A comeback effort by the Kansas City Royals was spoiled for the second straight night by a shaky bullpen, as a two-run double in the eighth lifted the Miami Marlins to a 3-1 win Saturday, July 19.

This time it was reliever Lucas Erceg who took the loss, allowing a two-RBI double to Otto Lopez with nobody out in the eighth. Erceg allowed a walk and double, then granted an intentional walk to load the bases for Lopez. Erceg would permit another intentional walk but strike one out to complete his inning. His performance negated the tying home run belted by Salvador Perez in the top of the eighth, his 14th of the season.

Both starters provided quality starts, each going six innings. The only run charged to Royals starter Michael Wacha came in the first, when a leadoff triple to Xavier Edwards was followed up by a Lopez ground-out RBI. Wacha would only allow three hits and one walk while striking out five, while Miami starter Cal Quantrill limited the Royals to two hits while striking out three. The Royals used a pair of double plays to keep the Marlins contained, ultimately stranding seven of their base runners.

The loss has Kansas City at 47-52, 12 games behind a Detroit squad that’s lost six in a row, while five-and-a-half behind Boston for the third wild card spot. Kris Bubic will be tasked with preventing the sweep when he gets the start for KC. First pitch is at 12:40 p.m., with pregame at noon on KMMO AM 1300.