The slumping Kansas City Royals will try to get well when they visit the Washington Nationals for a three-game series beginning Tuesday night. Kansas City (82-74) entered Monday tied for the second wild-card spot in the American League despite losing seven straight games for the second time in less than three weeks. The Royals finish the regular season with three games at Washington (69-87) and three at the Atlanta Braves as they battle the Detroit Tigers (82-74), Minnesota Twins (81-75) and Seattle Mariners (80-76) for the final two wild-card spots behind the Baltimore Orioles (86-70).
The Royals were shut out for the second straight game Sunday, 2-0 by the Giants, and went 0-6 on their final homestand. "Just stay the course," Michael Massey said. "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.
" Kansas City has scored four runs in its past five games. "No luck, no clutch -- those two variables in all the games," Tommy Pham said. "Our pitchers, for the most part, gave us a chance in all the games.
We just didn't help them out." As for the Royals' final two opponents, Washington is playing out the string, and Atlanta could be as well this weekend depending on how its three-game series against the Mets plays out. In a matchup of left-handers, the Royals' Cole Ragans (11-9, 3.
24 ERA) opposes the Nationals' Mitchell Parker (7-10, 4.44) on Tuesda.