Royals fall 5-3 in remarkably predictable game

Five innings of solid baseball is a pretty good effort for Dillon Gee. Six may be a stretch. So it goes as the Royals fell 5-3 to the Minnesota Twins Saturday night.

Gee was in the middle of one of his best games of the season, but couldn't finish the sixth while giving up three runs in the inning. Two runs in five innings would have been superlative, by Kansas City's contemporary standards of starting pitching, but a sixth it must be for all starters.

Gee gave up three runs, a two-run home run to Rosario and a solo shot to Dozier. He had started to lose some effectiveness in the fifth, giving up a home run to Robbie Grossman to give the Twins a 2-1 lead. The sixth was more of that and worse.

For the Royals part, they struggled against Tyler Duffey, whose era is now 5.71 after the close of today's game. Alex Gordon recorded two hits, and Cheslor Cuthbert hit his tenth home run of the season. Missed opportunities and ungood starting pitching will not win you many games.

Tomorrow, Kansas City looks to take the series, as Edinson Volquez (8-10, 5.03 ERA) will face off against Hector Santiago (10-6, 4.47).