Twins defeat Royals 5-3 despite Cain's best efforts

Lorenzo Cain continued his hot streak, but it wasn't good enough, as the Kansas City Royals lost to the Minnesota Twins 5-3 on the 4th of July.

Cain went 2-for-3 with a double, walk, and two RBI to push his season triple slash to .309/.365/.467. Kendrys Morales recorded his 52nd RBI, most on the team and eighth in the American League. Morales is hitting .282/.343/.460 with ten home runs.

Joe Blanton pitched well for four innings, but it was the first inning that decided the game. He gave up a two-run home run to Joe Mauer and allowed another run to score on a fielder's choice after loading the bases. Blanton pitched five innings, yielding four runs on nine hits with no walks and four strikeouts.

Mike Pelfrey did not fair much better, lasting only four innings and loading the bases in the third and fifth. The Royals were only able to capitalize on the latter opportunity, knocking out Pelfrey, who pitched four innings giving up seven hits and three walks with three strikeouts, yielding three earned runs.

Brandon Finnegan gave up another run in the seventh, but otherwise the Royals bullpen stymied Minnesota, save for Joe Mauer, who went 4-for-4 on the evening with a home run and a double.

The bottom two-thirds of the Royals lineup went 4-for-23 with a walk and an RBI.

The Royals will try and split the series tomorrow afternoon, as Danny Duffy faces off against former Royal Ervin Santana, who is making his season debut following his suspension for performance enhancing drugs.