KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – After scrambling back into contention in the AL Central, the Kansas City Royals are gearing up to make another bid for a postseason spot.

The Royals acquired three pitchers from the San Diego Padres on Monday, getting starter Trevor Cahill, closer Brandon Maurer and reliever Ryan Buchter. Kansas City sent pitchers Matt Strahm and Travis Wood, minor league infielder Esteury Ruiz and cash to San Diego. The deal came one week before the nonwaiver trade deadline.

Kansas City entered Monday night’s game at Detroit trailing first-place Cleveland by only 1 ? games, and the Royals are also right in the mix for a wild card.

“We wanted to move sooner than later,” general manager Dayton Moore said.

The Royals had been looking to bolster their rotation and bullpen, and did it with one swap. Cahill was 4-3 with a 3.69 ERA in 11 starts for the Padres. The 29-year-old right-hander was an All-Star with Oakland in 2010.

Maurer is 20-for-23 on save tries, and 1-4 with a 5.72 ERA. The 27-year-old righty began his big league career with Seattle in 2013 as a starter.

Buchter is 3-3 with one save and a 3.05 ERA in 42 games. The 30-year-old lefty pitched 67 times for the Padres last year.

Kansas City won the World Series in 2015 and the American League pennant the year before that. The Royals fell back to .500 last year, and after they went 7-16 this April, it looked like 2017 might be the end of their chance to contend with this core of players. Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Alcides Escobar and Lorenzo Cain can all become free agents after this season.

The Royals are back over .500 now, though, and they entered Monday on a five-game winning streak.

“We’re very excited. We’ve always felt good about this team,” Moore said. “We’re certainly very much in the thick of a pennant race in our division.”

Moore said the Royals did their due diligence on Cahill, who missed time earlier this season with shoulder issues. Eleven different pitchers have started for Kansas City this year, with unimpressive results aside from Jason Vargas and Danny Duffy.

Kansas City’s bullpen, meanwhile, looks a lot different than it did during its 2014-15 peak. Greg Holland and Wade Davis are no longer on the team. Kelvin Herrera is the closer, and Joakim Soria and Mike Minor have been solid this year.

Maurer and Buchter can now pitch more meaningful innings than the Padres have been playing. San Diego is in fourth place in the NL West.

The Padres are in deep rebuilding mode and don’t expect to contend for a few years. Many observers and fans figured the first player to be traded would be reliever Brad Hand, San Diego’s only All-Star.

“It’s tough in the sense that you’re losing three guys that you love and appreciate and have poured themselves out for the club,” manager Andy Green said. “You actually enjoy the guys a lot. The three of them have been great teammates, great contributors. Losing two back-end pieces and a starter that statistically has been your best starter all year, those things are tough.

“But we’re excited about what we’re getting in return, excited about the future prospects, even though a couple of them won’t play for us this year. But we see high upside and with Travis Wood we get some other help to stabilize things. I think he’s going to have an opportunity to kind of re-establish himself in the National League,” he said.

The 25-year-old Strahm went 2-5 with a 5.45 ERA for the Royals this year in 24 appearances — 21 in relief. Kansas City had been high on the young lefty but ended up using him to help acquire what figures to be more immediate help.

Wood was 1-3 with a 6.91 ERA this year for Kansas City. The 18-year-old Ruiz has put up good numbers with the bat at the low levels of the minors.

Kansas City also recalled left-hander Brian Flynn from Triple-A Omaha for Monday’s game and designated right-handers Al Alburquerque and Luke Farrell for assignment.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Royals had four walk-off wins during a homestand for the first time since April 2000.

Brandon Moss hit a game-ending double off Tyler Clippard that lifted Kansas City over the White Sox 5-4 Sunday, extending Chicago’s longest losing streak in four years to nine games.

Whit Merrifield, Jorge Bonifacio and Eric Hosmer hit consecutive home runs off Derek Holland in the fourth inning for a 3-0 lead, and Merrifield hit another solo shot in the eighth off Dan Jennings to tie the score at 4.

Mike Moustakas singled off Gregory Infante (0-1) leading off the ninth and pinch-runner Lorenzo Cain advanced when Infante bounced a slider to Alcides Escobar for a wild pitch. Infante hit Escobar on the left hand, Clippard relieved in his second appearance since he was acquired from the New York Yankees, and Moss doubled.

