San Diego isn't exactly rolling either. The Padres are sitting flat at .500 with an offense that's been a season-long problem — Manny Machado has been one of the worst everyday bats in baseball, and Fernando Tatis Jr. only picked up his first homer of the year a little over a week ago. But San Diego did just take 2 of 3 from a scuffling Blue Jays team, going 3-2 over its last 5, and against a Royals club that can't buy a win right now, that's a real edge.
The injury list tells a lot of this story too. San Diego's rotation and bullpen have taken hits — Jason Adam and Jeremiah Estrada are both out with the pen already down bodies, and Randy Vasquez and Lucas Giolito are shelved as well — but Kansas City's issues run deeper, with 2 rotation arms (Ragans, Bubic) done for the year and a lineup missing multiple regulars.
This is the kind of series a .500 team is supposed to feast on. The Royals have nothing working right now — not the record, not the health, not the momentum — while the Padres, for all their offensive warts, are at least playing better baseball over the last week and a half. Kansas City's only real counter is Witt Jr., who can single-handedly change a game, but asking one guy to carry a 38-59 team against a club that just found its groove is a tall order.