KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After watching the Royals lose four straight, Edinson Volquez was so focused on helping them out of their funk that the starting pitcher forgot something rather important.

“Tickets for my wife,” he said with a grin.

Good thing he remembered while warming in the bullpen. She got to watch Volquez bounce back from a lousy start to go seven sharp innings in a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.

Eric Hosmer hit a three-run double and Kendrys Morales added an RBI double in the first inning, and that was all Volquez (13-7) and the Kansas City bullpen needed. Wade Davis pitched a perfect eighth inning and Greg Holland tossed a flawless ninth for his 30th save.

The only runs Volquez allowed were consecutive RBI hits by Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer.

“I thought he was great,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “His last start he was out of whack, all over the place. He was much more mechanically sound tonight.”

Kyle Gibson (9-10) recovered from a brutal start to last eight innings for his first career complete game, but the Twins’ offense was unable to bail him out. Gibson’s first six batters reached, and Hosmer and Morales staked Kansas City to an early 4-0 lead.

“You can lose it in the first, but you can’t win it in the first. Those are situations that kind of speed up on you,” Gibson said. “I’m trying not to get too emotionally up in what happened, just take it one batter at a time and move on.”

The streaking Twins, who began the day just 1 1/2 games back of Texas for the final AL wild card, tried to mount a comeback after the Royals took their early lead.

Byron Buxton singled with one out in the third, later scoring on Dozier’s base hit, and Mauer followed with an RBI double to make it 4-2. But using some veteran guile, Volquez managed to get Trevor Plouffe to ground out and preserve his lead.

Plouffe also grounded into inning-ending double plays in the first and sixth, as the Twins failed to get a runner to second base the rest of the night.

Kansas City was suddenly having a similarly difficult time against Gibson, who allowed only two hits after his disastrous first inning. Both of them were to Alex Gordon, a two-out double in the second and a single in the fifth.

“I think that’s the first time I’ve been attacked like that,” Gibson said of the first inning. “Most teams come out taking, seeing if my sinker is going to stay in the zone.”

Gibson allowed six hits and walked two while throwing 101 pitches.

“This guy has arguably one of the best two-seamers in the league, and it wasn’t there in the first inning,” Yost said. “It was there in the second inning through the eighth.”

HOLIDAY SPIRIT

Royals pitcher Danny Duffy chose the postgame music in their clubhouse. First up was Frank Sinatra crooning, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” which got a thumbs down from Volquez — “This is bad,” he said. Jose Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad” got better reviews.

STATS AND STREAKS

The attendance was 31,384, which means the Royals need just 3,074 fans to break the franchise’s single-season record Wednesday night. They still have six home dates after that. … Hosmer has a career-best 81 RBI. His previous high was 79 in 2013. … Gordon is 9 for 18 since returning from the disabled list. He had been out with a groin injury.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: LHP Glen Perkins (back) is considering a second injection after seeing a spinal specialist in the Twin Cities, manager Paul Molitor said. He last pitched Sept. 1. … RHP Phil Hughes (back) will throw a 45-pitch simulated game Wednesday.

Royals: Yost bristled when asked whether RHP Johnny Cueto was healthy after another poor start. “How many times am I going to answer this?” Yost asked. “He’s absolutely fine. … I’m not worried about Johnny. He’s completely healthy.”

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Mike Pelfrey gave up seven runs in four innings his last start at Houston.

Royals: RHP Kris Medlen gave up seven runs in 5 2/3 innings his last start vs the White Sox.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Tommy Milone pitched so poorly in April that the Minnesota Twins sent him to the minors in May.

Milone is pitching confidently in September, helping keep the Twins in the playoff hunt.

Milone pitched seven effective innings and Eduardo Escobar reached base four times and drove in three runs as the Twins beat the struggling Kansas City Royals 6-2 on Monday night.

“You like the fact he’s an experienced guy,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “He trusts in what he does. He hasn’t been that way the whole year. We talked about it earlier in the year of getting back to being more aggressive. I think he’s tried to keep that philosophy.”

Milone (8-4) held the Royals to six hits and two runs, while striking out four and walking one. He is 2-0, allowing two runs and nine hits in two September starts.

“A lot of it is pitching games in September that are meaningful ones,” Milone said. “It kind of motivates me to go out there and pitch well. It’s a lot more fun.”

The Twins are 1 1/2 games behind Texas for the AL’s second wild card.

The Royals have been outscored 31-9 in dropping four straight, matching their longest losing streak of the season.

“We haven’t played up to our standard,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “I think our starting pitching hasn’t been exceptionally sharp through this run, and offensively, we’ve faced some tough pitching.

“Milone tonight did a great job. He was consistently strike one on everybody, he was commanding the low outside part of the plate and the up and inside part of the plate for strikes, really good changeups, and mixed in good curveballs.”

Escobar contributed an RBI-single in a three-run sixth and drove in two runs with a two-out single in the seventh off Joba Chamberlain, who was making his Royals’ debut.

Yordano Ventura (10-8), who was 4-0 with a 1.13 ERA in his five previous starts, yielded four runs, eight hits, five walks and two wild pitches in 5 1/3 innings, striking out eight.

