The Kansas City Royals left the bases loaded early, and gave up the winning run on a wild pitch, as the Detroit Tigers scored the only run in Sunday’s 1-0 loss at Kauffman Stadium.

Zack McKinstry was the only run across the plate, advancing on a Kris Bubic wild pitch with one out in the third. McKinstry hit a line drive to right field for a leadoff triple to get in scoring position. Bubic allowed just four hits on the day with two walks and nine strikeouts across seven innings, but took the loss as the Royals offense failed to capitalize on their opportunities.  KC claimed nine hits and one walk, but stranded eight runners.

The Royals collected three singles with two outs in the first, but John Rave was called out on strikes, one of just two strikeouts that Keider Montero claimed on the day. Rave also also caught stealing in the third, while Drew Waters hit into a double play in the third. Chase Lee claimed the win, claiming a strikeout among his four outs without allowing any baserunners.

The loss has the Royals now a game behind Minnesota for the third wild card spot and eight games behind Detroit for the AL Central lead. The 31-29 Royals have the day off before venturing east for the second half of the I-70 Series. Michael Lorenzen is expected to get the start Tuesday night for the Royals at Busch Stadium, with first pitch at 6:45 p.m. Pregame on Tuesday evening will be at 6 p.m. on KMMO-FM 102.9.