MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Sitting in his office about 10 feet away from the Kansas City Royals’ locker room, manager Ned Yost’s voice was nearly drown out by the thunderous hip hop music blaring and the full-throated cackling from his players in the next room.

The young Royals have good reason to celebrate these days.

Alcides Escobar tied a career high with four RBIs on two doubles and Salvador Perez homered to lift the Royals to a 6-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Monday night.

“That’s what we need,” Perez said. “Have some fun and play the game hard.”

Danny Duffy (5-7) gave up one run and four hits while striking out three in 5 2/3 innings and Mike Moustakas had two hits for the Royals. Kansas City (43-39) has won three of four and is off to its best start since 2003.

“We’re very confident in what we have in the tank,” Duffy said. “We’ve got a great offense, great lineup. The defense is always flashing the leather. When we go out there and make pitches, it’s going to be a good night.”

Yohan Pino (0-2) gave up four runs and seven hits while also striking out three in 5 2/3 innings for the Twins. Eduardo Nunez had two hits and an RBI in his return from the disabled list for Minnesota, which has lost six of its last seven games to drop into last place in the AL Central.

“We’ve been facing some pretty decent pitching, and I don’t know if it’s pressing,” said manager Ron Gardenhire, whose Twins went 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position. “I just know we’re just not getting enough big hits right now. We’re not putting any runs on the board. A lot of pressure on our pitchers to be really good.”

The Royals entered the night 3 1/2 games behind Detroit in the division and 1 1/2 games out of the AL wild card. For a team that has been endlessly rebuilding and hasn’t made the playoffs since 1985, those are encouraging numbers as the season reaches its midpoint.

They grabbed everyone’s attention with a 10-game winning streak that vaulted them into first place in June, but had lost seven of 10 games as the bats cooled off.

The Royals signed 42-year-old Raul Ibanez on Monday, hoping he can help boost the team’s scuffling offense and give a little extra support to a solid starting rotation. Ibanez broke into the big leagues with the Royals a decade ago, but hit just .157 in 57 games for the Angels this season.

They had plenty of offense with him on the bench on Monday night.

Pino was shaky early, getting tagged for a two-run double by Escobar in the second inning and an RBI-single from Alex Gordon in the fourth to fall behind 3-0. Perez’s solo homer in the sixth ended Pino’s day and the Royals took advantage of two throwing errors by second baseman Brian Dozier in the eighth, padding their lead with Escobar’s second two-run double of the game.

“When you’re not going good, you’re not capitalizing on mistakes,” Yost said. “When you’re playing well, you do capitalize on mistakes. That’s exactly what we did tonight, which was big. Those were two big runs right there. That’s a lot of breathing room.”

— Associated Press —

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Raul Ibanez’s first opportunity to be an everyday major league player came with the Kansas City Royals.

Returning to the Royals more than a decade later, his hope is for another experience: postseason play.

The Royals signed the 42-year-old Ibanez Monday, nine days after he was released by the Los Angeles Angels.

”It’s been in the works for a while. I was really excited about the opportunity to come here. I like the makeup of the club, and I like the possibilities. They’re endless,” Ibanez said in Minnesota before the Royals played the Twins. ”There’s a great opportunity to do some special things here.”

The Royals entered Monday 3 1/2 games behind first-place Detroit in the AL Central and 1 1/2 games out of a wild-card spot. Manager Ned Yost said he’ll probably play Ibanez in the outfield, at first base and as the designated hitter.

”He’s what we call a professional hitter,” Yost said. ”So we think he’s going to be a big addition to our team.”
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Ibanez, the second-oldest active player in the majors behind Cleveland’s Jason Giambi, who is on the disabled list, batted just .157 in 57 games for the Angels. Though 10 of his 26 hits were for extra bases, he said his balance was ”totally off” at the plate.

”I’m just going to be myself and try to help this team any way I can,” Ibanez said.

This is his fifth team since 2011. Ibanez hit 29 home runs just last year for Seattle, the team that he broke in with in 1996. He didn’t regularly crack the lineup until joining the Royals in 2001, and in 2002 he had his breakout year with a .294 batting average, 37 doubles, 24 home runs and 103 RBIs in 137 games.

”I have some very fond memories of the city. My son was born in Kansas City. Nothing would please me more than to be part of something that hasn’t been done here in a long time, and that’s getting into the postseason,” Ibanez said. ”I’ve been in from the other side, and when you’re playing against them you look at that team and you realize how far the organization has come and how much progress they’ve made.”

The Royals made several moves Monday. Ibanez and infielder Christian Colon were added to the roster, and infielder Pedro Ciriaco and outfielder Justin Maxwell were designated for assignment.

Colon was recalled from Triple-A. The fourth overall pick in the 2010 draft was batting .296 with 48 runs, 14 doubles and 14 steals in 74 games for Omaha. Yost said Colon will play second base, shortstop and third base.

Kansas City also traded left-hander Donnie Joseph to the Miami Marlins for cash. He was designated for assignment on June 24.

The 26-year-old Joseph pitched in one game for Kansas City this season, getting two outs on June 16 in Detroit. The Royals got him during the 2012 season in a trade that sent reliever Jonathan Broxton to Cincinnati.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A misplay gave Omar Infante the chance to deliver another big hit against the Los Angeles Angels.

Infante came through again, singling home the winning run with one out in the ninth inning that lifted the Kansas City Royals over the Angels 5-4 Sunday.

Alex Gordon was hit by a pitch with one out in the Kansas City ninth. Salvador Perez followed with a grounder to shortstop Erick Aybar, but his throw glanced off second baseman Howie Kendrick’s glove and sent Gordon to third. Infante followed with his single.

Perez thought the inning was over when he hit his grounder.

