KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Alcides Escobar homered with two outs in the 14th inning to give the Kansas City Royals a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.

Escobar hit a 3-1 pitch from Taylor Rogers (1-2) to left field, ending a game that took 4 hours, 12 minutes. Rain also delayed the start by 24 minutes.

Scott Barlow (1-0) worked four hitless innings, striking out five straight batters during one stretch, to earn his first major league win.

Matt McGill, the fourth Minnesota pitcher, went 3 1/3 hitless innings before Rogers was brought in with one out in the 14th.

The Royals tied it in the eighth when Addison Reed walked Jorge Soler with the bases loaded to score Jon Jay, who led off the inning with a single.

The Twins loaded the bases in the 10th against rookie Jason Adam, but came away empty. Adam hit Miguel Sano with a pitch and walked Max Kepler and Robbie Grossman. Byron Buxton flied out after Adam had thrown nine straight balls. Adam threw only seven strikes in 21 pitches.

Twins right-hander Kyle Gibson, who hasn’t won since March 31, pitched seven scoreless innings in a no-decision. Gibson, the team’s 2009 first-round draft pick out of Missouri, gave up five hits, walked one and struck out eight.

Gibson worked out of jams in the third, fifth and sixth as the Royals went 0 for 9 with runners in position and stranded nine overall.

In the third, Jay had a bunt single, extending his hitting streak to 11 games, and stopped at second on Whit Merrifield’s single, but Gibson struck out Mike Moustakas to end the inning.

Alex Gordon singled and moved to second on Escobar’s groundout in the fifth. Jay walked with two outs before Gibson struck out Merrifield.

Moustakas led off the sixth with a double and went to third on a passed ball with one out, but Gibson struck out Soler and retired Hunter Dozier.

Royals left-hander Danny Duffy yielded one run and four hits with four walks over six innings. Duffy, who fanned four, has allowed two earned runs and eight hits over 13 2/3 innings in his past two starts to lower his ERA from 6.88 to 5.71.

Sano, who has a hit in 16 consecutive games against the Royals, had a broken-bat single to left field with the bases loaded in the third to score Ehire Adrianza. Sano has 27 RBI in those 16 games.

Brian Dozier attempted to score from second, but Gordon threw him out at home for his 84th career outfield assist.

ROSTER MOVE

The Twins sent RHP Myles Jaye to the Indians for cash. Jaye was 3-3 with a 4.25 ERA in eight starts with Triple-A Rochester. He went 1-2 with a 12.08 ERA in five games last year with Detroit. The last time the two teams made a trade was August 2011 and it involved Jim Thome.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: RHP Ervin Santana (finger surgery in February) went 3 1/3 innings, allowing one run and two hits, in his second minor league rehab start with Class A Fort Myers at Clearwater. He threw 59 pitches, 33 for strikes. He walked one, struck out three, hit a batter and had a wild pitch. . RHP Michael Pineda (elbow surgery) threw a bullpen at Target Field. … 1B Joe Mauer (neck strain) stood in to track some pitches with Pineda on the mound. “We’ve been pleased on almost a daily basis that his activity has increased, including more intensified baseball work,” manager Paul Molitor said of Mauer. “Today the reports were good. He hit, he took grounders, he ran.”

Royals: RHP Nathan Karns (right elbow inflammation) is on a throwing program at the club’s complex in Arizona.

UP NEXT

Twins: Rookie RHP Fernando Romero is coming off his first career loss, a 2-1 decision at Seattle, where he allowed two runs on five hits and two walks over seven innings.

Royals: Rule 5 draft pick Brad Keller will make his first career start after going 1-1 with a 2.01 ERA in 21 relief appearances.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Miguel Sano belted a two-run homer, Eddie Rosario hit a three-run double and the Minnesota Twins snapped a four-game skid with an 8-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.

Lance Lynn (3-4) pitched six effective innings to win his second consecutive start after a dreadful stretch in his first season with the Twins.

Sano extended his hitting streak against the Royals to 15 games. He is batting .373 with six home runs and 26 RBI in those 15 games.

The slugger drove a 1-1 pitch from Jakob Junis out to center field with Brian Dozier aboard in the fifth inning.

Rosario drilled a three-run double in the eighth off Burch Smith. Dozier’s sixth-inning single scored Mitch Garver, who added a two-run double in the ninth.

Lynn allowed two runs and six hits. He’s given up two runs and 11 hits over 12 2/3 innings in his past two outings.

The right-hander worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the second by striking out Alcides Escobar and retiring Ramon Torres on a grounder. The Royals went 4 for 19 with runners in scoring position and stranded 12 overall.

Fernando Rodney got four outs for his 11th save in 14 chances. He gave up a ninth-inning homer to Jorge Soler.

