In an already frustrating season, the amount of free passes the Kansas City Royals have issued is hindering development. Not only are they giving opponents easy chances to score they are taking the defense (and viewers) out of the game.
One example from Sunday’s series finale against the Twins, Heath Fillmyer entered the 7th inning and promptly retired first two hitters. What followed next was four walks and one hit that gave the Minnesota Twins two more runs to add to their four-run lead. The game had already taken 3 1/2 hours to get to bottom of the 7th.