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Royals hope to avoid 11th straight loss

May 29, 2008 - 1:30 PM MINNESOTA (26-25) at KANSAS CITY (21-31) 8:10 p.m. EDT

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- The Kansas City Royals will attempt to snap a 10-game slide when they host the Minnesota Twins Friday in the finale of a three-game series.

Just when it looked like the Royals were about to snap out of their funk, they found a new and excruciating way to lose on Wednesday.

Leading 8-3 going into the ninth inning, Ramon Ramirez retired the first batter before yielding a single to Jason Kubel. Ramirez struck out Delmon Young and unleashed a wild pitch to send Kubel to second before Mike Lamb's single plated the first run of the frame.

Brendan Harris and Carlos Gomez followed with back-to-back singles to score another run. Kansas City then brought in Joel Peralta to face pinch-hitter Craig Monroe, who blasted a line drive over the wall in left field to knot the score at 8-8.

Justin Morneau completed the improbable victory with a solo blast in the tenth.

It was the second straight extra-innings loss for the Royals, prompting some candid responses inside the clubhouse.

"These guys have to be smart and know how to get the job done," said a frustrated Jose Guillen. "There're too many guys that don't know how to hit and they've given up and they don't care. We have too many babies in here that don't know how to play the game. We're going to teach them the hard way or we're going to teach them the easy way. It's going to change, I'll tell you that. I can promise you that. It's going to change - soon."

Rookie Luke Hochevar (3-4, 4.54 ERA) will try to pitch Kansas City to a win on Thursday. The righthander has lost is last two starts, allowing 12 runs - eight earned - in 12 total innings.

The Twins will counter with righthander Kevin Slowey (1-4, 4.21). The 24-year-old picked up his first win of the season Friday, surrendering four hits in six scoreless frames at Detroit.