Royals Writer Expresses Concern Over Team's Upcoming Schedule

The Kansas City Royals have cooled off a bit after a major surge turned around their season. They started 8-14 but went on a 17-4 run to get back into contention.

While they still are tied for the third American League Wild Card spot, they have now lost four games in a row and own a 25-22 record.

Prior to Saturday's 1-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, the Royals placed pitchers Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo on the 15-day injured list. How long they'll be out isn't immediately clear.

However, Mike Gillespie of Kings of Kauffman expressed concern over the Royals tough schedule with two of their aces on the shelf.

"The challenge includes Sunday's series finale against the Cardinals, whose Saturday evening victory moved them within a game of the National League Central-leading Cubs. A three-game road series with the Giants, who entered Saturday tied for an NL Wild Card spot, begins Monday and ends Wednesday before KC travels to Minnesota for a trio of weekend games against the hottest-in-baseball Twins," Gillespie writes.

It's going to be a tough road ahead for the Royals, who will make their first attempt at stopping their four-game losing streak on Sunday. Without Lugo and Ragans, the road gets even tougher.

Fortunately, they have Kris Bubic leading the rotation, as well as Michael Wacha, but they are still going to miss having their other two aces available.

It will be interesting to see how Kansas City navigates its tough schedule in the coming weeks.

More MLB: Royals Place Pair Of Aces On Injured List