Cubs Game Day: Royals win 8-4

May 30--The Chicago Cubs lost their first interleague game of the season as the defending American League champion Royals beat them 8-4 at Wrigley Field Friday to begin a three-game series. Jake Arrieta started against the Royals' Edinson Volquez. The Royals wasted no time taking the lead. Alcides Escobar hit the first pitch of the game into the left-field bleachers to make it 1-0. In the second inning, Alex Gordon hit his sixth hoer of the year to make it 2-0. A pair of doubles by Addison Russell and Kris Bryant produced a run for the Cubs in the third inning to make it 2-1. The Royals answered in the top of the fourth with a two-out, solo homer by Salvador Perez to make the score 3-1. Eric Rosmer hit an RBI double in the sixth inning to put the Royals on top 4-1. Jorge Soler hit a two-run homer on a 3-0 pitch to pull the Cubs within 4-3 in the sixth. Russell tied the game 4-4 with a solo homer in the seventh off reliever Kelvin Herrera. The Royals regained the lead 5-4 in the eighth on an RBI double by Lorenzo Cain off reliever Pedro Strop. Kansas City tacked on a run in the ninth. It's the first of 20 interleague games for the Cubs and the beginning of a challenging stretch in the schedule. Nine of the next 12 games the Cubs play will be against teams that made the playoffs in 2014. Friday marks the Royals' first visit to Wrigley Field since July 17, 2001. Current radio analyst Ron Coomer batted cleanup for the Cubs in that game, a 7-4 victory, and Jason Bere was the winning pitcher. Before Friday's game, the Cubs announced that Tsuyoshi Wada will start on Saturday and Jason Hammel has been pushed back to Sunday. Hammel has been dealing with a cracked fingernail on his right hand. fmitchell@tribpub.comTwitter@kicker34