As tough as it was to handle, the weak-hitting Kansas City Royals hoped Friday night’s loss to Washington might at least ignite a slumbering offense.

But no such luck.

Facing Washington right-hander Jordan Zimmermann on Saturday night, they fell right back into an offensive funk.

They managed nine hits.

But all were singles as the Nationals handed the Royals a seventh straight loss with a 7-2 decision.

”I haven’t figured it out, and I’m not going to figure it out,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. ”We’re going to get a game where we get some hits and win a game and get it going.”

After a 19-5 surge gave fans hope for an end to a 27-year playoff drought, the Royals have lost seven in a row and 10 of 12.

”It’s frustrating,” left fielder Alex Gordon said. ”I don’t like losing streaks and I don’t like losing streaks after we’ve been playing so well. We’re professionals. We’ll keep playing and grinding.”

Do the Royals have another good streak left?

”This team has another good run in it,” Yost said. ”It sure does.”

Rebounding from one of his worst career outings, Zimmermann went 7 2-3 innings, allowing two runs and eight hits.

He struck out seven and walked just one. After George Kottaras singled with two out in the fourth, Zimmermann retired 11 straight until Emilio Bonifacio walked with one out in the eighth.

”I had four pitches working and when I have that going, it’s usually a fun night to be out there,” he said. ”And the offense got some runs early and allowed me to settle in.”

Ian Desmond hit his 18th home run as the Nationals won their fifth in a row, all on the road. The Nationals have won 11 of 15 overall while the Royals have been staggering.

”He has four above-average pitches and everything he throws dives into lefties,” K.C.’s Eric Hosmer said of Zimmermann. ”I can see why he’s so tough to hit.”

The victory tied Zimmermann with Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals for the NL lead in wins.

”He had a tremendous slider, pitched with conviction and kept his fastball down,” Yost said. ”He had us off balance all night.”

Wade Davis (6-10) allowed seven runs and eight hits in six innings, including Desmond’s two-run home run in the sixth. He walked three and struck out four.

The Nationals, who scored seven runs in the fourth inning of a come-from-behind 11-10 victory on Friday, scored four in the same inning against Davis.

Ryan Zimmerman walked leading off and sped to third on a single by Bryce Harper, who had an RBI single in the first.

Wilson Ramos hit a sacrifice fly, Tyler Moore delivered an RBI double and Chad Tracy brought in two more runs with a bloop single.

”We’re putting good at-bats together, seeing the ball well, pitching well, playing good defense,” Desmond said. ”It’s just been a matter of time. We’re starting to get hot. Guys are starting to see the ball better.”

The Royals bunched three singles off Zimmermann in the third, including Hosmer’s run-scoring hit into left-center.

Fernando Abad relieved Zimmermann with two out and one on in the eighth and allowed an RBI single to Mike Moustakas before David Lough struck out with the bases loaded to end the inning.

With the victory, the Nationals guaranteed a winning interleague record for the third straight season.

— Associated Press —

Jayson Werth hit a two-run homer, Bryce Harper drove in three runs and the Washington Nationals rallied from a six-run hole before holding off the Kansas City Royals for an 11-10 victory Friday night.

Harper also made a terrific catch in the ninth for Washington, which scored seven times in the fourth inning of its fourth consecutive win. Ian Desmond had a pair of hits during the outburst.

Denard Span, Ryan Zimmerman, Tyler Moore and Anthony Rendon also had RBIs as the Nationals piled up 11 runs for the second time in three games – they beat the Cubs 11-6 on Tuesday night.

Just like in that one, Tyler Roark (4-0) came in to spell some sloppy starting pitching for the Nationals. He earned the win by allowing one hit and one walk in 4 2-3 innings.

Bruce Chen (5-2) was tagged for the second straight time for Kansas City. He allowed seven runs and six hits with five walks in 3 2-3 innings in his shortest outing of the year.

The Royals trailed 11-8 heading to the ninth, but Alex Gordon walked and Eric Hosmer doubled before Billy Butler’s RBI single. Justin Maxwell added a two-run single to make it 11-10, but closer Rafael Soriano induced a pair of fly balls to end the game.

The first flyout came on a dramatic sliding catch by Harper in right on a blooper by Emilio Bonifacio. The second came on the first pitch to Alcides Escobar, giving Soriano is 33rd save.

Hosmer and Maxwell each homered and drove in three runs for the Royals, who have lost six straight. Salvador Perez drove in a pair of runs, and Gordon added three hits.

