San Francisco arrived on a 4-game skid, having already dropped the first two games of this series in Kansas City. Matt Chapman, Harrison Bader, Victor Bericoto and Jonah Cox are all out for the Giants, and Trevor McDonald just landed on the 15-day IL with an elbow strain — a rotation and lineup stretched thin heading into a stretch that badly needed a turnaround.
This one stayed scoreless into the 6th before both offenses woke up. The Giants scratched across a run, then Kansas City answered with a 5-run 7th that buried the game. San Francisco tacked on two more of its own in the frame and added a run in the 9th, but the deficit was too much to climb back from.
It's the kind of finish that fits both trends perfectly — a Royals club finding late-game answers even without its best player, and a Giants team that keeps losing close, winnable games. San Francisco's homestand against the Angels starting Friday can't come soon enough.