Allen (8-5) took the loss in the second game of Monday's doubleheader against the Royals, coughing up five runs on eight hits and four walks over five innings. He struck out one.

Called up to make a spot start in the twin bill, Allen tossed only 43 of 76 pitches for strikes, and when he did get the ball over the plate, Kansas City hitters tended to hit it hard -- four of the eight hits off the southpaw went for extra bases, including solo homers by Paul DeJong in the second inning and Salvador Perez in the fifth. The Guardians are still looking for a reliable fifth starter with Alex Cobb (finger) sidelined, but Allen doesn't appear to be a solution given his 5.73 ERA, 1.58 WHIP and 2.03 HR/9 over 97.1 big-league innings this season.