KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals are off to a slow start for the 2023 season.

A 6-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday marked the sixth loss of the year for the Royals out of their first seven games. Four of those losses have been shutouts.

The Royals’ pitching has been solid with a team ERA that ranks in the top 15 in the league. The hits have been hard to come by with Salvador Perez being the lone Royal starter with a batting average above .200.

In their first series of the year, the Royals were swept by the Minnesota Twins and only scored four runs in three games with all four runs coming in the last game of the series.

In the second series of the year against the Blue Jays, the Royals exploded with a 9-5 win to start the series where every starter but one recorded a hit and second-year player MJ Melendez hit the furthest home run of his young career.

The Royals lost the next three after that game.

Kansas City will be on the road for the next six games, three games each against the San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers, before coming back home to host the Atlanta Braves on April 14.