The Kansas City Royals' first trip to the new ballpark in Arlington, Texas won't be remembered fondly.
The Royals offense sputtered again Sunday as they lost 4-1 to the Texas Rangers in front of an announced 29,046 at Globe Life Field. The Rangers swept the three-game series, and the Royals have lost five consecutive games or more for the fourth time this season.
Whit Merrifield had three hits, while Nicky Lopez and Ryan O'Hearn had two apiece.
Royals starting pitcher Brady Singer (3-6) allowed three runs (two earned), four hits and three walks in five innings. He also struck out five.
The Rangers jumped out to a 3-0 lead for the second consecutive game. This time the three-run inning came in the first as opposed to the second.
Singer inflicted damage himself when he committed a throwing error on a bouncer back to the mound by Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Singer made an athletic play to snag the ball, but his throw to first base went in the dirt and Ryan O'Hearn couldn't scoop it.
Adolis Garcia's one-out RBI triple drove in Kiner-Falefa. The next batter, Joey Gallo, smashed a two-run home run — his third in two games .
The Royals scored a run in the fifth thanks to three consecutive singles to start the inning. After Kelvin Gutierrez's infield single, Lopez singled to right to put runners on the corners. Then Merrifield ripped a single up the middle to drive in Gutierrez and make the score 3-1.
However, the Royals next three batters — Carlos Santana, Salvador Perez and O'Hearn — went down in order to strand two men on base. The Royals stranded six runners in the first five innings.
The Rangers added an unearned run against reliever Jake Brentz in the sixth inning without a hit. Brentz hit the second batter of the inning, Eli White, on the foot with a pitch. Then a walk put two men on, a grounder to first allowed both runners to advance while the Royals got the second out of the inning.
Gutierrez's error on a chopper by Kiner-Falefa allowed White to score as the Rangers lead increased to 4-1.
Former Royals pitcher Ian Kennedy pitched a scoreless ninth inning to record his 13th save of the season for the Rangers.
