ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - By the time Kyle Davies settled down on the mound for the Kansas City Royals, it was already too late.

The Royals became the last major league team to lose a series this season after a 3-1 loss Saturday night against the Texas Rangers, who have taken the first two games of the three-game set.

Advertisement

``We've been playing great, and we played great tonight,' manager Net Yost said.

Except against the Rangers, they didn't take advantage of some early opportunities against Alexi Ogando (3-0) while Davies was throwing a ton of pitches.

Davies (1-2), who needed 79 pitches to get through the first three innings and only 33 over the next three, limited the Rangers to three runs and four hits over six innings. The right-hander has still never beaten them, now 0-5 with a 5.91 ERA in eight career starts.

``I wasn't very effective the first three innings, trying to be too fine,' Davies said. ``I settled down in the fourth, fifth and sixth, but the damage was done.'

At the same time, the Royals had two runners on base in each of the first three innings without scoring.

Kansas City got its only run when Kila Ka'aihue led off the seventh with a homer into the second deck of seats in right field, his second of the season. That was on the 114th and final pitch from Ogando, who struck out five and walked one while allowing five hits.

``Their pitcher did a great job of shutting us down,' Yost said. ``Ogando was really good.'

After Elvis Andrus had a one-out walk in the third off Davis, Michael Young had his second single of the game. Adrian Beltre then hit a sacrifice fly before Young stole second base and scored on a single by Nelson Cruz to put Texas up 3-0.

Texas got an unearned run in the second when David Murphy reached on an error by second baseman Chris Getz and scored on a double by Mitch Moreland.

``The bottom line is their guy came out and pitched better than I did today,' Davies said.

Cody Eppley then made his major league debut by striking out Matt Treanor and worked two scoreless innings. Darren Oliver, a 40-year-old left-hander in the Rangers' bullpen, worked a perfect ninth to become the oldest pitcher ever for Texas to save a game.

Royals cleanup hitter Billy Butler, who entered the game hitting .352, left runners in scoring position in the first and third innings. He had an infield popout in the first and struck out in the third.

``We couldn't capitalize, and I'm speaking of myself,' Butler said.

Cody Eppley struck out Matt Treanor, the first batter he faced, and allowed only two hits.

Before a save last season, the 40-year-old Oliver hadn't had a save since 1994. He is the oldest player ever to recover a save for the Rangers.

Alex Gordon extended his career-best and AL-high hitting streak to 17 games for the Royals with a single in the first.

Gordon's single came after a single by Melky Cabrera, but Ogando got out of that jam with an infield popout and a grounder.

After Cabrera doubled and Gordon was hit by a pitch to start the third, Ogando, a converted outfielder, faced only 12 more batters - helped by a double play in the fifth - before Ka'aihue's second homer landed in the second deck of seats in right field.

While Gordon extended his hitting streak, the second-longest active in the majors behind a 20-gamer by Andre Ethier for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Royals teammate Jeff Francoeur has a 13-game hitting streak after his eighth-inning double. Wilson Betemit's 13-game streak ended by going 0 for 4, including shortstop Andrus making an impressive catch of a popup in short left field to end the eighth.

NOTES: Gordon is hitting .397 (29 of 73) in his hitting streak. ... Despite several impressive lightning strikes lighting up the sky during the game, including a couple of to-the-ground bolts just beyond the stadium in the ninth inning, there was no delay. ... The Rangers and Royals play all three of their series in a span of six weeks. The Rangers go to Kansas City on May 18-19, and the Royals return to Arlington May 27-29.