Gil Meche showed no signs of a &ldquo;dead arm&rdquo; Wednesday afternoon against the Minnesota Twins. The problem was, and remains, all of those dead bats.</p><p>Throw in another ill-timed defensive blooper and a leaky bullpen and the Royals were left with a 5-1 loss at Kauffman Stadium that served to waste another solid performance from the rotation.</p><p> &ldquo;If I had any answers,&rdquo; right fielder Willie Bloomquist said, &ldquo;you wouldn&rsquo;t be asking me if I had any answers.&rdquo; </p><p> How about a few facts then?</p><p> Starting pitchers Luke Hochevar, Brian Bannister and Meche combined to limit the Twins to three earned runs over 20 innings in the series, and the Royals managed to win just one of the three games.</p><p> Meche quelled concerns regarding a possible arm problem by throwing 121 pitches in six innings. He permitted just two earned runs but came away with a third straight loss and dropped to 4-8.</p><p> &ldquo;It went well,&rdquo; Meche said. &ldquo;The (five) walks caught up to me in my pitch count. But even after five (innings) and 99 pitches, I felt great. But as a team, you get to a point where you want to start winning games. It&rsquo;s not (a matter) of how I pitch.&rdquo;</p><p> As usual, the Royals didn&rsquo;t lack scoring opportunities. They produced 10 hits in seven innings against Minnesota starter Glen Perkins, but three double-play grounders helped derail the attack.</p><p> &ldquo;It&rsquo;s the same song and dance,&rdquo; Bloomquist agreed. &ldquo;We get guys on base, but we&rsquo;re not getting them in. Guilty as charged. I&rsquo;ll point the finger at myself. I&rsquo;ve got to pick it up a little bit.&rdquo;</p><p> He&rsquo;s not alone, but it wasn&rsquo;t simply a matter of the Royals going one for seven with runners in scoring position or stranding nine runners. After all, Minnesota was two for 11 with RISP and left 13. </p><p> The difference is the Twins scored in the third inning when a two-out grounder went through the legs of second baseman Alberto Callaspo. They stirred for two more runs with two outs in the eighth against relievers Robinson Tejeda and John Bale when aided by three walks.</p><p> &ldquo;We had more hits,&rdquo; said first baseman Billy Butler, who contributed two singles and two doubles to a 12-hit attack. &ldquo;But the only column that counts is runs.&rdquo;</p><p> Actually, the only column that counts is wins, and the Royals have just 15 in their last 48 games. At 33-44, they have also matched a season worst in dropping 11 games under .500.</p><p> The Twins won despite losing three starters to injuries. Catcher Mike Redmond left the game in the fourth inning because of a bruised forearm when hit by a foul tip off the bat of Mitch Maier.</p><p> First baseman Justin Morneau and shortstop Nick Punto left midway through the seventh inning. Morneau had a tight left groin; Punto experienced stiffness in his lower back.</p><p> Still, it wasn&rsquo;t close.</p><p> Joe Mauer had three singles and two walks in pacing Minnesota&rsquo;s eight-hit attack. Mauer raised his average to .392. Michael Cuddyer had two RBIs, including one on a leadoff homer in the second inning that opened the scoring.</p><p> Butler&rsquo;s four hits matched a career high. Brayan Pe&ntilde;a and David DeJesus each had a pair of singles. Pe&ntilde;a started at catcher because Miguel Olivo served a one-game suspension for bumping umpire Phil Cuzzi in last Saturday&rsquo;s loss at Pittsburgh. </p><p> Perkins evened his record at 4-4 by winning for the third time in four decisions. R.A. Dickey and Joe Nathan closed out the victory, which enabled the Twins, 41-39, to reach two games over .500 for the first time this season.</p><p> Nathan entered after the Royals mounted a two-on, two-out threat in the ninth inning against Dickey. Nathan retired DeJesus for his 21st save in 23 chances.</p><p> Meche&rsquo;s performance provided a silver lining in that he resembled his old self after two rough performances, including that fatigue funk last Friday in Pittsburgh that prompted extra scrutiny.</p><p> &ldquo;Overall, I was pretty pleased,&rdquo; manager Trey Hillman said. &ldquo;He wasn&rsquo;t very efficient, and he ran into a lot of deep counts. But as far as stuff, the ball getting out of his hand, velocity, I was very pleased.&rdquo;</p><p> About Meche. Not much else.</p><p><strong><span class="infobox-head">Next up: White Sox </span></strong><br /> <strong>&bull;TONIGHT:</strong> Chicago at KC, 7:10</p><p><strong>&bull;TV:</strong> FSKCHD