Minneapolis ? The Minnesota Twins started this week with hopes of closing ground on the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central.

They had the lowly Kansas City Royals in town and the Tigers were at Fenway Park to play heavy-hitting Boston. But the week quickly turned into one of missed opportunities — on the field and in the division.

Gil Meche was victorious in his return from the disabled list and the Royals dealt the Twins a major setback in the AL Central with a 5-4, series-clinching victory Thursday.

Meche (5-9) gave up four runs on seven hits in five innings of his first start since July 11, and the Royals won their first series since a trip to Houston on June 23-25.

The Tigers lost three of four to the Red Sox, but after dropping two to the Royals, the Twins are right back where they started the week: five games back.

“When they’re losing, we need to win,” Justin Morneau said. “It’s a little frustrating when you go through that, when we have the chances and we don’t get it done.”

Joe Mauer had a double, a homer and four RBIs and Orlando Cabrera extended his career-high hitting streak to 22 games.

Willie Bloomquist had two RBIs, Alex Gordon hit his third homer and Joakim Soria pitched two innings for his 19th save. The Royals had not beaten an AL team in a series of at least three games since they took two of three in the Metrodome on May 1-3.