Source: Kansas City Star

The breaking point for the Royals with struggling left-hander Jonathan Sánchez remains, apparently, far down the road despite another wretched outing Saturday in a 7-2 loss to Minnesota in the first game of a day/night doubleheader.

That was just the start to a miserable day.

Luke Hochevar surrendered three early homers in a 5-1 loss in the second game, when the Royals mustered little resistance against Twins rookie Cole De Vries. And, no, there's no blaming Sánchez for that — unless it was for setting a depressing tone.

Really, there was plenty of mea culpas to go around.

"Obviously, that was a (horrible) performance," right fielder Jeff Francoeur said. "The first game we were dead, and it carried over to the second game. We're a much better hitting team than what we did today.

"It's very disappointing. It's probably the most disappointing day of the year."

It started with another hard-to-watch performance from Sánchez, whose ERA ballooned to 6.80 after allowing six runs on 10 hits and six walks in just 41/3 innings in the opener.

Even so, manager Ned Yost said he wasn't ready to consider alternatives.

"He's still battling with his command," Yost admitted. "He was better in spurts. Because his command is off a little bit, he doesn't get borderline pitches, which end up (hurting him).

"There were pitches he could have got that would have helped him, but he doesn't get those. That plays a part in it."

True enough. But if you're, say, star-struck by Angelina Jolie, you might be hurt, too, that you're not getting calls from her. Point is, Sánchez is giving the Royals scant chance of winning when he starts, which is something even he seems to realize.

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