Twenty-five games into play, the Twins are a couple of games behind the first-place Royals. That's fine. But they have sort of sidestepped disaster to this point. Their top two starting pitchers, Scott Baker and Francisco Liriano, are a combined 0-8. That's unbelievable. Baker's earned-run average is 9.15, and that's after a drop from pitching in Sunday's 7-5 loss. Liriano's ERA is 6.04.

Not in my wildest dreams would I have expected those two to be 0-8 at this point.

"Me neither," said manager Ron Gardenhire. "I'm right there with you. That's why this game is loved and beloved by all."

Baker and Liriano are the Twins' twin problems right now. Whatever their issues, be they mechanical or mental, they need to get them straightened out before long. The team has done a terrific job of compensating and staying close to the .500 mark. But no ball club can hang in too long without its top two starters.

Obviously, it's still early. But Minnesota can't afford to fall seven or eight games back. No team can. They don't have Kansas City to kick around anymore.

While Baker and Liriano are front and center as the main concerns, they are followed closely by reliever Luis Ayala, a sinkerball pitcher who has been up in the strike zone since he walked in the front door. Ayala signed a one-year deal for $1.3 million last winter. So far, the best part about that deal is that he did not sign for two years.

"Right now, he's about a run a game," Gardenhire said. "That's no good."

"I'm going to leave you be on that one," said pitching coach Rick Anderson when asked about Ayala.

Hey, if you don't have anything good to say ...

Baker threw six no-hit innings Sunday. Gardenhire, whose team had a 4-0 lead entering the seventh was smiling in the dugout as if he didn't have a care in the world. The crowd was amped up, thrilled to be witnessing such a terrific pitching performance. I'm in the press box, trying to spot Mrs. Baker in the crowd, just in case I have to interview her after a no-hitter.

Baker never recorded another out. Accompanied by huge applause as he walked to the mound for the seventh, he promptly surrendered a single, another single, a bomb of a home run to Jose Guillen, another single and yet another single.

The home run came on a 0-2 pitch, which tells me he lost concentration. Coming unglued like that after a couple of hits is very Boof Bonserish. It overshadowed the previous six superb innings.

"It looked like he couldn't make a pitch after he gave up that one (first) hit," Gardenhire said.

"That should never, ever happen," Anderson noted of the home run. "To have a guy lean out over the plate like that and hit it out on an 0-2 pitch ..."

But Baker said he did not lose concentration after losing his no-hitter in the seventh.

"No, I think those guys are good hitters," he said. "The whole game they were hitting a lot of balls right at guys. There's nothing I can do about it."

Still leading 4-3 but with runners on first and second and no outs, Baker gave way to the dreaded Ayala. Four weeks into the season, the Twins' bullpen already is exhausted. For one thing, Baker and Liriano are averaging fewer than six innings per start. All six relievers pitched Saturday night.

Ayala quickly tossed one of his meatballs to Alberto Callaspo, who drilled a double to score both runners. That made the score 5-4 in favor of Kansas City and tagged Baker with the loss. Baker went from six no-hit innings to being credited with five earned runs in one inning.

For the second straight game, the Royals refused to give up after falling behind. How much more hopeless could it be than trailing 4-0 and not having a hit after six innings? Yet, they kept fighting and ended up taking the series.

They may not win the division title this year, but they aren't going to be anyone's stepping stone, either. The Royals are going to cause a lot of problems this summer. No team will be fattening its record against them. The Twins will want to stay with the pack. To do that, they'll need their top two starters and a certain right-handed reliever to turn their seasons around.

Fairly quickly, too.

Tom Powers can be reached at tpowers@pioneerpress.com