Royals drop series finale to Twins 8-5 as defense breaks down

On Monday evening, after their seventh victory in seven games, the Royals exited Target Field into the cool April air of the Twin Cities without a blemish on their season.

They stood alone at the top of the American League Central. The first week only solidified their belief that this club possesses more talent than the version that reached the World Series last season.

The subsequent days bruised their roster, record and defensive reputation. The roster suffered the loss of Alex Rios, who probably will miss a month after breaking a bone in his left hand. The record suffered a pair of defeats to the lowly Twins. And their reputation suffered a blow wrought by the rare problematic fielding effort in Thursday’s 8-5 loss.

The Twins benefited from Jason Vargas’ shakiness, the inexperience of Jarrod Dyson in right field and a rare bad throw by third baseman Mike Moustakas.

“They’re all tough plays,” manager Ned Yost said. “But they are the plays that we make.”

Vargas lasted only three innings, his briefest start since 2011. He allowed 10 hits, giving up double-digit knocks for the 10th time since 2013, as he fell to 1-1 with a 6.00 ERA. Salting the wound, Chris Young gave up a two-run home run to catcher Kurt Suzuki after three innings of stellar relief. Ryan Madson gave up an additional run in the eighth, which negated the team’s two-run rally in the ninth.

For the Royals, 7-2, a club that prides itself on defensive efficiency, any gaffe is surprising. A series of them in the same inning is stunning. That was the third inning on Thursday, as the Royals frittered away a lead they would never reclaim.

The sequence began when Danny Santana laid down a leadoff bunt. The offense had just handed Vargas a one-run lead. He fumbled the ball as he tried to field it and ignored Moustakas’ approach.

“It’s probably an easier play for Moose to make,” Vargas said. “I saw him out of the corner of my eye at the last second. I was already going down for the ball. Just went to grab it, and it went off the tip of the glove, and I wasn’t able to keep a handle on it.”

The next batter was Torii Hunter. Vargas spotted a fastball on the outside corner, and Hunter chased. He uncorked a fly ball that drifted toward the right-field line. “The ball had a lot of sink to it,” Yost said. “And the bottom fell out of it, right there at the end.”

In right field, Dyson took a step backward before charging to his left. It was only his third appearance in the majors as a right fielder. The team has asked Dyson, along with rookie Paulo Orlando, to handle Rios’ position in his absence. The club deviated from its defensive alignment of last season, when Dyson played center and Lorenzo Cain played right, because they felt Dyson could handle the nuances of a new position.

Thursday raised doubt. Dyson slowed as he approached the line. The baseball dropped in front of him. It bounced into the stands for a ground-rule double.

“I was just trying to get behind it, and it just died on me,” Dyson said. “It’s just one things, getting used to right field, feeling how the ball tails to the line, things like that. I don’t have much experience out there. But with a little bit more experience, I’ll be comfortable out there.”

The Twins tied the game when their next batter, Joe Mauer, hit an RBI groundout. Vargas walked second baseman Brian Dozier, adding another runner to his ledger. Two batters later, Trevor Plouffe chopped a grounder to Moustakas. The throw skipped before it reached first base. Eric Hosmer swooped to pick the ball out of the dirt but could not. Hunter hustled homeward to give Minnesota the lead.

Dyson failed to field another ball in the fourth, but this one proved moot. He dropped a liner hit at him, but a run probably would have scored on a sacrifice fly. Vargas yielded hits to the four batters he faced in the fourth, before manager Ned Yost removed him. Jason Frasor managed to wiggle free from the bases-loaded, no-out jam without giving up another run.

Earlier, three batters into the game, Twins starter Tommy Milone tested Cain with a 3-1, 87-mph fastball at the waist. Cain passed the examination. He laced a two-run homer down the left-field line.

It was his second homer of the season. In 133 games last season, Cain swatted five. Vargas could not hold the lead. Kennys Vargas, a budding Twins slugger, managed to lift an inside fastball over the left-field fence and tie the game.

Salvador Perez hit an RBI double that gave the Royals another one-run advantage in the third. Then came the defensive disaster, relative as it was, that put them behind.

“They were able to basically just bleed us out,” Vargas said. “Keep pressure on, keep putting singles on the board. We just weren’t able to stop the bleeding.”

To reach Andy McCullough, call 816-234-4730 or send email to rmccullough@kcstar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @McCulloughStar. Download True Blue, The Star’s free Royals app, here.

This story was originally published April 16, 2015 at 3:13 PM with the headline "Royals drop series finale to Twins 8-5 as defense breaks down."