"Gil Meche is back in the Royals' rotation, at least tentatively, for Thursday afternoon against the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome. Royals manager Trey Hillman made that decision on Sunday after hearing reports on Meche's injury rehabilitation start for Triple-A Omaha on Saturday night. Hillman said that after Kyle Davies opens the series at Minnesota on Tuesday night, Brian Bannister will pitch on Wednesday night with Meche starting on Thursday. That means left-hander Bruce Chen, who gained his first Royals victory on Sunday, will be passed over and will pitch out of the bullpen. The Royals also will have to make a roster move to accommodate Meche's return. Meche, who hasn't pitched since July 11 because of a lower back strain, went five innings for Omaha and gave up one run with three hits, three walks and two strikeouts. He threw 85 pitches, including 53 strikes, and got credit for the O-Royals' 8-4 victory over Las Vegas. "He felt good, he didn't feel his back at all and the report was good on his stuff," Hillman said."