MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kendrys Morales has resumed his form as a feared power hitter. The Kansas City Royals hope it has come in time to push them back to the postseason.

Morales had two home runs, including a three-run blast in Kansas City’s seven-run ninth inning that propelled the Royals to a 10-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.

Morales hit a two-run shot in the first inning to help the Royals overcome the loss of catcher Salvador Perez, who left the game with a right wrist contusion after he was hit by a pitch in the sixth inning. It was his 17th career multihomer game and extended his hitting streak to nine games.

“It’s been some time now where I’ve been starting to feel really, really good,” Morales said through an interpreter. “Now I’m, really comfortable at the plate and I’m making good, hard contact.”

Brian Dozier hit his 39th home run of the season for the Twins, moving him into a tie with Rogers Hornsby (twice) and Alfonso Soriano for fourth-most home runs by a second baseman in a season. He has homered in five straight games, tying Harmon Killebrew and Marty Cordova for the longest streak in Twins history.

Former Twin Drew Butera’s bases loaded single off Brandon Kintzler (0-2) broke a 3-3 tie and got the Royals rolling in the ninth.

Morales has five homers in his last seven games.

“He’s swinging the bat real well right now, that’s for sure,” manager Ned Yost said. “The second (homer) was huge. We were trying to keep (reliever) Wade (Davis) out of the game.”

The Royals started the day two games behind the second wild card in the AL, but with five teams ahead of them. The margin of error is getting slimmer by the day, and a loss to the team with the worst record in the majors certainly would not have helped their cause.

After giving up three homers to Dozier on Monday night, Royals starter Dillon Gee fell behind 0-2 in the first inning and left a fastball up in the zone. Dozier hit it an estimated 395 feet into the second deck in left field, giving him 25 home runs since the All-Star break. Three of those were hit as a DH, but his 22 as a second baseman surpassed Hall of Famer Joe Gordon’s 21 for the most ever by an American League second baseman.

GEE’S START

Gee gave up three runs and eight hits and struck out two in six innings. Kelvin Herrera (2-4) pitched one inning for the win.

Yost said he thought he might have to get a tired bullpen up early when Gee served up long balls to Dozier, Trevor Plouffe and Eddie Rosario in the first two innings. But the right-hander settled in after that and allowed just two hits over the final four innings before yielding to the bullpen.

“Everything he was throwing was elevated in the zone and his location was off but after the second inning he came in and made an adjustment and got in a groove and did a phenomenal job of getting us through six innings and keeping us right there in the game,” Yost said.

ROSTER MOVES

Royals: Recalled INF Christian Colon and selected the contracts of OF Daniel Nava and RHP Kevin McCarthy from Triple-A Omaha. OF Reymond Fuentes and RHP Nick Tepesch were designated for assignment to make room.

Twins: Recalled RHP Tyler Duffey, 1B Kennys Vargas and INF James Beresford from Triple-A Rochester. Manager Paul Molitor said Duffey would return to the starting rotation on Friday against Cleveland.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: OF Lorenzo Cain missed his sixth straight game because of left wrist inflammation. He is listed as day to day.

Twins: Plouffe had to leave the game in the middle of an at-bat in the eighth inning with a left oblique strain. Plouffe left after falling behind 1-2 and was replaced by Vargas. … LHP Tommy Milone (left biceps) and RHP Trevor May (back) threw simulated games on Tuesday. Molitor said both would likely be activated on Friday.

UP NEXT

The Royals send LHP Danny Duffy (11-2, 3.13) to the mound to face Twins RHP Kyle Gibson (5-9, 5.31) in the series finale. Duffy has been dominant for most of the season, but has allowed at least eight hits in three straight starts. Gibson has been largely disappointing in his Twins career, but is 5-4 with a 3.10 ERA in 10 starts against Kansas City.

— Associated Press —

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Coming off a disappointing homestand, and on the edge of the AL wild-card race, the Kansas City Royals can’t afford to let too many more opportunities slip away.

The defending World Series champions regained their winning touch Monday, despite Brian Dozier hitting three home runs for Minnesota. The Royals got homers from Kendrys Morales and Eric Hosmer to pull away from the Twins 11-5.

Jarrod Dyson had three hits and scored three times for Kansas City, which won for the second time in six games.

“We put ourselves in a tough position, but we still believe that we can pull this thing off,” Hosmer said.

Kansas City started the day four games out of the second wild-card spot.

The Royals went 2-4 in their last six games with New York and Detroit, with each of the losses a close one.

“We could be talking about a major run right here. We quite possibly could have been 6-0 at home,” manager Ned Yost said. “We still feel that we’re not out of this thing by any stretch of the imagination.”

Dozier homered on the first pitch from Ian Kennedy (10-9), then hit a two-run shot in the third and a solo drive into the upper deck in the eighth. Dozier became the sixth Minnesota player to hit three home runs in a game, and the first to do it at home.

Dozier has eight home runs in seven games and 38 this season, the most by a Twins player since Harmon Killebrew hit 41 in 1970. Dozier’s 10 home runs against Kansas City this year are the most ever by a Royals opponent.

“It would be better to be on the winning side of it,” Dozier said.

Kennedy struggled with command, allowing four earned runs in 5 1/3 innings but is 4-0 in his past five starts.

Morales hit a three-run drive off Jose Berrios (2-5) in the fifth for a 5-4 lead. Hosmer, who had four RBI, hit a three-run homer in the eighth.

