O's game blog: It's Gonzalez against Duffy in Kansas City

After one struggling pitcher took the loss last night for the Orioles, another takes the mound tonight to try and end the club's five-game losing streak. Right-hander Miguel Gonzalez (9-9, 4.73 ERA) makes his 24th start of the season tonight. Last night, Ubaldo Jimenez took a 3-1 lead to the sixth at Kansas City, but the Royals scored seven runs in the inning in an 8-3 win.

The Orioles are 4-9 in their last 13 regular season games versus Kansas City. They have lost seven in a row to the Royals counting the American League Championship Series last October.

Gonzalez is 0-3 with a 7.82 ERA over his last five starts. In 11 starts since returning from the disabled list in late June, he is 4-5 with a 6.48 ERA. He has pitched 5 1/3 or fewer innings in nine of his last 12 starts.

Last Thursday at Camden Yards, he gave up seven runs and eight hits over five innings. After that outing, Gonzalez tried to explain his struggles since late June.

"Get ahead and once you are ahead, the only thing that is missing is finishing hitters," he said. "That has been the struggle. I've been changing a little bit of things here and there. It's a process. This game isn't easy. It will humble you for sure. No matter how good you are, you will go through some rough times. All you have to do is forget about it and move on."

Left-hander Danny Duffy (6-6, 4.18 ERA) makes his 20th start of 2015 tonight. While he has an ERA of 5.02 his last three starts, over nine starts since July 1, Duffy is 4-2 with a 3.02 ERA. On May 17, 2014 at Kauffman Stadium, Duffy retired the first 20 Orioles he faced and pitched seven scoreless innings in a win over the O's.

Kansas City is 15-7 in August and has clinched the club's fifth consecutive winning month, a first for the franchise since 1982. Kansas City is leading its division by 13 games, the largest division lead in the majors. In fact, the Royals' seven-game lead for best record in the American League is bigger than any other club's divisional advantage.

K.C. is 28 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 1980 season (97-65). The Royals are 43-20 at home, and have won 11 of 13 and 20 of their last 25 home games.