KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chris Sale had just shut down one of the hottest teams in baseball, helping the banged-up Boston Red Sox take over sole possession of first place in the AL East for the first time all season.

And he looked as if he wanted to punch a wall.

Sale was two outs shy of his second consecutive complete game when Boston manager John Farrell trundled to the mound Tuesday night. But the left-hander’s pitch count had already reached 110 on the way to an 8-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals, so Farrell’s decision to summon a reliever was relatively easy.

If a bit hard to swallow for his competitive ace.

“A little frustrating,” Sale said, “but at the end of the day we got the win. We’re good.”

Sale (9-3) gave up a homer to Mike Moustakas in the second inning and a two-run shot to Jorge Bonifacio in the ninth before leaving the game. The five-time All-Star allowed two other hits and a walk while pushing his major league-leading strikeout total to 146.

More importantly, he got a win after going the distance in a 1-0 loss to Philadelphia last week.

“We scored a bunch of runs today. That takes a lot of pressure off a pitcher,” Sale said. “You can make mistakes and not have to worry about it. You can just pound the strike zone.”

Xander Bogaerts and Sandy Leon each drove in a pair of runs for Boston, which got plenty of production from a lineup missing Pablo Sandoval, Dustin Pedroia and Mitch Moreland to various injuries.

First baseman Sam Travis and third baseman Deven Marrero, recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket earlier in the day, drove in early runs to get the Red Sox off and running. Mookie Betts and Chris Young also had RBI as the new division leaders kept piling on.

Boston jumped a half-game ahead of the rival New York Yankees, who have lost seven in a row for their longest slide in a single season since April 2007.

“It’s good to see the way guys have responded when guys have been down,” Farrell said. “To do it on the road, to continue to win, that’s a sign this team is becoming special.”

Most of Boston’s damage came against Royals youngster Matt Strahm (2-4), who struggled to follow up his dazzling first career start. The left-hander with a delivery eerily similar to Sale’s was hammered for five runs on seven hits and a walk before exiting with nobody out in the fourth.

Strahm allowed one unearned run in five innings last week against the Angels.

“Just mistakes. I’ve just got to do better with more quality pitches,” he said. “Just making quality two-strike pitches was my nemesis today.”

Sale dominated a Royals lineup that had slugged its way to eight wins in nine games, striking out the side in the fifth for good measure. The long, lean lefty was finally lifted after Bonifacio’s homer and a base hit by Brandon Moss.

The dominant performance came after Sale twirled a complete game in his last start at Kansas City, allowing two earned runs while striking out 10 in a 7-4 victory last Sept. 16 for the White Sox.

“He locates all his pitches, throws hard and has great stuff,” Moustakas said. “You just try to put the ball in play, try not to get to two strikes. I was able to do that in that first at-bat.”

PAINFUL PANDA

Sandoval went on the disabled list before the game with an inner ear infection. The pain began for the Red Sox third baseman a few days ago, but Farrell said Sandoval’s temperature kept climbing. The DL stint also gives Sandoval a mental break after a rough start to the season.

ROSTER MOVES

Along with putting Sandoval on the DL, the Red Sox optioned RHP Austin Maddox to Triple-A Pawtucket.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Red Sox: Pedroia (ribs) still felt discomfort while swinging in the cage before the game, though Farrell said it’s possible the second baseman could play Wednesday. … LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (right knee) went through fielding practice before the game. He plans to throw to hitters on Saturday.

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy (right oblique) threw about 40 pitches off the mound to hitters before the game and reported no problems. He plans to throw a side session Friday and could begin a rehab assignment next week. “Felt great, looked great,” manager Ned Yost said.

UP NEXT

Red Sox: LHP Drew Pomeranz tries to build on a solid start at Houston in the series finale Wednesday afternoon. Pomeranz allowed one run while pitching into the seventh inning against the Astros.

Royals: RHP Ian Kennedy will be coming off his first win since Sept. 11 when he starts for Kansas City. Kennedy retired the first 17 hitters he faced in a 3-1 victory over the Angels.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Whit Merrifield drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, Eric Hosmer hit a two-run homer and the Kansas City Royals beat the Boston Red Sox 4-2 on Monday night for their eighth win in nine games.

Jason Hammel (4-6) pitched seven sharp innings before turning it over to Mike Minor, who loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth. No. 9 hitter Christian Vazquez proceeded to send a slow bounder toward third base that Cheslor Cuthbert fielded cleanly and fired to first to end the threat.