Berrios was called up from Triple-A to start. The Royals tagged him for five earned runs on nine hits in five innings.

Considered the Twins’ top pitching prospect, Berrios allowed 21 earned runs in 22 innings over five August starts before being sent down.

Dozier has hit a majors-most 24 home runs since the All-Star break. He’s connected 36 times as a second baseman and twice as a designated hitter. The AL record for homers in a season by a second baseman is 39 by Alfonso Soriano in 2002 for the Yankees.

“The best way to (get him out) is don’t throw fastballs down the middle and that’s what we did,” Yost said.

Dozier became the second Twins player with a three-homer game this year. Rookie Max Kepler did it at Cleveland.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: OF Lorenzo Cain missed his fifth straight game because of left wrist inflammation. He was allowed to swing a bat Monday and remains day to day.

Twins: Kepler got the day off. Kepler, who leads AL rookies in home runs (16), RBI (59) and walks (37), has played in all but one game since July 28. He struck out five times Sunday. “We talk about young players and the challenge of playing September baseball for the first time,” said manager Paul Molitor. “We’ll try to keep them fresh as we can.”

UP NEXT

Dillon Gee (6-7, 4.33) is scheduled to start for Kansas City on Tuesday against Ervin Santana (7-10, 3.54). Gee was 2-2 with a 3.94 ERA in five August starts and pitched an inning of relief Friday. Santana is 3-1 in his last five starts with a 3.09 ERA.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Detroit Tigers answered Kansas City’s late rally with another big swing by Justin Upton.

Upton hit a two-run homer with two out in the eighth inning, sending the Tigers to a 6-5 victory over the Royals on Sunday.

“We had some great at-bats earlier in the game that we didn’t come through on,” Upton said. “We came through right there. It’s definitely a September feel. They’re in the hunt, we’re in the hunt. Both teams are battling, the crowd is into it. It’s fun. It makes it a lot more fun.”

Upton also doubled in J.D. Martinez in the second. He has seven homers and 18 RBI in his past 14 games.

Miguel Cabrera was on first after a leadoff single when Upton drove a fastball from Joakim Soria (4-7) over the wall in center for his 20th homer, giving Detroit a 6-5 lead. The seven losses are a career high for Soria.

“That was a really good pitch,” Soria said. “Sometimes you have to tip your cap to the hitter.”

Shane Greene (3-3) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win. Francisco Rodriguez worked the ninth for his 38th save in 42 opportunities.

The Royals batted around in a four-run seventh, highlighted by Jarrod Dyson’s two-run triple with two out. Paulo Orlando doubled home Dyson, but the lead was short-lived.

“It’s a teeter-totter back and forth with this team,” said Andrew Romine, who had two hits for Detroit, including an RBI double in the seventh. “From what I’ve seen the last couple of years since I’ve been here, it’s the same thing every game. So, we know that nobody’s out of the game. We’re not out of it, no matter how many runs. They’re not out of it, no matter how many runs, so we’ve just got to stay mentally locked in.”

Alcides Escobar opened the Kansas City ninth with a double and advanced on Dyson’s groundout. Before Dyson bounced to second, he drove a ball just outside the right-field foul pole. The Royals asked for a review.

“That ball couldn’t have been foul by six inches,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “I don’t think it was much more. It was so close we couldn’t tell on the replay. We could not get an angle on it. We just thought let New York look at it and see what they think. Again it’s a matter of inches and inches didn’t work out in our favor today.”

Escobar was stranded at third when Alex Gordon bounced to second and Orlando grounded out to third.

Martinez also homered for the Tigers. He is hitting .397 with eight home runs and 17 RBI since coming off the disabled list on Aug. 3.

Tigers left-hander Daniel Norris was charged with three runs and four hits in six-plus innings. He struck out seven and walked one.

Escobar homered in the third, tying it at 1 and hiking his hitting streak to 12 games.

Royals starter Edinson Volquez gave up four runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings.

BOYD’S RETURNING

Tigers left-hander Matt Boyd will be recalled Tuesday to start at the White Sox. Boyd went 5-2 with a 4.23 ERA in 16 games, including 14 starts, for Detroit before being optioned to Triple-A Toledo, where he was 2-5 with a 2.25 ERA in 11 starts.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Tigers: OF Cameron Maybin has been out since Monday with a bruised left thumb. … RHP Mike Pelfrey (lower back strain) gave up nine hits in 3 1/3 innings in a rehab start Saturday for Triple-A Toledo at Columbus. “I guess four of them were infield hits; they didn’t get to the dirt,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. “His velocity was good. He looked healthy. We’ve got to figure out if we want to try to find another rehab start for him or whether to activate him.”

Royals: Gordon, who left in the ninth inning Saturday with a sore right ankle, was not in the starting lineup Sunday, but was intentionally walked as a pinch hitter in the seventh and then stayed in the game. “It was more precautionary, more than anything else,” Yost said. “He was fighting me to play.” … LF Lorenzo Cain has not played since Tuesday because of left wrist inflammation.

UP NEXT

Tigers: RHP Justin Verlander, who was selected the AL pitcher of the month for August after going 4-0 with a 1.69 ERA, and White Sox LHP Chris Sale are scheduled to start on Monday at U.S. Cellular Field.

Royals: RHP Ian Kennedy, who went 3-0 with a 1.86 ERA in August, will start Monday at Minnesota in the opener of a six-game trip. The Twins are recalling RHP Jose Berrios from Triple-A Rochester to start.

— Associated Press —