“I wasn’t getting ahead of hitters, and this is the big leagues; if you don’t get ahead of hitters, you’re going to struggle,” Ventura said with coach Pedro Grifol acting as his interpreter.

Aaron Hicks hit Ventura’s third pitch for his second career leadoff homer.

The Twins broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth when Torii Hunter, Kurt Suzuki and Escobar opened with singles and all scored.

Suzuki scored on the first of two wild pitches by Ventura in the inning. Joe Mauer’s sacrifice fly brought home Escobar.

Kendrys Morales’ ground out in the first scored Lorenzo Cain and hiked his RBI total to 100, becoming the 28th player in Royals’ history to reach that milestone.

Salvador Perez’s sacrifice fly scored Morales in the seventh for the other run off Milone. Mike Moustakas was out at home to end the inning, attempting to score on Paulo Orlando’s double.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: LHP Glenn Perkins (back spasms) was not with the club. … RHP Phil Hughes (lower back inflammation) will throw his second simulated game Wednesday.

Royals: RF Alex Rios and Herrera were in uniform after being out nine days with the chicken pox.

STRIKEOUTS CONTINUE

Twins rookie DH Miguel Sano struck out twice in three at-bats and has struck out in 11 of his past 13 at-bats. He did draw two walks.

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Kyle Gibson, who went to the University of Missouri, starts the middle game of this series.

Royals: RHP Edinson Volquez lasted just three innings, matching the shortest outing of his career, in his previous start, allowing six runs and eight hits to the Tigers.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — It is probably too late for the Chicago White Sox, but they are back on a hot streak.

Adam Eaton homered and scored three times, and the White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 7-5 on Sunday for their fourth straight win.

“Yeah, it’s good to win in general, but Kansas City’s a high-quality baseball team,” Eaton said. “It’s good to take three from a very, very good team.”

The White Sox had lost their first six games at Kauffman Stadium before sweeping the Royals.

“It shows kind of our inconsistency this year,” Eaton said. “This last month of the season, we’ve got to empty whatever’s left in the tank and I hope this three-game series can kind of foresee what we can do for the rest of the month.”

David Robertson worked a flawless ninth to log his 29th save and has retired 25 straight batters.

“We’re the streakiest team I’ve ever been on in my life,” Robertson said. “We go from winning five or six to losing five or six. I don’t know why we do that. It just seems to happen. Hopefully we can continue to win. There’s still a chance for us to sneak in there.”

Eaton collected three more hits and is batting .517 (15 for 29) in his last seven games.

Erik Johnson (1-0) pitched six innings of three-run ball in his first major league appearance of the season, allowing three solo homers.

“Since he’s been back, even from spring training, we’re seeing a confident guy, even from the solos,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “When you have a lead you can get away with some solo homers. You’d rather do that than sit there and walk everybody. I thought he was fantastic.”

The AL-leading Royals were swept at home for the first time this season. Johnny Cueto (2-5) was pulled after three innings in his fourth straight loss.

Kansas City pulled within one with two runs in the seventh. But Eaton doubled and scored on Jose Abreu’s sacrifice fly in the ninth, and David Robertson got three outs for his 29th save.

Johnson, who was the International League most valuable pitcher after going 11-8 with a 2.37 ERA with Triple-A Charlotte, allowed five hits, including homers to Salvador Perez, Jarrod Dyson and Mike Moustakas.

Cueto, who was acquired in a July 26 trade with Cincinnati, was charged with five runs and seven hits. It was his shortest outing since June 28, 2013, when he left after one inning at Texas and went on the disabled list the next day.

Cueto is 0-4 with a 9.45 ERA during his losing streak, yielding 21 earned runs and 37 hits in 20 innings.

“I’m not frustrated at all, but I’m a little bit disappointed I haven’t been able to help the team the way I was supposed to help this club,” Cueto said with coach Pedro Grifol acting as his interpreter.

The White Sox scored three runs before making an out. Jose Abreu singled in Eaton, and Avisail Garcia drove in two runs with a base hit.

Chicago tacked on two more runs in the third on Adam LaRoche’s RBI single and Rob Brantly’s sacrifice fly.

Eaton added his 12th homer with one out in the sixth. The speedy leadoff hitter had six career homers in 211 games coming into the year.

Perez’s second-inning homer was his team-leading 19th. Dyson and Moustakas went deep in the sixth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

White Sox: Eaton is dealing with shoulder discomfort. “He’s had something nagging him here and there, but it’s nothing to keep him out of the lineup,” Ventura said. He acknowledged trainer Herm Schneider is doing some “maintenance” work on Eaton.

Royals: RHP Ryan Madson (arm fatigue) pitched for the first time since Aug. 22 and gave up a run in the ninth. … Moustakas (hamstring pull) started for the first time since Aug. 30.

UP NEXT

White Sox: LHP Chris Sale (12-7, 3.29 ERA) gets the ball on Monday afternoon in the opener of a three-game series at home against Cleveland. He has struck out 10 or more in 13 starts, the most in a single season since Randy Johnson recorded 13 such starts in 2004.

Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura (10-7, 4.24 ERA) starts Monday in the opener of a three-game series against Minnesota. Ventura is 4-0 with a 1.13 ERA in his last five starts.

— Associated Press —