KC Royals: Did Mike Matheny make the wrong decision?

(Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)

Did KC Royals manager Mike Matheny make a bad call with the game on the line?

Just 18 days ago, Nicky Lopez raised his batting average to .304 with two hits against Tampa Bay. But April 20 must seem eons ago for the KC Royals’ shortstop.

Since then, and including his 0-for-4 performance in the club’s 3-0 loss to the White Sox Friday night, Lopez is hitting .076, the product of the two singles and triple, and nothing else, he’s managed in 15 games. That uncharacteristic .304 average now sits precariously on the edge of Mendoza at an even .200.

The worst moment of Lopez’s current slump, which now incudes 12 hitless games, has to be the tense one he faced in the…