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KANSAS CITY -- Where has the Royals¡¯ offense gone?

For a few weeks now, the Royals have been trying to get their mojo back offensively with the playoff race narrowing by the day. Kansas City still controls its own fate, provided it can get back on track quickly with some wins. Entering Sunday, the Royals were the second American League Wild Card team, but they were just a half-game ahead of the Twins, who were playing a doubleheader against the Red Sox. Kansas City also had a one-game lead on Detroit -- as well as the head-to-head tiebreaker -- as the first team out of the current playoff picture.

Since Aug. 28, when the first long losing streak began, the Royals have averaged 3.18 runs per game in a 22-game span. In the 133 games before Aug. 28, they averaged 4.88 runs per game, which ranked eighth in MLB and fifth in the AL.

The easiest thing to point to when assessing the drop-off in production is the Royals¡¯ results with runners in scoring position. Entering September, Kansas City ranked first in MLB in batting average (.291), second in OPS (.827) and third in slugging (.468) with runners in scoring position.

This month, those numbers have dropped to a .201 average, a .561 OPS and a .302 slugging percentage, all of which rank in the bottom six in baseball.

¡°The game is the ultimate evaluator,¡± hitting coach Alec Zumwalt said. ¡°You can do everything right and go out in the game and fail. But that doesn¡¯t mean the next day you scrap it and start over. You¡¯ve got to be relentless in your pursuit of perfection and being prepared.¡±

The regression is jarring, and the frustration has been building over the last week as the Royals try to get the big hit or big inning or any sort of momentum. It¡¯s hard not to see the correlation between their lack of production and the absence of Vinnie Pasquantino, who drove in 97 runs as the No. 3 hitter sandwiched between Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez.

¡°I¡¯d be lying to you if I didn¡¯t tell you we miss him,¡± Zumwalt said. ¡°His presence, his leadership on and off the field, the accountability he holds guys to, knowing what he does in the game and how he produced this year, yeah, we miss him. But at the same time, and he knows this more than anyone else, he wants to see everyone else step up.¡±

Since Pasquantino broke his right thumb on Aug. 29, the Royals have been shuffling their lineup trying to find the best fit. But there isn¡¯t just one answer for the lack of production, especially in scoring situations.

¡°It comes down to the individuals, whoever is up in those situations, making sure they¡¯re calm in the moment, prepared in the moment,¡± Zumwalt said. ¡°But the execution in the moment, that¡¯s what makes it so hard. This is a rolling wave all year long. There are ups and downs in hitting. No team in the history of the game has ever stayed on this unbelievable trajectory.¡±

The Royals, from manager Matt Quatraro to Zumwalt to the players, have been steadfast in saying that nothing has changed from a preparation standpoint, nor a work ethic standpoint.

¡°What¡¯s been really good about this group is that even though we¡¯ve gone through this rough stretch, they¡¯ve brought the same energy every day,¡± Zumwalt said. ¡°They¡¯ve been in the cage, they know what they need to work on. Attention to detail has still been there. It¡¯s just some of the in-game execution that hasn¡¯t happened.¡±

In order to help out the pitching and get to the postseason, the Royals need to find ways to scratch across some runs, find their confidence again and get back to the kind of offense they¡¯ve shown all year.

¡°It¡¯s easy to press, and I feel like as a team that¡¯s what we¡¯re doing right now,¡± outfielder MJ Melendez said. ¡°But we just [need to] kind of get back to the basics. We¡¯ve had good at-bats all year.¡±