Kelvin Herrera worked around Andrew Benintendi’s triple in the ninth for his 16th save.

Red Sox reliever Blaine Boyer (0-1), who wriggled out of a jam in the sixth, gave up Merrifield’s bouncing RBI single in the seventh. Boyer was lifted after Lorenzo Cain added an insurance run with a single, the second straight night Boston’s stingy bullpen has allowed a pair of runs.

Red Sox relievers had thrown 26 straight scoreless innings before the slump.

Hammel scattered seven hits without a walk, stranding seven along the way, and the only damage against him came in the fourth inning. That’s when he gave up a leadoff single to Hanley Ramirez, and hot-hitting Jackie Bradley Jr. sent a 1-0 pitch over the bullpen in right field for a two-run homer that tied the game.

It was the third straight start in which Hammel pitched into the seventh.

Boston right-hander Hector Velazquez was nearly as good as Hammel in his second career start, carefully navigating a bunch of baserunners during the first two innings. Hosmer finally dinged him in the third with an estimated 446-foot shot to center, a line drive that cleared the seats and landed in the fountains.

Velazquez turned it over to his faltering bullpen after giving up five hits in 5 1/3 innings.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Red Sox: 2B Dustin Pedroia was out of the lineup after getting hit in the ribs by a pitch Sunday in Houston. An MRI came back negative, and manager John Farrell said Pedroia is day to day. … LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (right knee) will face hitters this week before embarking on a rehab assignment.

Royals: C Salvador Perez got a planned night off, though it came at an opportune time. Perez has been dealing with soreness in his side that could result in a couple more days off.

SIGN ON THE LINE

The Royals and first-round draft pick Nick Pratto agreed to a contract that includes a $3.45 million signing bonus. The high school first baseman, chosen with the 14th overall selection, will head to rookie ball in Arizona on Tuesday to begin his professional career.

MAKING MOVES

Royals RHP Kevin McCarthy was recalled from Triple-A Omaha and LHP Eric Skoglund was optioned back to the Storm Chasers before the game. McCarthy is in his second stint with the club this season.

UP NEXT

Red Sox: LHP Chris Sale comes off his best start in more than a month — and his first defeat — when he takes the mound Tuesday. The major league leader in strikeouts allowed one run and four hits over eight innings with 10 strikeouts in a 1-0 loss at Philadelphia last Thursday.

Royals: LHP Matt Strahm makes his second career start after allowing one unearned run over five innings in a 7-2 win against the Angels last week. Strahm retired 14 of the final 16 batters he faced.

— Associated Press —

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Jason Vargas never had to worry about clearing his schedule for the All-Star Game. That might be about to change.

Vargas earned his 10th win, most in the majors, and Salvador Perez hit a three-run homer as the Kansas City Royals beat the Los Angeles Angels 7-3 on Sunday.

As the first pitcher to reach double digits in wins, Vargas finds himself ahead of perennial All-Stars such as Clayton Kershaw and Chris Sale. Still, the Royals’ unassuming left-hander with the 2.27 ERA isn’t locking in travel arrangements to Miami next month just yet.

“I’ve never been invited to the summer classic, so we’ll just see,” said Vargas, who allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings. “The coaches have a lot to do with what’s going on with the pitching staff. We’ll just keep going until the All-Star break and see where things shake out.”

Although he ended up with another comfortable win, Vargas (10-3) found himself in trouble early and late. The Angels took a 2-0 lead in the first inning before the streaking Royals offense stepped in.

Mike Moustakas hit a three-run double in the third, giving him 19 RBI this month and providing the Royals with a lead they did not relinquish.

Perez then launched a drive to center field for his 14th homer of the season, leaving Cameron Maybin to climb the wall for show as part of a four-run outburst in the fourth.

“He went out and gave up some runs there early, and we picked him up right away,” Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer said about Vargas. “He’s been picking us up all season with the outings he has been putting in. That’s what good teams do — they pick up their guy when he slips up a little bit.”

Vargas was able to avoid another slip-up before departing. Facing a bases-loaded jam with nobody out in the sixth, he was able to limit the damage to one run, bookending two popups around Ben Revere’s sacrifice fly.

