KANSAS CITY -- The Twins return home Monday against the Angels, hoping a change of scenery will spark a much-needed offensive outburst.

For the third straight game, it was basically the same song for the Twins, who fell 2-0 to the Royals on Sunday at Kauffman Stadium. Minnesota was swept in a series in which the offense failed to score in 26 of the 27 innings.

The Twins now trail the Royals by 2 1/2 games for second place in the American League Central, but still lead the Tigers and Mariners by 3 1/2 games for the third and final Wild Card spot.

Manager Rocco Baldelli was in no mood to discuss the series finale, limiting his postgame media session to a short summation.

¡°That was an unprofessional series of baseball we played and that¡¯s all I¡¯ve got for you,¡± Baldelli said. ¡°I don¡¯t think anything else has to be said.¡±

According to catcher Ryan Jeffers, Baldelli had basically the same message for his team.

¡°There are a lot of different ways you can interpret ¡®unprofessional,¡¯¡± Jeffers said. ¡°We weren¡¯t able to string stuff together.¡±

On both Friday and Sunday, the Twins tried to jumpstart the offense with aggressive baserunning on an extra-base hit, but twice the approach backfired because of strong relay throws that nabbed a runner being thrown out at the plate while trying to score from first.

Jose Miranda attempted to score from first on Sunday when Trevor Larnach drilled a double to the gap in right-center, but was thrown out at the plate on a 9-4-2 relay. After that, Kansas City starter Michael Wacha went on to register seven scoreless innings before the bullpen closed it out.

The Royals had to execute two accurate and strong throws to keep Minnesota from jumping in front. They did so courtesy of right fielder Hunter Renfroe and second baseman Maikel Garcia.

¡°That¡¯s kind of the thought behind those [relay plays],¡± Jeffers said. ¡°They have to execute it perfectly. Even in the highest level of baseball, executing that is not a super easy play. Got to give hats off to them for executing those plays as they did.¡±

Minnesota starter Simeon Woods Richardson matched Wacha until the fifth, when the Royals used two walks, two infield hits and a sacrifice fly to manufacture two runs.

¡°Baseball happens,¡± Richardson said. ¡°You try to make pitches. Sometimes it doesn¡¯t work out, sometimes it does.¡±

The Twins find themselves mired in a 6-14 stretch as they prepare to open a six-game homestand.

¡°We¡¯ve got to find a way,¡± Jeffers said. ¡°It¡¯s not necessarily that we have to hit homers or hit the ball better. You look at how [the Royals] scored their runs today. It¡¯s a walk, a little dink through the infield, a walk, a dribbler. Just putting together scrappy at-bats, trying to find a way to win a ball game. Yeah, a homer would be great. Balls in the gap are great. But you have to win ball games in different ways.¡±

Jeffers added that it¡¯s important for the Twins to sense the urgency of where the team finds itself with three weeks left in the regular season.

¡°Everyone in here knows we are in the thick of the race,¡± Jeffers said. ¡°We can go anywhere from dropping out of the Wild Card to winning the division. We still have plenty of games in front of us to do either. So, I think that the gravity [of the playoff ramifications] is already here. ¡°

By scoring just two runs in a three-game series, the Twins acknowledged Kansas City¡¯s pitching staff while admitting they need to do more on their own to execute offensively.

¡°A little of both,¡± Jeffers said. ¡°They have a really good staff over there. They seemed to have our number this series.¡±