The Kansas City Royals couldn’t manage enough offense as they fell 3-2 to the Los Angeles Angels tonight. It was an odd looking box score as Kansas City only managed two hits while committing three errors. It was a sloppy, dispiriting performance overall. Let’s hit the highlights:

Stephen Kolek didn’t hide anything from the Angels, using essentially his entire arsenal from the jump — he threw six different pitch types in the first two innings alone. He wasn’t at his sharpest tonight and had some self-inflicted wounds, but he managed to gut out six innings.

The Royals were very aggressive early on against Yusei Kikuchi. The gambit did not work — Kikuchi didn’t allow a baserunner the first time through the order and, thanks to a preponderance of early count outs, he only needed 30 pitches to do so.

Luis Rengifo recorded the game’s first hit with a soft liner into right field in the second inning. When Rengifo made the turn at first, Jac Caglianone had a chance to throw him out at second, but he double-clutched the throw. The next two at-bats: a single off the end of Christian Moore’s bat and a hit-and-run 6-3 that scored Rengifo. Moore should have scored later in the inning when Caglianone dropped a shallow popup, but he seemingly forgot how many outs there were and stayed at second base. The Angels got another run in the third when Taylor Ward crushed a hanging slider from Kolek out to left-center for a homer.

Kikuchi’s perfect game bid ended when Moore booted a Bobby Witt Jr. grounder. Witt would move to second on a wild pitch but was stranded there.

The fourth was ugly for Kolek and the Royals. Oswald Peraza singled on a soft liner with one out and stole second base. Old friend Sebastián Rivero then bounced one right back to Kolek. The pitcher snagged it and turned towards second base — Peraza was well off the bag. But Kolek rushed the throw and slung it into center field. Peraza scored, giving the Angels a 3-0 lead, while Rivero reached first. A walk and a Jonathan India throwing error later, the Angels had the bases loaded. Kolek miraculously escaped, throwing a dead center sinker to Ward and getting a slick 6-4-3 double play out of it.

Leading off the fifth, Randal Grichuk ended Kikuchi’s no-hitter and shutout on one swing. Kikuchi threw a backdoor slider and Grichuk poked it out to center, just barely clearing the wall and Bryce Teodosio’s outstretched glove.

The Royals soon caught a break. Kikuchi came out to warm up ahead of the sixth inning having thrown just 66 pitches. He felt something in his arm during warm-ups and the trainer came out for a visit. Ultimately he was removed from the game.

Matt Quatraro started emptying the bench in the seventh to great effect. With one out and Chase Silseth on the mound, Mike Yastrzemski hit for Grichuk. He was plunked. After a grounder moved him to second, Carter Jensen pinch-hit for Luke Maile. Jensen smoked a liner into the right-center gap for a single that scored Yastrzemski, making the score 3-2. That was the second and final hit by a Royal in this game.

Adam Frazier pinch hit to lead off the eighth and battled through ten pitches to draw a walk. That was the last baserunner for Kansas City. Frazier was promptly erased on a double play. The next four batters were set down in order, with Kenley Jansen pitching a perfect ninth to lock down the save.

The loss drops Kansas City to 79-79. They have a chance to win the series, and top my preseason win prediction, tomorrow night in the rubber match in Anaheim.

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Stephen Kolek: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 HR

Yusei Kikuchi: 5.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 HR

Randal Grichuk: 1-2, HR, R, RBI

Taylor Ward: 1-4, HR, R, RBI