Stung by five straight lopsided losses, the players held a meeting. Manager Buddy Bell joined in to do some "house-cleaning," and he tinkered with his lineup.

The Royals batters obviously needed a boost heading into Tuesday night's game against Baltimore. In the previous five games, they've hit just .207 and have been outscored 45-11. That's just 2.2 runs a game if you're counting.

"I was in there for a while," Bell said. "It was a hitters' meeting. I think it's important that the veterans take an active role in whatever we're doing, whether it's something inside the clubhouse, something on or off the field, they should all be a part of that and make sure things are being done the right way."

In baseball, a players' meeting usually means there's trouble in paradise. As former Royals manager Bob Boone used to say: "Winners win, losers meet."

Bell was thinking along that vein.

"Usually when you're having a meeting, it's because something isn't going the way it needs to be going and, offensively, we've struggled," Bell said.

In his lineup, Bell dropped David DeJesus, who is in a 3-for-21 slide, from the leadoff spot to behind Mike Sweeney.

"We switched the lineup up a little bit today. Put David down in the middle [fifth], with Shane [Costa] leading off," Bell said.

"It was just a change of scenery for David, more than anything else."

The five losses came right after a promising 8-2 period.

"We weren't having too many meetings a week ago," right fielder Mark Teahen noted.

The purpose was to discuss how to approach pitchers and that sort of thing.

"Some of our guys are just making it too easy for the pitcher," Bell said.

Case in point: the hitters looked too anxious against Baltimore starter Steve Trachsel in Monday night's loss.

"It's more guys trying to hit an eight-run home run or trying to do what's not humanly possible," Bell said. "It causes a lot of problems. Hopefully, we can get to the point where they do what they're capable of doing."

Well, it didn't happen right away. After Tuesday night's, 6-2, loss to the Orioles, the Royals were batting just .193 in their six-game swoon.

After getting their third hit in the fifth inning, the Royals saw their last 13 batters go down.

Slightly sidearm: Left-handed reliever Jimmy Gobble has been having good results by working in a sidearm delivery to left-handed batters.

"It's more of a low three-quarter, I wouldn't say it's sidearm," Gobble said. "It's the same mechanics and that's why it's easy to throw. I don't change anything; I keep the same posture. I just get lower with my back."

The altered delivery gives him a new wrinkle when facing hitters, notably left-handers. Through Monday, he'd held lefty hitters to a .256 average with 13 strikeouts in 39 at-bats.

"I'll do it some to righties, but not as much," he said.

Righties had a .303 mark against Gobble and he had just two strikeouts in 33 at-bats.

For his 26 appearances, Gobble had a 2.33 ERA, best on the club. Using the two deliveries, he believes, has helped.

"It's nice to have both those to work with," he said. "I have a pretty good slider and I locate my fastball pretty well but I don't have anything really overpowering. So it's nice when they can't really sit on anything."

O'Neil's seat: Dr. Jim Gill, a teacher, counselor and administrator in Kansas City, was honored with the Buck O'Neil Legacy Seat. Gill, who grew up in the Strawberry Hill neighborhood, has touched the lives of area youngsters for more than 40 years.

Bunts: Pregame showers kept the teams from taking batting practice. ...Angel Berroa was in the starting lineup for the second time since being recalled from Omaha on May 14. He replaced Tony Pena Jr. at shortstop. ...One positive from the five straight losses prior to Tuesday night: The Royals did not have an error, the longest such stretch of the season.

Royals rundown: Billy Butler and Joey Gathright each had three hits Monday in Triple-A Omaha's 8-3 victory over New Orleans. Butler hit his 10th home run. ...Yovany D'Amico pitched the final three innings and boosted his record to 3-0 as Class A Wilmington beat Kinston, 6-5. ...Class A Burlington's Mario Santiago (six innings) and Matt Campbell (three innings) combined to stop Clinton, 3-0,on four hits. Jeremy Jirschele hit a two-run homer.

Coming up: The Royals will end a nine-game homestand at 7:10 p.m. CT Wednesday against the Orioles. Left-hander Erik Bedard (3-3, 4.10 ERA) will start against Royals right-hander Gil Meche (3-3, 3.18 ERA).