After being swept by Tigers, KC Royals’ Wild Card standing is much more precarious

The Kansas City Royals got their final regular-season look at American League Cy Young front-runner Tarik Skubal on Wednesday night. They also got their final regular-season look at a red-hot Tigers team quickly closing the gap on the Wild Card race.

Skubal drew the start for the Detroit Tigers at Kauffman Stadium. The iconic venue hadn’t been kind throughout his career. Skubal entered with a 6.14 ERA in six road starts against the Royals.

Those numbers were quickly thrown out the window. Skubal allowed one run and three hits in the Tigers 4-2 victory.

The Royals tagged him early as first baseman Yuli Gurriel recorded an RBI single. However, Skubal quickly found his stride. He retired 13 of his last 16 batters and didn’t surrender another hit. The Royals struck out seven times as just one additional runner reached second base.

“I think in the first inning, we got a few hits and scored one,” KC captain Salvador Perez said. “He made the adjustment and it was a pretty good game for him.”

Skubal improved to 17-4 after five solid innings. It was a different story for Royals starter Alec Marsh.

Marsh was pulled after 2 ⅔ innings against the Tigers. He labored in the third inning as Detroit scored three runs in the frame.

“It was a tough outing for him right out of the gate,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “Didn’t have his delivery, couldn’t repeat his delivery and consistently get in the zone.”

Tigers star Riley Greene hit a 427-foot home run to lead off the inning. Later, Spencer Torkelson and Jace Jung reached in consecutive at-bats. This enabled Tigers shortstop Trey Sweeney to strike with a two-run double.

Marsh threw 39 of 73 pitches for strikes. He missed a lot of pitch locations and that got him into early trouble. Greene’s homer was a mislocated 93.1-mph fastball that stayed over the center of the strike zone.

“Disappointing for sure,” Marsh said. “Just failed to do basic things, get ahead of guys and put them away. ... Command was just not great. Three walks is unacceptable. So the only thing I know how to do here is flush this one and get after the next one.”

The Royals dropped to 82-71. The club was swept for the third time and has now lost four consecutive games. The Tigers, at one point 55-63, are 25-10 in their last 35 games. They’ve won nine of 11, including four straight.

“The mindset is to reset,” Perez said of Thursday’s off day. “Come back on Friday, play hard and try to win the game.”

Missed previous games of the series?

Game 1: Royals open pivotal AL Central series with loss to Tigers

Game 2: Bobby Witt Jr. records second 30-30 campaign in Royals loss

Here are more notables from Wednesday’s game:

Updated AL Wild Card standings

Detroit continues to surge in the American League Wild Card race.

The Tigers are now 80-73 and a half-game behind the Minnesota Twins for the final Wild Card spot. Notably, the Royals are only two games ahead of the Tigers, who are out of playoff position.

“We still control our own fate as far as getting into the playoffs and that’s all you can really ask for,” Quatraro said. “We have to play better and we have to win some games. Clearly, we can’t count on someone else losing a whole bunch of games at this time of year.”

Wednesday’s Tigers victory closed the gap on the Baltimore Orioles, Twins and Royals. Each team lost in their respective games.

The Royals still remain 1 ½ games ahead of the Twins for the second AL Wild Card spot. However, KC trails the Baltimore Orioles by 2 ½ games for the top Wild Card position.

The first Wild Card spot guarantees a three-game home playoff series. The Royals are on shakier ground with nine games remaining.

“None of those games (this series) ended the way we wanted and we know that,” Quatraro said. “We didn’t play our best baseball. They played really well and you’ve got to tip your cap. These guys have been playing hot baseball. We need to get ourselves going.”

Daniel Lynch IV effective in long relief

The Royals relied on left-handed reliever Daniel Lynch IV on Wednesday. In the third inning, Lynch entered after Marsh departed.

Lynch recorded 3 ⅓ innings of scoreless work. He struck out four batters and allowed two hits in his relief appearance.

“I’m really trying to just let go of anything other than just trying to execute pitches,” Lynch said.

This season, Lynch has a 3.89 ERA in 13 games. He extended his scoreless streak to 14 ⅓ innings since returning from Triple-A Omaha on Aug. 26.

Lynch has recorded 16 strikeouts in that span.

What’s next: The Royals are off on Thursday. The club will begin its final home series against the San Francisco Giants on Friday night.