The Royals offense has dried up—dramatically. In Monday’s 17-8 win over the Yankees, the Royals scored 10 runs off seven hits in the fifth inning alone. In their last two games, the Royals have managed no runs off seven hits combined. Kansas City lost to New York 3-0 on Wednesday and had just three hits. Javier Vazquez gave up the three hits in seven innings of work to get his 14th win. Royals’ starter Darrell May gave up three runs off six hits and three walks to earn his 18th loss of the season. May leads the majors in losses and is just one away from tying the team record of 19, set by Paul Splittorff in 1974. He has two more starts and will try to avoid a 20-loss season. The Tigers’ Mike Maroth lost 21 games last season to become the first pitcher to lose 20 or more since Brian Kingman did it with the A’s in 1980…. Outfielder/DH Matt Stairs will be back with the team in 2005. The Royals extended his contract for another year and he’ll make $1.2 million dollars next season, which is $200,000 more than this season. He’s hitting .266 with 15 homers and 60 RBI’s, which is second-best on the team in both categories.