“I got to two strikes and just tried to battle through it, hope he left something up that I could hit,” Moss said. “Before the last couple of weeks, I’d get to two strikes and not to say you’d think it was over, but that you probably missed your chance. But I’ve been seeing the ball a lot better, and better balance at the plate, so it’s not a panic anymore.”

Moss is 8 for 19 during a five-game hitting streak that coincides with the winning streak. After hitting .156 in June, Moss is batting .326 with four home runs, five doubles and nine RBI in July.

“We all know what he can do,” Merrifield said. “He was just going through a funk. When he’s going well, it’s an unbelievable lift to this offense.”

Kelvin Herrera (3-2) struck out two in a perfect ninth, extending the scoreless streak by the Royals bullpen to 18 innings over five games. Kansas City has won five straight following a skid of seven losses in eight games and went 6-4 on its homestand.

Chicago had not lost nine in a row since Aug. 30-Sept. 7, 2013.

Holland allowed three runs, four hits and three walks in 4 2/3 innings, throwing 87 pitches. He is 1-6 in his past 10 starts,

“Just bad execution,” Holland said.

Kansas City had not hit three straight homers since Tony Graffanino, Angel Berroa and Doug Mientkiewicz against Detroit’s Mike Maroth on May 25, 2006, a game the Royals lost 13-8.

Royals starter Travis Wood gave up four runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings. He has an 8.31 ERA in three starts this season and is winless as a starter in eight appearances since April 28, 2015.

Adam Engel hit a three-run double in the fourth and scored on Jose Abreu’s double for a 4-3 lead.

ANDERSON SITS AGAIN

White Sox SS Tim Anderson, who is hitting .212 with a .224 on-base percentage in his past 18 games, was not in the lineup for the second straight game. Anderson has one walk and 20 strikeouts in 67 plate-appearances in that stretch. Manager Rick Renteria said he is giving Anderson “a little mental” break and he will start Monday against the Cubs.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Chicago’s Melky Cabrera left in the fifth inning with a bruised big toe on his left foot after fouling a pitch off of it in the first inning. “I had a lot of pain but I don’t have a fracture or anything that can mean I’m going to lose a few days,” Cabrera said through an interpreter. “I’m going to be great. They did all the tests and I can move the toe.”

UP NEXT

White Sox: A four-game series against the Cubs opens Monday at Wrigley Field. RHP Miguel Gonzalez (4-9) is to start for the White Sox and RHP Kyle Hendricks (4-3) for the Cubs.

Royals: RHP Jason Hammel (4-8) is slated to start Monday at Detroit in the opener of a 10-day trip. RHP Justin Verlander (5-7) is to pitch for the Tigers.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Mike Moustakas has three home runs in two games after going nine games without any.

Moustakas homered twice, and Salvador Perez, Brandon Moss and Jorge Bonifacio also went deep to lead the Kansas City Royals over the White Sox 7-2 Saturday night, extending Chicago’s longest losing streak in two years to eight games.

“I’m more focused on winning,” Moustakas said. “Homers are part of the game. It definitely feels good to hit some homers though especially when they put us in a lead.”

Melky Cabrera had his second four-hit game in a week and gave the White Sox a 2-0 lead with a home run in the third inning and an RBI double in the fifth.

In a game that began with a 99-degree temperature and 112 heat index, Mike Pelfrey took a two-hitter into the sixth but put leadoff man Lorenzo Cain on with his sixth walk. David Holmberg (1-3) relieved, retired Eric Hosmer on a flyout, then gave up three homers in an eight-pitch span.

Perez’s two-run homer tied the score, Moustakas homered two pitches later, Alcides Escobar grounded out and Moss homered for a 4-2 lead, a drive that would have gone 436 feet unimpeded. Whit Merrifield added an RBI single off Juan Minaya.

“I was trying to sit on an offspeed pitch,” Moustakas said. “Just looking at the reports, I have a pretty good idea on what he’s throwing right there and got enough of it to get out of the yard.”

Bonifacio homered in the seventh, and Moustakas hit his 28th this season leading off the eighth against Brad Goldberg. Kansas City’s five homers matched a season high.

“We just weren’t able to hold them,” White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. “It didn’t work out for Holmy today.”

Chicago, an AL-worst 38-56, had not lost eight in a row since June 12-19, 2015.

