KANSAS CITY -- Five of Ian Kennedy's six innings were sharp, but his shaky third frame was the difference in the game.
Kennedy gave up five runs and four hits in the Royals' 6-3 loss to the Rangers on Monday night at Kauffman Stadium, with four runs coming in the third inning. After opening the third with a strikeout, Kennedy walked two and allowed a single before Adrian Beltre sent a first-pitch knuckle curve flying for a three-run homer.
"The pitch to Beltre was a mistake," manager Ned Yost said. "He got a curveball up and out over the middle of the plate there, and Beltre hit it out of the park. But outside of that, I just thought he was really, really good."
Kennedy allowed just two hits outside of that third inning, one of which was a Shin-Soo Choo leadoff homer. But the damage was done.
"One really bad inning," Kennedy said. "Cost us the game. One pitch, hung a curveball, that three-run homer's the big swing. I felt like I pitched better than the line, but it just doesn't matter when you make one bad pitch and it costs you the game."
It was the Royals' seventh loss in a row, and their 13th in 14 games.
Kennedy settled in after Beltre's blast, retiring 11 of the final 13 hitters he faced and striking out eight overall.
Wily Peralta made his Royals debut in relief after replacing Brian Flynn in the seventh. Peralta allowed one run and walked three in 1 1/3 innings.
Raul Mondesi's RBI double scored Abraham Almonte and Mondesi came home on a sac fly by Mike Moustakas. It was Mondesi's first start since being called up from Triple-A Omaha on Sunday.

Rosell Herrera, making his first start as a Royal, knocked in a run in the fourth with a triple to deep right field.
MOMENT THAT MATTERED
The Royals had something brewing in the fifth, when Alex Gordon walked, Moustakas singled and Salvador Perez got a hit to load the bases with one out. Hunter Dozier came up with the potential tying and go-ahead runs on first and second, but he grounded into an inning-ending double play on the second pitch.

SOUND SMART
Rangers starter Bartolo Colon is no stranger to the Mondesi family. When Adalberto stepped to the plate and hit his third-inning RBI double, he joined his father Raul -- who was 2-for-11 in his career against Colon -- in facing the veteran right-hander. They're the fourth father-son combo to step to the plate against Colon, who has pitched in the big leagues since 1997. More >

MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAY
Delino DeShields tried to advance to second in the seventh after a pitch in the dirt, but Gold Glove catcher Perez located the ball and made a perfect throw to Alcides Escobar for the out. The Rangers challenged, but the out call was confirmed.

During the review, DeShields was chatting it up with Royals infielders and missed the decision. Confused, he went back to second for a few seconds despite being called out. Once he realized the situation, he ran back to the dugout as Perez smiled and waved him off the field.

UP NEXT
Royals right-hander Jason Hammel (2-7, 4.89 ERA) will take the mound for the middle game of the series at 7:15 p.m. CT on Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium. Left-hander Cole Hamels (3-6, 3.69) will start for the Rangers. Hammel is 2-2 with a 2.56 ERA over his past five starts and he pitched 7 1/3 innings of two-run ball against the Reds on Wednesday.