzo Cain and came in the midst of a six-game winning streak that propelled Kansas City back into first place.
On Thursday, Smyly survived for seven innings, allowing just five hits and two runs while striking out 10. His only glaring mistake came in the fourth inning, on an 86-mph cutter to Gordon that hung in the middle of the strike zone.
In four games at Tropicana Field, the numbers only worsened by the day. The Royals put up just eight runs in four games. In their last 16 games, they are averaging just 2.5 runs per game. When the series was over, the Royals' 412 runs ranked last in the American League, 16 behind the Rays' 428.
The offensive incompetence was magnified in the top of the eighth. Alcides Escobar and Cheslor Cuthbert opened the inning with singles against reliever Brad Boxberger. Eric Hosmer followed by grounding out to the right side, moving the runners into scoring position. The inning ended when Salvador Perez and Gordon struck out on three pitches each. Another opportunity gone.
"I was hoping that wouldn't come back and haunt us," Yost said. "But it sure did."
For most of the afternoon, the lead had remained intact. Then Soria came on in the bottom of the eighth. First there was a single, and then came a walk. And then a change-up to Miller, who powered his 19th homer into the seats beyond right field. And then came Soria, sitting in front of his locker for another afternoon.
"Been a tough season," he said. "But if you don't like it, pitch better."
