KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Right-hander Joe Ryan struggled in an atypical performance against the Kansas City Royals, and a late Twins comeback fell short in a 13-9 loss Wednesday night at soggy Kauffman Stadium.

Ryan entered with a sterling career record against the Royals before allowing five runs and nine hits over four innings. He also hit a batter and threw a wild pitch amid intermittent rain on a challenging night to play ball.

The Twins fell to 1-4, though they scored eight runs over the final three innings after the Royals pulled stars Bobby Witt and Maikel Garcia from the game. The Twins brought the potential tying run to the on-deck circle after falling behind by as many as 11.

Ryan came in with a 2.02 ERA and an 8-1 record in 11 career starts against the Royals, and had pitched effectively in his first start of the season against the Baltimore Orioles last week on Opening Day. But the lower part of the Royals batting order gave him trouble.

Left-hander Noah Cameron and Kansas City’s bullpen limited the Twins to four hits in the first six innings. The Twins turned a boring blowout into something else by prompting the Royals to use closer Lucas Erceg with one out in the ninth as rain pelted the players and the grounds crew dried the field.

Ryan pitched a scoreless first inning but began to falter with two outs in the bottom of the second. Maple Grove, Minn. native Isaac Collins, the Kansas City No. 8 hitter, broke a scoreless tie with an RBI double to right. Kyle Isbel, who hit a two-run homer Monday in the series opener, followed with an RBI single through the left side to make it 2-0. Garcia added another run with a broken-bat RBI single to left.

Raindrops started falling in the bottom of the third amid fog, and the weather appeared to help the Royals build their lead.

With two outs and Vinnie Pasquantino at second base, Jonathan India hit a pop-up single near the third-base bag that Royce Lewis appeared to have trouble tracking from start to finish. Pasquantino scored, and India was thrown out trying to reach second. The Royals made it 5-0 in the fourth on Garcia’s sacrifice fly after the bottom of the order loaded the bases with no outs.

Ryan’s four-seam fastball velocity dropped nearly 2 mph after the first inning.

Cameron allowed a run, four hits and a walk, along with five strikeouts over five innings in his first start of the season.

Brooks Lee got the Twins on the board with an RBI single in the fifth, pushing across Lewis after he doubled.

The Royals piled on with a seven-run sixth against right-handers Cody Laweryson and Zak Kent, with India connecting for a grand slam.

The Twins scored three runs in the seventh — including a two-run double by Luke Keaschall — added two more in the eighth, and three in the ninth on Josh Bell’s three-run homer against Bailey Falter.

Erceg retired Austin Martin and James Outman for the unlikely save.

Matt Wallner made a failed ABS challenge on a strikeout in the first, but the Twins were successful with seven subsequent challenges against plate umpire Andy Fletcher.

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