The Kansas City Royals proved to be no match for San Diego Padres pitcher Michael Wacha on Monday night. Wacha, who entered with a 4.82 ERA this season, was dominant from the first pitch. He took a no-hitter into the eighth inning before Royals second baseman Michael Massey singled to start the frame.

Wacha recorded a careerhigh 11 strikeouts in seven innings of work. He attacked the strike zone and dared the Royals to make consistent contact. Wacha didn’t need much offensive help either. The Padres supplied five hits to seal a 4-0 victory at Petco Park.

If Wacha was dominant, Royals starter Brad Keller was severely ineffective by comparison.

Keller issued a career-high eight walks in 3 2/3 innings of work. He also hit a batter and threw two wild pitches. The Padres took advantage by simply being patient at the plate.

Keller, who has tinkered with his delivery in recent weeks, didn’t have his command from the start.

“Not good. A lot of walks. Unacceptable,” Keller said. “ I put the team in a bad spot and put the bullpen in a bad spot. Just unacceptable.”

Keller threw 55 of 94 pitches for balls. He registered just three whiffs in the game; they came on a slider, curveball and changeup respectively. Keller has now issued 40 walks in 43 1/3 innings.

“Whenever I tried to correct it, it almost went reverse effect in a way,” Keller said. “Tried to slow down and I feel like I slowed down too much. Tried to speed up and I sped up too much. I couldn’t find that happy medium.”

Royals manager Matt Quatraro felt Keller couldn’t find a consistent rhythm early. He said there are things to work on as Keller attempts to straighten out his command.

“He was just fighting himself: the tempo, the delivery, the strike zone,” Quatraro said. “He obviously didn’t have command of the ball. I thought for the command he was lacking, he did a tremendous job of competing to stay in the game for a long as he did to keep them to three runs. It was obviously a battle from the start. He did his best to keep it there.”

The Royals collected two hits on the night. After Massey’s single in the eighth, Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino singled in the ninth inning. Massey said Wacha made things tough with his changeup and fastball command at the top of the zone.

“He had a really good feel for the changeup and every time you wanted to back him up, he threw the heater,” Massey said. “Every time you wanted to get him out front, he threw the changeup. He did a good job of mixing it up.”

Massey ends Wacha’s historic night The Royals were trending on the wrong side of history for much of Monday’s game.

After seven innings, KC didn’t have a hit in the score book as Wacha breezed through the lineup. Massey prevented a total meltdown as he singled to begin the eighth. He snapped the nohit bid and sent Wacha to the dugout.

Wacha received a standing ovation from the 43,828 fans in attendance. He improved to 4-1 on the season and has allowed just one run over his last 19 innings.

“I thought we put together good at-bats,” Massey said. “We didn’t get the results. The third time seeing him, I tried to stay with the approach we had earlier. I thought I had good at-bats off him. Just missed a couple pitches within those at-bats that allowed him to make a good pitch at the end.”

Royals’ home run streak ends The Royals came up short of setting a franchise record for consecutive games with a home run. They snapped a streak of 13 consecutive games with a home run.

During the stretch, the Royals hit a total of 23 homers — all in May. It represented the second-most in the majors behind the New York Yankees.