Kimbrel (1-4) took the loss after allowing five runs, four earned, on five hits and a walk while striking out one over one inning Monday against the Diamondbacks.
Kimbrel entered a scoreless game in the 10th and couldn't contain Arizona after beginning the inning with the automatic runner at second. Lars Nootbaar's sacrifice fly broke the tie, and the Diamondbacks eventually pushed across five runs in the frame. Kimbrel finished the inning, but the Royals couldn't respond in the bottom of the frame, so Kimbrel was tagged with his fourth loss of the season. He also saw his ERA climb to 4.53 with the rough outing. Despite the subpar outing, don't be surprised if Kimbrel gets more ninth-inning opportunities -- the Royals are employing a committee-based approach in the absence of Carlos Estevez (shoulder), and Kimbrel is one of the options to close out games alongside Steven Cruz and Nate Pearson.