54 Ervin Santana, SP

Royals starting pitcher Ervin Santana allowed two earned runs on four hits and three walks in seven innings Saturday against the A's, but it wasn't enough to avoid his third loss. He struck out five in the 2-1 A's win.

Santana has gone at least six innings in each of his eight starts this year while compiling a 2.77 ERA. He'll face his former team, the Angels, Thursday.

Royals pitcher Ervin Santana had a hard time keeping the ball in the park as he suffered his second loss of the season during Sunday's series finale against the Yankees.

Santana (3-2) allowed a two-run home run to Robinson Cano and a solo shot to Vernon Wells in the third. He was charged with four runs and eight hits over 6 1/3 innings in a 4-2 loss. He struck out four and did not issue a walk in 102 pitches, 71 for strikes.

Santana has allowed seven runs over his last 12 1/3 innings with four strike outs and a walk over that span. The right-hander is scheduled to start Saturday at Oakland. He is 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA in his last three starts at O.co Coliseum.

Royals starting pitcher Ervin Santana turned in another decent performance but did not factor into the decision Tuesday night against the Orioles.

Santana, who made his sixth start of the season, surrendered a run-scoring single to Adam Jones and a two-run double to Matt Wieters in the opening frame for his only damage of the night. The right-hander was charged with three runs and seven hits over six innings of work in a 4-3 defeat.

Santana has allowed just five runs over his last 20 innings of work. He has not lost a decision since his season debut April 3. The 30-year-old veteran is scheduled to start Sunday at home against the Yankees. He went 0-1 and allowed 10 runs over 11 innings of work in two starts last season against New York as a member of the Angels.