MINNEAPOLIS -- Weakly hit balls were finding holes and falling in against starter Martin Pérez. The normally sturdy defense made three misplays. And the Major League’s best offense couldn’t buy a timely hit.

Sometimes, the ball just doesn’t fall your way -- and the Twins saw that magnified in all three elements of the game during their 8-6 loss to the Royals on Sunday afternoon at Target Field.

“We’re frustrated that we lost the game, but I don’t think we’re frustrated with the way that we swung the bats or the types of at-bats that we had today,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “The results are what they are, but they come from swinging at good pitches, barreling up balls. We did some of these things today. It just didn’t play out the way we hoped it would.”

• Box score

The Twins allowed four unearned runs -- all from the seventh inning on -- and stranded a season-high 15 runners on base, but they still had their chances to tie and even win the game in the late innings, a continued reflection of the fight and resilience that have defined this team’s play and mentality in the first half of this season.

“We played good,” Miguel Sano said. “We win. We lose. That's part of the game. Sometimes, we're going to win. Sometimes, we're not. But the biggest thing is that we're in first place. We can lose one game if we're going to win five, seven games.”

Here are three takeaways from the near-miss loss in the Father’s Day finale.

Offense can’t find key hit

Even after the Royals scratched across three early runs and took advantage of some defensive miscues to add five late insurance runs, the Twins continued to generate scoring opportunities.

Minnesota loaded the bases in the fourth, seventh and eighth innings, and it had a runner in scoring position in the third and sixth -- but couldn’t get a timely hit, starting the game 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position through the first seven frames before Nelson Cruz’s two-run double in the eighth.

The Twins mounted one last rally in the ninth after Jonathan Schoop’s single and Max Kepler’s RBI double -- his 100th career two-bagger and fourth hit of the game -- but Cruz struck out to end the game, with the potential tying run stranded on first base.

But whether it was a six-pitch strikeout by Schoop, a nine-pitch strikeout by Ehire Adrianza, a seven-pitch walk by Jorge Polanco or simply swinging at good pitches, Baldelli was still satisfied with the process and the at-bats despite the lack of results.

“It’s obviously not the way we draw it up, but we continued to get guys on base, which is the first battle,” Baldelli said. “We weren’t able to bring enough of them in. That happens. I think the at-bats were actually great in general. I think we forced their pitchers to make a lot of good pitches.”

Weak contact

Perez was aggressive and efficient, striking out seven and issuing only one walk -- his fewest since April 26 -- while throwing a season-high 72 strikes among his 105 pitches in 6 2/3 innings.

But it took the lefty three innings to fully find his rhythm, and while he was feeling a little too slow on the mound in the second inning, he fell victim to several weakly hit balls in a three-run rally during which the Royals took advantage of singles hit at 74.6 mph, 68.8 mph and 79.2 mph.

“I don’t start to throw hard in the first innings,” Perez said. “I’m trying to find my location, and then I throw hard and use it. You guys know that I can throw 96, 95. So I’m just trying to locate my pitches, and in the second inning, they don’t hit the ball too hard. And that’s the game. Just going to continue to do my job and compete.”

Perez was otherwise dominant, retiring 14 hitters in a row after the Kansas City rally while striking out seven for the second consecutive start. He relied more heavily on his changeup and cutter to supplement a sinker that generated eight swings and misses.

“I got my rhythm back,” Perez said. “I was able to throw, stay in the game and give us a chance to win. After that, I think I was good and was using all my pitches and trying to get back to a rhythm and pitch my game."

Defensive miscues

The Twins already had a three-error game against the Royals and a five-error game against the Mariners on the homestand entering Sunday’s game, and their lack of results on the pitching and hitting side weren’t helped by another difficult game in the field.

“Nothing really came easy today,” Baldelli said. “Again, it was not our sharpest effort. If you look at each one of those plays, they’re plays we want to make and we have to make going forward, but they’re not the easiest of plays.”

A line-drive hit to left by Martin Maldonado in the seventh inning wasn’t ruled an error, but the ball did hit off the glove of Eddie Rosario. That single and a fielding error by Sano later in the inning led to two Kansas City runs.

Though the Twins got a run back in the bottom of the seventh, their momentum was halted in the top of the eighth by another miscue, when pitcher Mike Morin missed first base with his foot as he went to the bag on a grounder to the right side. That led to three runs in the frame -- all unearned.

“We’ve made those plays all year long,” Baldelli said. “I think we’ll be fine making those plays going forward.”