Angels starter J.C. Ramirez did not have the same luck. Ramirez (6-5) was pulled after failing to get an out in the fourth, needing 89 pitches to make it that far. He started off well enough by striking out five consecutive batters, but then lost the strike zone. Ramirez walked four and hit a batter with a pitch as he gave up five earned runs.

“Even though he was striking those guys out, he needed a lot of pitches and worked really hard,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “I don’t think he ran out of gas. Those guys did a pretty good job in the batter’s box against him.”

BIG BATS

The Royals went 7-2 on their California road trip and scored at least seven runs in six of those victories, bolstered by 18 homers.

With his team now well on pace to set a franchise record for home runs in a season, Hosmer is most impressed with when they are coming, citing Perez’s two-out shot that broke the game open.

“They have been some big homers, too, especially on this road trip,” Hosmer said. “As long as they keep coming in big spots like that, we’ll take every single one.”

Hosmer picked up his 500th career RBI earlier in the fourth.

OH, SO CLOSE

When Kole Calhoun doubled off the very top of the wall in right field to drive in a run for the Angels in the first, even he wasn’t sure what to make of the play. Scioscia came onto the field thinking it was definitely worth another look. The umpires agreed, initiating a video review.

It turned out the call on the field was absolutely right.

“I think that’s about as close as you can get to a home run without getting one,” Scioscia said.

Calhoun went 3 for 5, notching his 16th RBI over the last 18 games.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: Perez and DH Brandon Moss were back in the lineup after getting a rest during a 9-0 loss Saturday. … Whit Merrifield got the afternoon off and was replaced at second base by Ramon Torres.

Angels: CF Mike Trout (thumb) will start swinging a bat next week, but Scioscia isn’t ready to deviate from the previously announced timetable of a six-to-eight-week recovery. “He’s about where you would expect a guy with his injury to be looking at,” Scioscia said.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Jason Hammel (3-6, 5.05 ERA) faces Boston’s Hector Velazquez (1-1, 6.48) on Monday, marking his first appearance against the Red Sox since 2013. Hammel has allowed just one run in each of his last two starts.

Angels: RHP Parker Bridwell (1-0, 2.79) takes injured Matt Shoemaker’s spot in the rotation Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium for the start of an eight-game road trip. Bridwell has never started against the Yankees, but did toss 3 2/3 innings as a reliever against them on Wednesday, giving up one run and seven hits. Michael Pineda (7-3, 3.71) pitches for New York.

— Associated Press —

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Albert Pujols, Cameron Maybin and Luis Valbuena each homered and Alex Meyer dominated for six innings as part of a two-hitter, helping the Los Angeles Angels beat Kansas City 9-0 on Saturday to snap the Royals’ six-game winning streak.

Maybin hit a leadoff homer in the first inning, Pujols had a two-run shot in the fifth and Valbuena added a three-run homer in the seventh.

Meyer (3-3) pitched the best game of his young career, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out nine.

Rookie right-hander Jake Junis (2-1) got the first loss of his career, surrendering five runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out six.

The Royals had at least 10 hits in each of their last four games, but Meyer and relievers Blake Parker, Cam Bedrosian and Yusmeiro Petit combined to shut them down.

Pujols’ 602nd career homer gave him 1,865 career RBI, moving past Mel Ott into 10th place on baseball’s career list. It was Pujols’ 11th home run of the season.

ANGELIC BULLPEN

With Bedrosian back and the anticipated return of Huston Street on Tuesday, the Angels bullpen is approaching good health. A myriad of relievers have performed in their place. The Angels bullpen is fourth in the majors in wins (14), seventh in strikeouts and eighth in ERA (3.62).

“These guys have really been holding up well,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Angels: RHP Matt Shoemaker (forearm tightness) was placed on the 10-day disabled list, though no starter has been named for his next turn in the rotation Tuesday. RHP Parker Bridwell was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake to take his roster spot. … Bedrosian (groin) was also activated from the DL and RHP Daniel Wright returned to Salt Lake. Bedrosian last pitched April 21. … OF Mike Trout (thumb surgery) is expected to start holding a bat next week.

UP NEXT

Royals: LHP Jason Vargas (9-3) will take the majors’ second-lowest ERA (2.10) into Sunday’s series finale against the Angels. He has held opponents to two or fewer runs in 10 of his 13 previous starts.

Angels: RHP JC Ramirez (6-4) is scheduled to make his 13th start of the season. Ramirez, a career reliever until four games into this season, threw a career-high 111 pitches in his last outing.

— Associated Press —