MIAMI (AP) — Yordano Ventura escaped two threats before turning the game over to the bullpen with a 1-0 lead, and for the Kansas City Royals, that meant another victory.

Ventura pitched six innings and the Royals extended their winning streak to nine games Tuesday by beating the Miami Marlins 1-0.

Three relievers closed out the win and extended the bullpen’s streak of 32 consecutive shutout innings since Aug. 10. That broke the franchise record of 29 2/3 consecutive innings set in 1969.

Kelvin Herrera pitched a perfect ninth for his eighth save. The longest winning streak since June 2014 by the Royals (65-60) has gotten them back in the mix in the AL wild-card race.

“The team you’re seeing is the team we are,” Ventura said.

“We’re definitely confident right now,” right fielder Lorenzo Cain said.

The Royals won with six hits. They scored the lone run in the sixth when Paulo Orlando led off with a single, stole second and came home on Cain’s single.

Ventura (9-9), who reached 101 mph on the scoreboard radar gun, allowed six hits and one walk while striking out six. The Royals’ starters have an ERA of 1.69 during the winning streak.

“Those guys have been outstanding,” Cain said. “It has been lights out every night.”

Andrew Cashner (4-10) had his best outing in five starts for the Marlins but fell to 0-3 since joining them on July 30. He allowed one run in six innings.

The Marlins had won three straight but were shut out despite totaling seven hits. They went 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

“It was one of those games tonight where you didn’t feel it was going to take too much,” Miami manager Don Mattingly said. “Our guy was throwing the ball good, their guy was throwing it good. We just couldn’t really break through.”

Miami loaded the bases with two outs in the third, but Marcell Ozuna flied out to end the inning. Ventura pitched around a leadoff double by Ozuna in the sixth.

The Marlins played their 15th consecutive game decided by three runs or less, a club record. They are 7-8 during the stretch.

DEPARTURE

Ozuna left the game in the eighth inning because of a family emergency. Mattingly said he didn’t know whether Ozuna would be available Wednesday.

HOSMER HOMECOMING

The Royals played in Miami for the first time since 2008, and it was Eric Hosmer’s first game in his hometown. He went 0 for 3 with a walk.

REVERSAL

Cain was caught stealing in the sixth when the initial call of safe was overturned by replay.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Marlins: Cashner pitched with a blood blister under a nail on his pitching hand. “Tonight was worse than it has been, but I found a way to get it done,” he said.

Royals: LHP Jason Vargas, who is coming back from Tommy John surgery, made his first Triple-A rehab start Monday and allowed three runs in three innings for Omaha.

UP NEXT

RHP Jose Fernandez (12-7, 3.05) is scheduled to start Wednesday for Miami against RHP Dillon Gee (5-6, 4.52). In his past four starts, Fernandez is 0-3 with an ERA of 6.00.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Danny Duffy keeps winning and so do the Kansas City Royals.

Duffy won his 10th straight decision, Eric Hosmer doubled in the go-ahead run and the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 2-1 Sunday for their eighth consecutive win.

The Royals swept a four-game series from the Twins for the first time since 1999 and have their longest winning streak since an eight-game run Aug. 3-11, 2014. The Royals have won 13 of 15 since the Rally Mantis showed up in the dugout.

“We all know as a team we can go on some crazy runs,” Hosmer said.

Duffy (11-1), unbeaten since June 6, improved to 5-0 with a 1.18 ERA in August. His 2.66 ERA ranks second in the American League, while his .917 winning percent tops the majors.

Duffy left after 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run and a season-high eight hits while walking two and striking out four.

“There was a lot of traffic out there,” Duffy said. “I made some pitches when I had to. When you don’t have your best stuff, you just battle. That’s kind of how I felt today, just get through as many outs as I can and let your defense play behind you. And goodness, didn’t they, the defense killed it out there today. I’m very happy with the way it went.”

He outpitched Twins right-hander Ervin Santana (6-10), who allowed two runs and five hits while striking out 10 and walking one over seven innings.

“They way he’s been pitching the last few games, he’s lights out,” Santana said of Duffy. “He’s doing his job. He’s doing what he’s supposed to do. He just keeps everybody off balance. He just locates his fastball and his changeup. So, that’s what makes him better today.”

Duffy worked out a no-out, bases loaded jam in the second inning with the help of a couple of fielding gems. After Eddie Rosario struck out, Alex Gordon made a sliding catch of Kurt Suzuki’s fly to shallow left . Third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert snagged Danny Santana’s hard hit grounder and threw out Eduardo Escobar at second base.

“I thought it could have been his best start in this run,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “For the simple reason he was really struggling with command of his fastball. When good pitchers don’t have their best stuff, they still find ways to compete at a high level and that’s exactly what Danny did with the help of some great defense.”

Hosmer’s two-out double in the sixth over the head of center fielder Rosario scored Lorenzo Cain, who had an infield single.

Hosmer singled in the second, moved to third on Kendrys Morales’ double and scored on Alcides Escobar’s ground out for the first Kansas City run.

Santana has a 1.91 ERA in his past 11 starts after beginning the season 1-7 with a 5.10 ERA.