Jon Jay had four hits for Kansas City, including three doubles, to extend his hitting streak to 10 games.

Junis (5-4) permitted three runs on six hits and walked a career-high four. He struck out seven.

The Royals tied it at 2 in the fifth when Mike Moustakas’ double scored Jay and Whit Merrifield, who walked.

Kansas City got two runs in the eighth. Zach Duke’s throwing error on Jay’s bunt single allowed Escobar to score. Merrifield’s single knocked in Torres with the second run.

NOT SO SWEET AT HOME

The Royals have lost 19 of 26 at Kauffman Stadium.

ROSTER MOVES

Twins: Claimed INF Taylor Motter off waivers from Seattle. Motter has a .197 batting average in 132 games over three major league seasons with the Mariners and Rays. He will report to Triple-A Rochester.

Royals: RHP Scott Barlow was recalled from Triple-A Omaha, where he was 1-1 with a 3.94 ERA in seven games. LHP Eric Stout, who yielded two homers and three runs in one-third of an inning Sunday at Texas, was optioned to Omaha.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: RHP Ervin Santana (right middle finger surgery) will make his second minor league rehab start Tuesday for Class A Fort Myers. . 1B Joe Mauer (neck strain) has been taking batting practice and grounders at Target Field. “He hasn’t had any setbacks,” manager Paul Molitor said. “We don’t want to get too excited about the potential of him being ready sooner than later.” Mauer could be activated Thursday when the Twins return home.

Royals: LHP Eric Skoglund (Grade 1 UCL strain) was relieved after an MRI revealed he won’t need Tommy John surgery. “They said the UCL looks strong, it was just the fluid buildup,” Skoglund said. “It’s exciting news that nothing was going on with the UCL. Just kind of get strong now in that area and let that fluid get out and get back to work. I was freaking out when I was in Texas. It wasn’t a good feeling, especially when I found out it (surgery) was a possibility.”

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Kyle Gibson, a Missouri product, is 6-4 with a 3.46 ERA in 16 career starts against the Royals.

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy is coming off his best outing of the year, when he allowed one run in a season-high 7 2/3 innings to beat the Rangers.

— Associated Press —

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jason Hammel is starting to look more like the pitcher who won 15 games with the World Series champion Chicago Cubs two years ago. On Sunday, he was helped by a bullpen that had just enough to deliver the win.

Hammel struck out 10, Drew Butera and Salvador Perez homered, and the Kansas City Royals held on to beat the Texas Rangers 5-3.

Hammel pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings. He gave up four hits, including three doubles, and two walks.

“A tip of the cap to the bullpen for coming in and covering those innings,” Hammel said. “For a very aggressive team like that, you can get quick outs and get deep into a game if you can execute early.”

Perez and Butera each homered off Cole Hamels (3-5), who allowed five runs on eight hits and three walks in 6 1/3 innings with a season-low two strikeouts.

Hammel (2-5) left with runners on the corners and one out. Jurickson Profar grounded into an inning-ending double play on Tim Hill’s second pitch.

Kelvin Herrera, the last of five Royals relievers, pitched a scoreless ninth inning after allowing a leadoff single for his 11th save in 12 chances.

When Hammel held St. Louis to one run in seven innings to win last Wednesday, it ended a string of 13 winless starts for the 35-year-old. He went into Sunday’s game leading the American League in hits allowed with 71.

“His record doesn’t indicate the way he’s pitched,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “Days that he’s gotten beat, it’s been on two or three pitches. He’s been around the plate extremely consistently the last two.”

The Rangers’ runs came on seventh-inning homers by Joey Gallo, his 15th of the season with one on, and Robinson Chirinos, his seventh.

Texas went 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position, 0 for 7 during the first three innings. In the eighth inning, Jason Adam put runners on the corners with one out before striking out Gallo and getting Rougned Odor to pop to third.

“It’s about being able to calm yourself down, put together a quality at-bat,” Texas manager Jeff Banister said. “But today, Hammel, their guy, I thought made some quality pitches in those situations.”

SELF-INFLICTED TEXAS HEAT

Hamels didn’t allow more than two earned runs in any of his previous five starts. He blamed himself for not having adequate “mound presence” Sunday, not moving on and forgetting the previous batter.

“Haven’t had games like that in a while where you let the emotions get the best of you,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll probably have to issue some apologies for the language that I was probably using. I’ll probably deal with that with my father.”

HAPPY HOMECOMING

Royals rookie Hunter Dozier, who grew up about 45 miles north of Globe Life Park in Denton, Texas, had a two-out, two-run single in the first inning. The 2013 first-round draftee had his third straight multihit game and first multi-RBI game.

