KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The World Series champions have failed to make the postseason for the fourth year in a row.

Kendrys Morales and Alex Gordon keyed an eighth-inning rally and Kansas City beat the Minnesota Twins 5-2 on Wednesday night, but the Royals were still knocked out of playoff contention.

The defending World Series champs were eliminated when Baltimore beat Toronto 3-2 earlier Wednesday.

“Obviously we’d like to be playing a lot more baseball, but the reality of it is we’re not,” said Eric Hosmer, who hit a two-run homer in the third.

Morales’ ground-rule double to right scored Jarrod Dyson, who had doubled and stole third. Gordon’s single scored Whit Merrifield and pinch-runner Billy Burns.

Dyson said he would not be watching postseason games.

“It’s kind of sad and tough to watch postseason when you’re not in it,” Dyson said.

The Twins, who have lost 10 of 11, have dropped 102 games, matching a club record for defeats. The 1982 Twins also lost 102.

“We’re trying to win games, but it’s becoming difficult,” Twins right-hander Ervin Santana said. “But, I think we just try to do too much and we forgot about the little things. It’s a game. You just have to prepare to be better for the next year.”

Taylor Rogers (3-1), the fourth of five Twins pitchers, took the loss after allowing three runs, three hits and two walks while retiring only one of the six batters he faced.

Joakim Soria (5-8) worked a scoreless eighth to pick up the victory. Wade Davis got his 27th save in 30 chances.

Royals left-hander Jason Vargas tossed five shutout innings, allowing four hits, striking out six and walking one. He threw 53 strikes in 87 pitches, leaving with a 2-0 lead in his third start since having Tommy John surgery in 2015. Vargas finishes with a 2.25 ERA, allowing three runs and eight hits while striking out 11 and walking three in 12 innings.

“It was nice to have a reward as far as having some success once I was able to step underneath the lights and really get out there for real,” Vargas said. “Going into the offseason, I was just hoping for health as far as being able to have the normal offseason. So to have a nice outing like this before is a nice comfortable feeling.”

Rookie Kevin McCarthy, however, did not hold the lead for long. McCarthy yielded a two-run two-out home run to Kennys Vargas in the sixth. After McCarthy walked the next two batters, Peter Moylan was summoned to face John Ryan Murphy, retiring him on a comebacker.

The Vargas homer snapped a Twins’ streak of 106 innings without more than one run. According to Elias, it is the longest such streak in the majors since the Philadelphia Phillies went 109 innings in 1942 without scoring multiple runs.

“We just kind of stagnated from there,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said.

Hosmer hit a two-run homer, his 25th, off Santana in the third. The Royals did not get another hit until Dyson’s one-out double in the eighth.

ATTENDANCE DECLINE

The Wednesday attendance of 23,437 pushed the Royals’ season total to 2,445,361 after 77 home dates. After 77 Kauffman Stadium dates last year, the Royals had pulled 2,564,750 through the turnstiles, a decline of 119,389.

ZERO AT KC

The Twins dropped to 0-9 at Kauffman Stadium. They have never finished a season winless at Kansas City.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: 1B Joe Mauer (hamstring injury) was not in the lineup, but Molitor said he was available to pinch hit.

Royals: OF Lorenzo Cain, who has played only one game in September because of left wrist inflammation, will not play again this season. “There is no need to push him,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Kyle Gibson, who went to the University of Missouri, will make his 11th career start against the Royals.

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy is 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA in three outings against the Twins this season.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Billy Burns’ sacrifice fly scored Raul Mondesi in the 11th inning as the Kansas City Royals defeated the Minnesota Twins 4-3 Tuesday night, staving off postseason elimination.

The defending World Series champions are five games behind Baltimore for the second AL wild card with five to play. The Orioles lost 5-1 at Toronto on Tuesday night.

Mondesi drew a walk to lead off the inning, stole second and moved to third on Jarrod Dyson’s sacrifice bunt. Whit Merrifield and Eric Hosmer were walked intentionally to load the bases before Burns hit a fly ball to center field that was deep enough to get Mondesi home.

Rookie Brooks Pounders (2-1), the eighth Royals pitcher, picked up the victory, getting the final two outs of the 11th inning.

The Twins used nine pitchers, matching a club record for an extra-inning game. Left-hander Tommy Milone (3-5) was charged with the loss.

Twins rookie starter Jose Berrios was pulled after 4 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on four hits. He has an 8.61 ERA in 13 starts.

Royals starter Ian Kennedy was removed after five innings and 106 pitches. He gave up three runs on five hits, while striking out five and walking three. He yielded a solo home run to Eduardo Escobar in a 10-pitch at-bat in the fourth inning.

Juan Centeno doubled home Escobar in the second inning for the first run. Max Kepler’s two-out fifth inning single scored Brian Dozier.

The Royals scored two in the fourth on Hosmer run-producing single, his 101st RBI, and Merrifield came home when Kendrys Morales grounded into a double play. Jarrod Dyson’s two-out single in the fifth scored Paulo Orlando to tie the score at 3.

Pinch runner Terrance Gore stole second and third, his 11th steal in 12 attempts, in the Kansas City eighth, but Merrifield bunted into an inning ending double play.

NEWMAN VISITS

NASCAR driver Ryan Newman, who is a friend of Royals manager Ned Yost, visited the team and was in uniform before the game.

SCHAFER BATS FIFTH

Twins LF Logan Schafer batted fifth for the first time this year and the seventh time in his career. He was 1-for-25 in his previous six starts as the No. 5 hitter. He went 1-for-4.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: RHP Dillon Gee has a blood clot in his lung and shoulder and won’t pitch again this year. Gee had shortness of breath after pitching 2 2/3 innings in relief Sunday at Detroit and was taken to the hospital when the blood clots were detected. He also had surgery in July 2012 while with the Mets for a blood clot in his shoulder.

Twins: 1B Joe Mauer, who is hitless in his past 15 at-bats, is still bothered by a sore quadriceps and not in the lineup.

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Ervin Santana is 5-9 with a 4.65 ERA in 20 career starts against the Royals. This is his fifth start this season against the Royals.

Royals: LHP Jason Vargas will make his third start after rehabbing from 2015 reconstructive elbow surgery.

— Associated Press —