The Royals lost for the sixth straight time as Gil Meche was unable to get out of the fifth inning as the Baltimore Orioles won  9-5 in front of 24,431 fans watched at Kauffman Stadium. The six losses come after the Royals rode a six game winning streak. 

The good news is the American League Central is now in a virtual three way tie with Detroit  (17-16), and Royals and Minnesota Twins (both 18-17).

Royals starter Gil Meche gave up five runs as he took his fourth loss. His back wasn’t the issue, just control problems.  Meche gave up a solo home run to Aubrey Huff in the 4 th inning, the this season, but the next inning really struggled.   He gave up a walk and three hits, including Cesar Izturis’ two-run triple and Nick Markakis’ RBI double.

The Royals got three RBIs from Billy Butler, who hit his third homer and had a two-run single with the bases loaded to bring the Royals back to 5-4, but relief pitcher Robinson Tejada gave up three runs in the 6 th to allow the Orioles to put the game out of reach.    

The Royals have their best shot of ending their drought when they send Zack Greinke to the mound for Friday night’s game.