Unable to play the role of spoiler on Tuesday night at Comerica Park, the Kansas City Royals came up short in a hard-fought game against the Detroit Tigers, 2-0.

Royals lefty Bruce Chen yielded 10 hits through six and 2/3 innings to take his 13th defeat of the season, and now has just one start remaining in his 2012 campaign. Along with failing to make it through the seventh inning for the fifth consecutive outing, Chen also tossed a season-high 115 pitches in the loss.

Offensively, Kansas City simply could not find a way to beat Detroit's Anibal Sanchez on a night when the veteran right-hander appeared to have total command of his pitches. Sanchez was dealing with a recent string of poor outings entering Tuesday's game, but still managed to come out and hold the Royals to just three hits for his fifth career shutout.

Set to face Tigers youngster Rick Porcello (9-12, 4.57 ERA), the Royals plan to send 33-year-old pitcher Jeremy Guthrie (7-12, 4.80 ERA) to the mound in Game 3 of the series on Wednesday.