“Double play. Yes, sir,” Perez said. “I don’t how know he missed it. It’s going to happen.”

Royals starting pitcher Jeremy Guthrie was in the trainer’s room icing his arm when he saw Kendrick’s misplay on television.

“With disbelief and elation,” Guthrie said.

Kendrick could not believe it, either.

“I peeked too soon,” he said. “It was a good feed. It just came off my glove. It happens sometimes. I feel bad because the pitcher did his job. I’ve dropped balls before, but I don’t remember dropping one like that. I came out of it too soon.”

“I took my head out of the play. I had time,” he said. “Perez is not a fast baserunner. I had time and the throw was right there. I looked too soon and didn’t follow the ball into the glove. It opened the game up for them.”

Lorenzo Cain hit three doubles for the Royals, finishing with four hits and two RBIs.

Infante, whose grand slam Friday night helped beat the Angels, finished with three hits, including a double. His winning single came against Los Angeles newcomer Jason Grilli (0-3). Pittsburgh traded its former closer to the Angels on Friday.

“I know he throws a slider for the first pitch and I was waiting for that pitch,” Infante said. “Because I saw that the first pitch to Billy (Butler) was a slider, too. In that situation you have to look for a certain pitch, a fastball or a slider, and that’s why I made good contact on that pitch. It was a tough game today, a nice win for us.”

Greg Holland (1-2) struck out two in the ninth.

Kole Calhoun led off the game with a home run against Jeremy Guthrie. The Angels added another run in the first on Cain’s error in right field, and Los Angeles took a 3-0 lead into the fourth after a two-base throwing error by Eric Hosmer.

Albert Pujols opened the Angels sixth with a hit to left field and tried to stretch it into a double. He jogged into second with his left thigh bothering him and was thrown out by Alcides Escobar.

“It’s one of those glands that kind of grabbed something,” Pujols said. “It’s fine. They’re not too concerned about it. I don’t feel it when I’m hitting. The first time I felt it was when I was running. It’s been a couple of days. It grabbed me a little. I took some swings and I didn’t want to come out. If I get on base then they would pinch-run for me. It didn’t bother me to hit.”

Aybar homered later in the inning to make it 4-all.

After the Angels loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh, Kelvin Herrera was summoned to face Pujols and retired him on a fly ball.

The Royals won challenges in the third and fifth inning and both resulted in double plays being converted.

Cain’s two-run double highlighted a four-run fourth off C.J. Wilson.

Wilson faced 22 batters and 12 reached base seven hits, four walks and a hit batter in 3 2/3 innings. Angels starting pitchers combined for only 11 2/3 innings in the three-game series to create a work overload for the bullpen.

“It’s very frustrating,” Wilson said. “You make a lot of close pitches and just miss. I’m not going to lay it in there and let guys tee off on you.”

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Neither rain nor the Kansas City Royals could stop the Los Angeles Angels from winning again.

Albert Pujols and David Freese combined to drive in five runs as the Angels beat the Royals 6-2 on Saturday for their seventh victory in eight games.

There were two rain delays with the second after the fourth inning lasting 3:58. The game didn’t end until nearly 7 hours after it started.

“We had a lot of waiting in between a baseball game,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.

The official game time was 2:48, while the rain delays totaled 4:06.

“It’s a waiting game,” said Eric Hosmer, who had one of the six Royals hits and scored a run. “You basically hang out. We heard it was going to be a couple of hours. It wasn’t one of those things where we were thinking it could start any minute, so we had a little heads up. It’s all part of the grind of the season. There are going to be days like that. It’s what we all sign up for.”

Pujols, who has 14 RBIs in his past 13 games, singled home runs in the third and sixth innings. Freese, who had three hits, drove in three runs, two in the four-run sixth and the other in fourth. He has six RBIs in his past seven games, after driving in only three in his previous 26 games.

“It was nice to come out and get some runs after the rain,” Freese said. “It was almost like starting a new game so it was nice to get some runs, and nice to get the win.”

Kole Calhoun added three hits, scored two runs and drove in one. The Angels’ four-run sixth included four hits, two walks and three stolen bases.

Rookie right-hander Mike Morin (2-1), who went to high school at a Kansas City suburb, allowed two runs on two hits over two innings to pick up the victory.

“It was cool,” Morin said. “Scioscia told me I was going to get the ball and I had all my family and friends here. They were probably the only ones left after the rain delay. It’s been a great weekend. I’ll never forget it. It was just fortunate that I could be in there to get the win in front of them.”

Angels left-hander Hector Santiago was not allowed to come back out after the second delay. He pitched four scoreless innings, giving up four hits.

“Somebody sent me a message and asked me `did you make a witch angry?” said Santiago, who needed to pitch one more inning to claim his first victory of the season and losing his first seven decisions. “It seems like everything that can have an effect on me getting a win has happened. But I gave four scoreless innings and gave us a chance to win, and the team got the win, so that’s what I care about.”

Royals rookie Yordano Ventura (5-7) took the loss, yielding two runs on seven hits over four innings.

“I felt like I was in command of the strike zone, but unfortunately the rain got to me and I couldn’t go back out,” Ventura said with Royals catching coach Pedro Grifol acting as his interpreter. “I prepared to pitch today and I wanted to go back out, but there was no way I could go back after that long rain delay.”

Veteran left-hander Bruce Chen, who had not pitched since April 24 and going on the disabled list with a bulging disc, replaced Ventura after the game resumed. He allowed four runs on four hits, all in the sixth, walked two and struck out eight over five innings.

Jason Grilli made his Angels’ debut after being acquired in a Friday trade with the Pirates and worked a perfect eighth, striking out one.

— Associated Press —