“It’s terrible, man,” Twins second baseman Brian Dozier said to be swept by the Royals. ” We’re playing good, it seems like. These past four games we’ve always make that one mistake and against good teams like Kansas City, it’s not getting people in, bases loaded, nobody out, that’s the ballgame.”

Robbie Grossman and Trevor Plouffe doubled in the third to produce the only run off Duffy.

Kelvin Herrera pitched a perfect ninth to log his seventh save in nine chances.

MOLITOR’S BIRTHDAY

Twins manager Paul Molitor turns 60 Monday. “There’s some plans being made for me,” Molitor said. “I’ll be a willing participant. It’ll be nice to have an off day and do some things with the family. But not celebrate, I’m past that point.”

NO MAUER

1B Joe Mauer, who is a career .326 hitter with 14 home runs and 111 RBI against the Royals, went 0 for 12 in the series and was not in the lineup Sunday. He grounded out as a pinch hitter in the ninth.

SEEING THE LIGHT

The Twins recalled RHP Pat Light, who was acquired from Boston on Aug. 1, from Triple-A Rochester, where he had a 2.57 ERA in six outings. He appeared in two games for the Red Sox this season, giving up seven runs in 2 2/3 innings.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: RHP Kris Medlen (rotator cuff inflammation) made a Saturday rehab start for Triple-A Omaha, allowing three runs and two hits, including a home run, and a walk in 1 2/3 innings against Nashville. He threw 22 strikes in 34 pitches.

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Kyle Gibson starts the series opener against Detroit on Tuesday. Gibson threw a complete-game Wednesday at Atlanta.

Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura starts the series opener at Miami on Tuesday. Ventura is 0-2 in two interleague starts, yielding 11 runs over eight innings.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Ian Kennedy has been getting scant support, 11 runs in his previous nine starts, the lowest in the majors in that span.

Alex Gordon and the Kansas City hitters quickly made up for that drought.

Gordon homered twice and doubled, Kennedy pitched eight sharp innings and the Royals extended their winning streak to seven games, beating the Minnesota Twins 10-0 Saturday night.

“Tonight the offense was just rolling,” Gordon said. “Like we talked about last year, just keep the line moving. That’s kind of what we had tonight.”

“It’s a little contagious, everyone was feeling good at the plate and you just roll with it,” he said.

The Royals’ string is their best since they won seven straight in April 2015. The World Series champions have won 12 of 14 to move back into the AL wild-card race.

“We scored four, which helped, and then attack the zone a little bit more,” Kennedy said. “And then we scored more later on and we just kept tacking on. It allows us to go out there and throw strikes and try to get ahead of guys and be efficient.”

Gordon has homered five times in five games. He connected in the fourth inning and again in the fifth for his fourth career multihomer game and his first since May 18, 2014.

Kennedy (8-9) gave up four hits, walked none and struck out six. He allowed only one runner past second base and has an 0.79 ERA in his past five starts.

Kennedy has allowed no more than one run while pitching at least six innings in that five-start span, tying a team record. Larry Gura had a parallel streak in 1981.

“(Danny) Duffy hasn’t done that yet?” Kennedy said. “It seems like every time he’s out there, he’s doing that same thing.”

Salvador Perez and Gordon hit back-to-back home runs in a four-run fifth, chasing Hector Santiago (10-8).

“Kennedy’s got a sneaky fastball,” Twins star Brian Dozier said. “And he lives away. He was getting the call all night about three or four inches off. He kept peppering us. It’s what veteran pitchers do. He kept getting it and we tried to make adjustments.”

“Obviously with a good pitcher like that, and you give up run after run after run from the third inning on, it’s tough to play catch up,” he said.

Santiago was tagged for eight runs and 11 hits over 4 2/3 innings. The lefty is 0-4 with a 10.89 ERA since the Twins acquired him in an Aug. 1 trade with the Los Angeles Angels.

“Too many pitches in the middle of the zone, too many mistakes,” Santiago said.

Lorenzo Cain doubled twice, singled and drove in three runs.

NO DOZIER HOMER

Dozier had homered in seven straight games he’d started against the Royals before going 0 for 4.

TWINS RECALL MEJIA

LHP Adalberto Mejia, acquired by the Twins from the Giants in a July 28 trade for Eduardo Nunez, was recalled from Triple-A Rochester, where he was 1-2 with a 4.66 ERA in three starts. Mejia was scheduled to start Saturday for the Red Wings, but instead went to the Minnesota bullpen. Mejia made his big league debut, giving up two runs on five hits, a walk and a sacrifice fly in 2 1/3 innings. The Twins announced after the game he was being sent back to Rochester. … 1B-DH Kenny Vargas, who hit .259 in 25 games, was optioned to Rochester.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: Closer RHP Wade Davis, who went on the disabled list July 31 with a flexor strain, is going to Surprise, Arizona, to throw batting practice. “We’ll see how he does there,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. Yost said Davis has thrown three or four bullpen sessions.

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Ervin Santana, who has won his past three starts, is 13-14 with a 3.69 ERA in 39 starts with the Twins. He’s in the second year of a four-year contract with the club.

Royals: Duffy, who will be making his first start this season against the Twins, will be seeking his 10th straight victory since a June 6 loss at Baltimore.

— Associated Press —