Royals manager Ned Yost convened a closed-door meeting before the game in the hopes of igniting an offense that scored five runs in a three-game sweep against the last-place White Sox.

It looks as if the message worked.

Gordon hit a leadoff double in the first and Hosmer followed with a drive to left, quickly staking Kansas City to a 2-0 lead. Maxwell added a solo shot later in the inning.

The Royals kept battering Gio Gonzalez in the second. Jamey Carroll got his first hit in 17 at-bats since arriving in a trade from Minnesota. Gordon hit an RBI double, Hosmer drove in a run with a single, and Butler’s run-scoring base hit made it 6-0.

Then the Nationals started their comeback.

Denard Span’s triple in the third scored their first run. In a preview of the trouble to come, Chen loaded the bases before escaping the inning on Werth’s fly ball to center.

Chen’s nightmare finally came to pass in the fourth inning, when the veteran left-hander served up three singles to the first four batters he faced. Rendon’s sacrifice fly scored the first of what would turn into seven runs for Washington in the inning.

Span’s two-out walk loaded the bases, and Zimmerman walked to score a run. Harper’s double off the wall in center cleared the bases and tied it at 6, forcing Yost to trundle to the mound for a pitching change. Werth greeted Louis Coleman with his two-run homer.

The Royals cut the lead to 8-7 in the bottom half on Perez’s base hit, but the Nationals piled on three more runs in the seventh inning.

The first came on Moore’s RBI single, and the final two runs scored when second baseman Chris Getz threw the ball away trying to make a play at home – a fitting way to cap what turned out to be a circus-like night for the Kansas City defense.

— Associated Press —

Conor Gillaspie homered leading off the 12th inning Thursday night, lifting the Chicago White Sox to a 4-3 victory over the Royals and their first three-game sweep in Kansas City since 2005.

Gillaspie drove the second pitch he got from Luke Hochevar (3-2) just over the outstretched glove of right fielder Justin Maxwell for his 11th homer.

The tiebreaking shot came after Jacob Petricka made his major league debut in the 11th inning for the White Sox, inheriting runners on first and second with nobody out. Petricka calmly got Salvador Perez to ground into a double play to end the inning.

Addison Reed preserved Chicago’s sixth straight win, and the first of Petricka’s career, when the he left the tying run on second base for his 34th save.

Reed walked Billy Butler to start the 12th, and pinch runner Jarrod Dyson swiped second base with nobody out. Reed recovered to strike out pinch hitter David Lough, got Chris Getz to line out to shortstop, and then retired Emilio Bonifacio on a lazy fly ball to end the game.

It was the fifth straight loss for Kansas City, and the eighth in 10 games overall.

Emilio Bonifacio, Alcides Escobar and Jamey Carroll each drove in a run for the Royals in the fifth inning. Alexei Ramirez, Dayan Viciedo and Josh Phegley had RBIs for the White Sox.

Early on, James Shields and Carlos Quintana were engaged in quite a pitching duel.

Shields worked around a pair of singles in the first, and then retired 10 straight White Sox batters before Avisail Garcia singled to lead off the fifth.

Quintana set down the first nine Royals he faced in the game, including four strikeouts in the first two innings. His run ended with a leadoff single by Alex Gordon in the fourth.

The Royals finally broke through in the fifth inning in very Royals-esque fashion.

The light-hitting club managed to load the bases on a walk by Billy Butler and back-to-back singles by Maxwell and Mike Moustakas. Bonifacio followed with an RBI single, and Escobar and Carroll added back-to-back sacrifice flies to give the Royals a 3-0 lead.

Yep, three runs on a walk, three singles and two sacrifice flies.

The White Sox got two of the runs back in the sixth. The first came home on a one-out single by Ramirez, and the second on a blooper to center by Viciedo that fell just beyond the outstretched glove of Escobar retreating from shortstop and just in front of center fielder Dyson.

Phegley’s double off first base and into right field tied it in the seventh.

Shields and Quintana were both done after seven innings. Shields allowed nine hits and struck out eight without a walk, while Quintana allowed four hits with seven strikeouts and one walk.

The White Sox nearly pulled ahead off Royals closer Greg Holland in the ninth.

Phegley reached second when a sharp grounder got past Moustakas at third base and into left field with two outs. Danks then ripped a pitch right off Holland, but Perez leaped out from behind the plate, grabbed the ball and threw a strike to first to end the inning.

— Associated Press —