Scott Alexander (2-3) relieved Jason Vargas with two on and no outs in the sixth and got three straight outs. Vargas allowed two runs and seven hits.

“I’m trying to get a ground ball,” Alexander said. “We were able to get out of it out there.”

Pelfrey is 0-2 in his last six starts.

“I didn’t expect to win the game when you walk six guys,” Pelfrey said. “That’s pretty embarrassing. It’s something that’s kind of plagued me all year, and I need to be better.”

ROYALS MOVES

RHP Jakob Junis was recalled from Triple-A Omaha by the Royals, who optioned OF Billy Burns to their Pacific Coast League affiliate. Junis gave the Royals a nine-man bullpen after Kansas City relievers worked 10 innings the previous two nights. The bullpen was required for four more innings Saturday.

TRAINER’S ROOM

White Sox: RHP Jeff Petricka (right elbow strain) pitched a scoreless inning Saturday for Triple-A Charlotte in his first injury rehabilitation appearance. He threw five of eighth pitches for strikes. . OF Leury Garcia, who went on the DL June 26 with sprained finger on his left hand, is working out at the White Sox complex in Glendale, Arizona. “It’s just going a little slower than we might have wanted it to, but he’s getting better,” Renteria said.

UP NEXT

White Sox: LHP Derek Holland is slated to pitch Sunday after going 1-6 with an 8.44 ERA in his past nine starts, allowing 14 home runs in 42 2/3 innings.

Royals: LHP Travis Wood is 0-1 with an 8.64 ERA in his first two starts, allowing a .762 slugging percentage.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Whit Merrifield’s sacrifice fly in the 10th inning lifted the Kansas City Royals to a 7-6 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Friday night.

Merrifield flied out to Melky Cabrera to score Alcides Escobar, who led off the inning with a single.

The Royals, who trailed 5-1 after two innings, got their third walk-off victory in five days. The White Sox have lost seven straight and 10 of 11.

Alex Gordon had three hits and drove in three Royals runs, while Merrifield also had a two-run double in the fourth.

Neftali Feliz (1-0), the seventh Kansas City pitcher, picked up the win, throwing seven pitches in a scoreless 10th.

Tyler Clippard (1-6), who was acquired in a Tuesday trade with the New York Yankees, took the loss in his White Sox debut.

Mike Moustakas ended a 41 at-bat homerless drought with his 26th home run in the fourth.

Kelvin Herrera, the sixth Royals pitcher, worked around a ninth-inning double to Adam Engle to keep the game tied. Anthony Swarzak then gave up a single and a walk in the bottom half, but retired Moustakas on a popup on a 3-0 pitch to end the threat.

Yohan Moncada, who is ranked the No. 1 prospect in baseball, drove in four runs in his second game with the White Sox. His grounder in the second scored Avisail Garcia with the first Chicago run.

Moncada’s laser triple to left with the bases loaded in the fourth scored Jose Abreu, Garcia and Matt Davidson. It came on Ian Kennedy’s 0-2 pitch and gave the White Sox a 5-1 lead.

Neither Kennedy nor White Sox starter James Shields could make it through five innings.

Kennedy, who is winless in his last 13 Kauffman Stadium starts since Aug. 20, was removed after four innings and one batter, allowing six runs on six hits and two walks.

Shields, who is 0-1 with a 9.60 ERA in three July starts, permitted six runs on 10 hits, including Moustakas’ homer. Shields has allowed 23 hits, including five home runs, in 15 innings this month.

LATE ARRIVAL

Royals 1B Eric Hosmer was not in the lineup as manager Ned Yost said he was out of town for an undisclosed family matter. Hosmer, however, arrived during the game and struck out as a pinch hitter in the fourth inning.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: RF Jorge Bonifacio has a bruised left foot after fouling a ball off it Thursday and did not start, but walked as a pinch hitter in the ninth. . OF Paulo Orlando (fractured left tibia) began a rehab assignment with Double-A Northwest Arkansas.

UP NEXT

White Sox: RHP Mike Pelfrey is 0-2 with a 6.62 ERA, with opponents batting .300 in his past four starts.

Royals: All-Star LHP Jason Vargas has a 14.09 ERA in two July starts with opponents slugging .973 off him, allowing five home runs, two triples and two doubles in 7 2/3 innings.

— Associated Press —