<table> </table> Gil Meche was due for a clunker, probably, after going nine starts without a loss. And it figured to be the Texas Rangers doing the clunking.</p><p>It didn&#8217;t matter that the Rangers entered Monday&#8217;s game struggling every bit as much as the Royals. (Really. We&#8217;ll get to that.) All that mattered is they own Meche.</p><p>Fresh proof came in this 9-4 romp over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.</p><p>Meche gave up five runs in the first three innings, three coming a two-out homer by Nelson Cruz in a four-run third. Meche also allowed a career-high 14 hits before exiting with one out in the seventh.</p><p>&#8220;Just a bad day,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Not a whole lot to say. I left a lot of pitches hanging. I didn&#8217;t throw many good breaking balls. My fastball wasn&#8217;t good. At least I hung in there until the seventh.&#8221;</p><p>Meche, 10-10, gave up five runs for the first time since June 5 and suffered his first loss since July 2.</p><p>&#8220;You pitch well for so long,&#8221; he said, &#8220;so when you finally get to this point, you&#8217;re more aggravated (when this happens) than anything.&#8221;</p><p>It didn&#8217;t get any better after Meche exited. The Rangers got a homer from Chris Davis in a four-run eighth against Joel Peralta and Robinson Tejeda. They finished with 19 hits, including at least one from every starter in the lineup.</p><p>Milton Bradley went three for four with a sacrifice fly and had three RBIs, which boosted his season total to a career-high 68. He had 67 in 2004 for the Dodgers.</p><p>Texas starter Scott Feldman, 5-5, won for the first time since July 21 by limiting the Royals to three runs and eight hits in seven innings. Warner Madrigal worked a scoreless eighth before Josh Rupe allowed one run in the ninth.</p><p>It was the early blitz against Meche, though, that set the tone. Cruz&#8217;s homer stayed just fair down the right-field line and turned a 2-0 deficit into 5-0.</p><p>&#8220;The home run was probably one of the better pitches I threw all day,&#8221; Meche said. &#8220;Knee high on the corner, away. But on a day when my velocity wasn&#8217;t up&#8230;</p><p>&#8220;Normally I could get that pitch by him, but he put good wood on it, and wrapped it around the pole.&#8221;</p><p>The Royals fell to 56-75 by losing for the 15th time in 18 games. They are now three games worse than last season through 131 games and trail fourth-place Cleveland by 7&#189; games.</p><p>It&#8217;s not as if the Rangers came to Kauffman on a roll. They also had lost 14 of their last 17 before roughing up Meche and the Royals&#8217; bullpen.</p><p>Meche is 4-9 in 16 career games against the Rangers with a 6.32 ERA. The nine losses are his most against any opponent, and the ERA is his highest against any team in which he has made more than one start.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;d have to say it&#8217;s a coincidence because he&#8217;s a very good pitcher,&#8221; Texas manager Ron Washington said. &#8220;He showed that tonight, when he got in trouble, how he worked out of it.</p><p>&#8220;We got five runs off him, and we could&#8217;ve had 10 or 11. That&#8217;s what good pitchers do, they know how to stop (the) damage.&#8221;</p><p>Meche had never allowed more than 11 hits in any of his previous 209 big-league appearances.</p><p>&#8220;He left a few pitches up,&#8221; catcher John Buck said. &#8220;But even though Gil didn&#8217;t have his overpowering stuff, he kept us in the game and gave us a chance to win that ballgame. We just couldn&#8217;t get it rolling.&#8221;</p><p>The Royals finished with 11 hits. They got RBI singles from Alberto Callaspo, David DeJesus and Ross Gload. DeJesus had three hits, and his 58th RBI matched a career high set last season.