Minneapolis ? Zack Greinke was hit hard again, and the Kansas City Royals never recovered from their first-inning deficit in a 7-3 loss to Kevin Slowey and the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.

It was 13 up and 13 down for the Royals to start against Slowey (7-3), who surrendered two sharp singles in the fifth before center fielder Denard Span finished the inning with a long sprint to catch Mitch Maier’s drive at the wall to preserve a 5-0 lead.

Jason Kubel homered and hit a two-run double in the first inning to give the Twins a 3-0 lead, and Span added to it with a two-run single in the fourth. Matt Guerrier got the last out for the save after right fielder Michael Cuddyer dropped a routine fly ball, and Jose Mijares gave up two unearned runs.

Greinke’s ERA surpassed 4 for the first time this season, up from a league-leading 2.16 last year and the highest it’s been since Aug. 9, 2008. Greinke (1-8) needed 102 pitches to get through five innings, allowing nine hits and six runs.

The Royals fell 101/2 games behind the first-place Twins.