Royals lose eighth straight, 6-4

Ugh.

The Twins beat the Royals, 6-4. Ian Kennedy pitched well. The offense did just enough. And then the eighth inning happened.

In the second inning, facing “Cy” Kyle Gibson, Eric Hosmer led off the frame with a walk. Then, Salvador Perez hit his sixth home run to give the Royals a 2-0 lead.

In the third, the $200 million man picked up his sixth RBI of the year by shooting a two-out single back up the middle to plate Whit Merrifield.

Ian Kennedy retired the first nine Twins before allowing a two-run bomb to Miguel Sano in the fourth. Kennedy scored his first win of the season; he is now 1-2. Because Ned Yost had a fully rested bullpen, he had an uncharacteristic quick hook on Kennedy, yanking him after 100 pitches with one out and one on in the sixth inning. Peter Moylan and Matt Strahm each got one out to close out the frame, allowing Kennedy to finish his night with just two runs allowed.

In the seventh, Brandon Moss provided some insurance by blasting his fourth homer of the season. He clobbered a hanging breaking ball onto the Pepsi Porch in right field.

Straham pitched the seventh inning as well. It was his first high-leverage situation since he was called back up from Omaha last week.

Oh yeah, the eighth. Joakim Soria entered. Whit Merrfield made an error to put the leadoff man on. Then a walk. Then a strikeout. Then Jorge Bonifacio dropped a line drive that he lost in the lights to load the bases.

Then the home plate umpire got hit with a foul tip and had to leave the game. The delay took about seven minutes, because the crew chief, who was umpiring at a different location, had to put gear on. On the first pitch after the layoff, Sano blasted a two-run double off the wall, missing a grand slam by inches. This tied the game at four.

Joe Mauer, the Panera Bread of baseball, then roped a boring double into right field, because all Joe Mauer does is get boring hits that murder the Royals. Two runs scored. 6-4. Ballgame.

Here’s an update on your batting averages: Alcides Escobar is hitting .167. Brandon Moss is hitting .143. Alex “$72 million man” Gordon is hitting .181. Eric Hosmer is hitting .224. Whit Merrifield is hitting .233. Nobody on the team with more than five games played is hitting better than .276.

Somebody named Cameron Breslow earned the win. Soria took the L; he is 1-1.

The Royals, who were 9-1 against the Twins at Kauffman Stadium last year, are now 0-4 against Minnesota this season. They have lost eight games in a row. They are 8-14, eight gams under .500 for the first time since June 2013.

Should a game be played tomorrow, the pitching matchup will be Jason Hammel and Phil Hughes. A rainout might be nice.