The Kansas City Royals couldn’t have asked for a better situation.

In the seventh inning, the Royals loaded the bases against Cincinnati Reds relievers Ian Gibaut and Lucas Sims. The top of the lineup was lurking as Nick Pratto was due up and Salvador Perez stood on deck.

Facing an early deficit, the Royals had pulled within one run. This was KC’s best opportunity to surge ahead once again.

But the Royals came up empty.

Sims recorded two crucial strikeouts. Pratto was caught looking on a 94.3 mph fourseam fastball. Meanwhile, Perez went down swinging. The Reds avoided disaster en route to a 5-4 victory.

“When Sims came in, he shut us down,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “He’s got good stuff. He’s got high strikeout numbers and you can see why.”

The Royals dropped their eighth consecutive game. Jordan Lyles was tagged with another loss as he fell to 0-11 this season.

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Jordan Lyles rebounds from shaky start After a tough second inning in which he surrendered five runs, Lyles rebounded to retire the final 12 batters he faced.

Lyles gave up five runs in six innings of work. He allowed five hits, issued three walks and had four strikeouts. He did, however, settle in with the Royals down 5-1.

“We bounced back,” Lyles said. “Proud of grabbing a couple more innings afterwards. A couple of scoreless and a couple of quick ones. Can’t bring the whole lineup to the plate in the second.”

Lyles relied primarily on his fastball and sweeper. Both pitches combined for 22 swings and helped him generate contact in the strike zone. The fastball topped out at 92.8 mph and was effective against Reds top prospect Elly De La Cruz.

Lyles got De La Cruz twice on called strikes in the second and fifth inning.

“We weren’t landing both of my breaking balls tonight,” Lyles said. “So, I went back to ... (the) four-seam (fastball) upper plate. I got some good swings and quick outs.”

KC added a run in the second, then Bobby Witt Jr. hit his 11th home run in the third inning. The home run traveled 412 feet and had a 102.2 exit velocity.

But that was it for the scoring, as the Royals are now in danger of being swept for the third straight series.

With the loss, Lyles dropped to 0-11 this season. He matched Vida Blue for the most winless starts to begin a season in Royals history.

“No one likes losing,” Lyles said. “I would say from my perspective, individual loss means we lost as a team. We have been losing a lot when I have been out there. A majority of that is on my shoulders.”

Big Fly: Bobby Witt Jr. hits 11th HR Bobby Witt Jr. continued to showcase his increased power in recent weeks. Witt provided a key moment in the third inning as he hit his 11th home run of the season.

The blast cleared the center- field wall and closed the deficit to one run against the Reds.

The homer scored Nick Pratto, as the Royals nearly climbed out of an early deficit in the frame.

Witt said he attributes the home run to staying aggressive. He has now hit six homers off left-handed pitchers this season.

“I’m an aggressive hitter and I will always stay that way,” Witt said. “And so I just want to keep doing that and then if the pitches are there to hit, I’ll probably be swinging.”