“This is a dream come true,” said Dozier, who’s playing first base with Lucas Duda on the disabled list. “It was cool I was able to make this trip, see the family and stay at home.”

SHORT HOPS

Jon Jay has hit in nine straight games and 18 of his last 19. … Nomar Mazara’s two-out walk in the bottom of the first was the first issued by Hammel in 62 consecutive batters. … Hamels’ 11 combined hits and walks were his most this season. … Shin-Soo Choo extended his on-base streak to 14 games.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: With LHP Eric Skoglund (left UCL sprain) placed on the 10-day disabled list Saturday, rookie RHP Brad Keller will make his first major league start Wednesday vs. Minnesota.

Rangers: LHP Matt Moore (right knee) will be activated off the 10-day DL and start Wednesday at Seattle.

UP NEXT

Royals RHP Jakob Junis (5-3) has 14 wins in his first 30 career appearances, tied for the most in franchise history with Rich Gale (1978) and Jose Rosado (1996-97).

Rangers RHP Doug Fister (1-4) has allowed 15 earned runs in his last four starts, raising his ERA from 2.88 to a season-high 4.22.

— Associated Press —

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Bartolo Colon didn’t make history Saturday for the Texas Rangers, but his teammate Shin-Soo Choo did.

Choo became the top major league home run hitter born in Asia, connecting for a leadoff drive in the 10th inning that lifted the Rangers over the Kansas City Royals 4-3 on Saturday.

The South Korea native’s 176th career homer moved him past Hideki Matsui for the most by an Asian player.

“My dad told me when I was young, ‘Always first. You need to be first. In sports, people think about the first person,'” Choo said. “I remembered that.”

Choo hit a 3-1 pitch from Kevin McCarthy (3-2) the opposite way into the Royals bullpen for his eighth home run this year. It was his third career walk-off homer and first in five seasons with the Rangers.

“With a 3-1 count, I’m just looking for one pitch in one area, and try to swing hard,” Choo said.

Alex Claudio (3-2) got the win by working the 10th inning.

Colon, pitching two days after his 45th birthday, threw a season-high 102 pitches and gave up five hits in seven innings for Texas. He remained stuck on 242 career wins and will have to wait at least one more start to tie Juan Marichal for most wins by a native of the Dominican Republic.

In 97-degree heat, Colon allowed four hits during a three-run third. He gave up just two runners over the other six innings and struck out four.

“The most important thing is that we won,” Colon said through an interpreter. “If I didn’t win, that’s fine. I don’t think that much about [tying Marichal]. If it comes, it will come.”

The Royals did their only damage against Colon by getting to him early in counts in the third. After Hunter Dozier beat out an infield single, Alcides Escobar and Jon Jay each singled on the first pitch they saw, scoring one run.

Whit Merrifield then hit a 1-0 pitch into the left-field corner for a two-run double.

“[Colon’s] been around the league for a long time for a reason,” Merrifield said. “He doesn’t miss over the plate a whole lot, and when he does you’ve got to take advantage of it. We did a couple times.”

The Rangers tied it with runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings. Ronald Guzman, who had homered in his previous four starts, tied it with a two-out double off reliever Brad Keller.

Royals starter Ian Kennedy gave up five hits and two runs in five innings and hasn’t won since April 7, a stretch of nine consecutive starts.

CALLING THE SHOT

Joey Gallo had an RBI double and a key stolen base that led to the tying run, but his most impressive feat might have been calling Choo’s walk-off.

“Choo is one of the best hitters I’ve seen, the way he takes his at-bats every day,” Gallo said. “I went into the dugout and I said, ‘He’s going to hit a bomb.”’ I could just feel it with him because his swing has been so good lately.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: LHP Eric Skoglund, who started Friday night, was put on the disabled list with a left elbow sprain. He is likely to have an MRI on Monday. Kansas City called up LHP Eric Stout from Omaha for his second stint with the club this year. … Manager Ned Yost said Lucas Duda would remain on the disabled list, even though he’s eligible to come off, as he battles plantar fasciitis in his right foot.

Rangers: SS Elvis Andrus has started swinging a bat as he recovers from a fractured right elbow suffered on April 11. Andrus took dry swings Saturday and hopes to be taking batting practice by the end of next week. … LHP Matt Moore threw another bullpen session Saturday. He is on the disabled list with a sore right knee.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Jason Hammel (1-5, 5.70) takes the mound Sunday in the series finale. Hammel won for the first time in 2018 by holding the Cardinals to one run over seven innings Tuesday.

Rangers: LHP Cole Hamels (3-4, 3.38) starts Sunday for Texas. The lefty has won his last two starts, allowing just five hits in 13 innings against the Astros and Yankees.

— Associated Press —