'Got back on track': Royals confident after successful 5-1 homestand

KANSAS CITY -- It wasn’t a perfect homestand for the Royals -- Sunday’s 7-3 loss to the Astros made sure of that -- but the six games at Kauffman Stadium this past week felt like what the Royals needed to get back on track.

They went 5-1, sweeping the Rockies and winning the series against the Astros this weekend, and pulled within a game of .500 (14-15) after Sunday’s loss snapped a six-game winning streak.

“It was a good week,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “You come home and go 5-1 in a homestand, that’s pretty solid. Coming back off the road trip, that was definitely needed.”

And now the Royals need to take the momentum of the week on the road again following Monday’s off-day to Tampa Bay and Baltimore.

“Definitely got back on track,” leadoff hitter Jonathan India said. “The pitchers did amazing this week for us. Offense had some timely hitting. And we’re all still building.”

What we learned about the Royals this homestand was partly about their resiliency, not letting that 2-8 road swing through Cleveland, New York and Detroit follow them home. They bounced back from losing six in a row by winning six in a row.

And the homestand reinforced more about their makeup: Pitching is the strength of this team and will keep the Royals, for the most part, competitive in games. For the second consecutive year, the Royals’ rotation is among the best in baseball so far. Not even Kris Bubic’s rough start on Sunday changed that.

Despite the lefty allowing four runs in five innings -- his first hiccup of 2025 after entering Sunday with a 1.45 ERA across five starts -- the Royals’ rotation ranks fourth-best in the Majors with a 3.34 ERA and has logged the most innings of any rotation this year with 164 1/3 frames.

The Royals allowed just 16 runs across six games this homestand. Seven of them came on Sunday.

Until Yordan Alvarez stepped to the plate in the third inning Sunday, the Astros had not yet scored a run since they got to Kansas City.

One swing from the Houston slugger changed that. After Bubic allowed a single to Chas McCormick and walked Isaac Paredes on four pitches, Alvarez pummeled a sinker down the middle to give the Astros a lead they’d never relinquish.

“Sometimes, it’s not always going to be smooth sailing,” Bubic said. “It’s part of the ups and downs of the year. They were just better today.”

Bubic couldn’t ride the momentum that Seth Lugo (eight shutout innings) and Michael Wacha (six scoreless) provided to begin this series. Bubic struggled more with command and wasn’t getting the swing and miss he’s gotten so far with his fastball up in the zone.

An eight-pitch at-bat with Christian Walker in the first inning -- which included four fastballs that were fouled off up in the zone – elevated Bubic’s pitch count before the lefty eventually struck out Walker on a changeup. Three walks didn’t help his efficiency, either.

“After a big enough sample of starts, teams know the book coming in,” Bubic said. “Four-seamer plays at the top. So it’s a matter of how do we set it up well? I thought we got it to the top effectively, but maybe for whatever reason, it didn’t have the life to get by the swings today. That’s when the changeup and the gyro need to step up and take the lead there if the four-seamer isn’t getting by guys.”

Bubic still got through five innings, but four runs seems like a bigger deficit when the Royals offense is struggling as much as it has been to begin the year.

In that regard, the homestand also was a reminder that the Royals still need answers for their offensive funk, because days like Sunday will inevitably happen. No team is doing less offensively than the Royals right now, with 3.14 runs per game.

But the pitching staff is allowing the offense to find its footing without flailing out of the standings. There were signs of improvement throughout the week with some hitters, including Salvador Perez going 8-for-19 with five doubles and four RBIs, Vinnie Pasquantino hitting a big home run Saturday and India going 2-for-3 on Sunday with a sacrifice fly and his fourth walk of the homestand. Bobby Witt Jr. remained as consistent as ever by extending his career-best hit streak to 19 games with an RBI double in the finale.

“The individuals we have on this team, I can tell everyone wants it,” India said. “They work hard. No one gives up on themselves. They’re always trying to figure it out. And we just keep pushing. That’s the bottom line.”