KANSAS CITY -- Overcast skies and misting rain made for a gloomy atmosphere at Kauffman Stadium on Sunday for the Royals¡¯ final home game of the regular season.

The ice-cold offense did not help the vibe much.

For the second consecutive series, the Royals were swept at home with a 2-0 loss to the Giants, matching a season-long seven-game losing streak. Kansas City won 45 games at home this season but none on the last homestand, going 0-6 to see its playoff position dwindle by the day.

Just one week ago, the Royals had a six-game lead on the Tigers and Mariners, who were the first two teams outside of playoff contention. Now the Royals are in danger of falling out of contention themselves.

The Royals fell into a tie with the Tigers, who beat the Orioles on Sunday, for the second American League Wild Card spot, although the Royals (82-74) hold the head-to-head tiebreaker if the two teams finish with the same record. The Twins are now one game behind after being swept by the Red Sox in a doubleheader.

¡°Every guy in there is frustrated,¡± manager Matt Quatraro said. ¡°You come here to win. We make that our goal every single day. We know that¡¯s our main focus when we show up to the yard every day. I know how focused they are. I know how attentive they are to the details and their preparation. And it¡¯s just not happening.

¡°It¡¯s really disappointing -- we¡¯ve prided ourselves and done such a good job of playing at home in front of our fans, and it couldn¡¯t have been a worse homestand results-wise.¡±

In the clubhouse Sunday afternoon, several Royals still sat at their lockers in full uniform for some time rather than the typical bustle of getting ready to go home. Stunned silence filled the room.

The Royals scored one run this weekend against the Giants. They were shut out in back-to-back games. They¡¯ve scored four runs in the past five games.

¡°No luck, no clutch -- those two variables in all the games,¡± outfielder Tommy Pham said. ¡°Our pitchers, for the most part, gave us a chance in all the games. We just didn¡¯t help them out.¡±

After an off-day on Monday, the Royals have six games remaining, a road swing through Washington and Atlanta.

The message heading into the final week?

¡°We got to win,¡± Pham said. ¡°Plain and simple.¡±

¡°Just stay the course,¡± second baseman Michael Massey added. ¡°We¡¯ve done things to put ourselves in this position, and the last week of the season is probably not the time to throw darts at a wall blindfolded because things aren¡¯t going our way. You¡¯ve got two choices: You can roll over and die, or you can keep going. No one here is going to choose the first one.¡±

The Giants grabbed an early lead in the second inning with two runs off Royals starter Seth Lugo, who allowed an RBI triple to Grant McCray and an RBI single to Brett Wisely at the bottom of the order. It was a longer inning for the Royals righty, but he responded with a six-pitch third inning -- in which he also reached the 200-inning mark of his season -- and didn¡¯t allow a baserunner for the rest of his outing. Lugo finished with two runs allowed on three hits in seven innings.

But the Royals had no answer for Giants starter Blake Snell. The former Cy Young Award winner held the Royals to two hits and one walk while striking out nine in six innings. The Royals are trying everything they can to manufacture runs; they even put a steal sign on designated hitter Robbie Grossman when he walked in the second inning. The next three hitters struck out swinging.

For all the conversation about the Royals¡¯ woes with runners in scoring position this week, they did not have a baserunner reach second base until the eighth inning. That¡¯s when they loaded the bases with two outs after the Giants intentionally walked Bobby Witt Jr. to have righty Tyler Rogers face Royals captain Salvador Perez.

¡°Early in my career as a manager, you¡¯re always taught: Don¡¯t put the winning run on base,¡± Giants manager Bob Melvin said. ¡°But there are certain times that you just feel like it¡¯s the thing to do."

Perez certainly would be the player the Royals would want at the plate in those moments. But he popped out to shallow right field, hanging his head and hitting his bat on the ground as the ball fell into Wisely¡¯s glove to end the threat.

¡°We don¡¯t have any frustration,¡± Perez said, his tone curt. ¡°We need to keep going.¡±