Mark Buehrle’s stomach wasn’t feeling too good. His arm, however, was in exceptional shape.

Buehrle pitched seven shutout innings to win his sixth straight decision and the Toronto Blue Jays beat Kansas City 3-2 on Friday night, ending the Royals’ winning streak at five games.

Buehrle didn’t stick around to speak to reporters after the game, citing an upset stomach. But all those who remained had plenty of praise for the veteran left-hander.

”We just couldn’t get any hits off him, couldn’t get anything rolling,” Kansas City outfielder Alex Gordon said.

Adam Lind drove in two runs for the Blue Jays, who have won 10 of 14 meetings with Kansas City dating to 2011. Second baseman Ryan Goins made a diving play for the final out with two runners aboard.

The Royals, who came in six games behind Oakland for the second AL wild-card berth, lost for the first time since Aug. 24 against Washington, the final defeat in a seven-game skid.

”This one’s not overly frustrating,” manager Ned Yost said. ”You don’t ever want to lose at this time of year, but it was a good game. We fought to the end, it just didn’t happen.”

Buehrle (11-7) allowed four hits, walked one and struck out five to match his longest winning streak since 2005, when he won a career-best nine consecutive decisions. He’s 6-0 with a 1.93 ERA in his past eight outings and has gone 8-2 with a 2.72 ERA in 14 home starts this season.

”He’s got so many different weapons,” Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia said. ”He’s so good at executing a plan.”

Thanks to Buehrle’s brisk, efficient outing, the game was completed in 2 hours, 24 minutes.

”He works quick, and once he gets in a groove he just gets in that rhythm,” Gordon said. ”You look up and it’s the eighth inning and it’s 8 o’clock.”

Arencibia said Buehrle isn’t bothered when opposing batters try to disrupt his pace by stepping out of the box.

”A lot of teams try to take their time, call timeout and try to get him off his rhythm,” Arencibia said. ”It doesn’t faze him, really. It’s funny because I see teams try to do that and I know he doesn’t care. He’s just ready to pitch.”

Brett Cecil and Sergio Santos worked the eighth before Casey Janssen finished for his 25th save in 27 chances.

Mike Moustakas hit a leadoff single in the ninth and was replaced by pinch-runner Chris Getz. Pinch-hitter David Lough popped out before Jarrod Dyson singled. Pinch-hitter George Kottaras lined out sharply to center, and Janssen ended it by getting Gordon to ground out, with Goins diving for the ball and throwing from his knees.

Goins went 1 for 4 and has hit safely in all seven games he’s played since being promoted from Triple-A Buffalo.

”He’s done a terrific job,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. ”There’s no panic with the kid. He carries himself like he belongs.”

Ervin Santana (8-8) was the hard-luck loser. He allowed three runs, two earned, and four hits in seven innings, extending his winless streak to five starts. The right-hander walked two and struck out six.

Toronto took the lead with a two-run first. After leadoff batter Jose Reyes flied out on the first pitch, Goins reached on an error by former Blue Jays infielder Emilio Bonifacio at second base. Goins went to third on Edwin Encarnacion’s double, and Lind followed with a two-run single.

”The pitch to Lind wasn’t a bad pitch,” Yost said. ”It was kind of middle-away a little bit and he just served it up the middle for the two runs.”

Toronto made it 3-0 in the fifth when Anthony Gose hit a leadoff triple and scored on Goins’ infield single, a hot shot that Moustakas couldn’t handle cleanly at third.

The Royals rallied with two runs off Cecil in the eighth. Alcides Escobar singled and went to third on a base hit by Gordon, then scored on Bonifacio’s sacrifice bunt. Replays showed that Bonifacio beat the throw to first, but he was called out by umpire Will Little, bringing Yost out for an argument.

”He wasn’t doing much talking, I was,” Yost said when asked what kind of explanation Little offered.

Eric Hosmer chased Cecil with an RBI single before Santos came on to end the threat. He got some help from third baseman Brett Lawrie, who made a spectacular barehanded catch and throw on Billy Butler’s chopper for the second out.

— Associated Press —

The Kansas City Royals are hoping to make another push for a playoff spot, and their latest successful series at Target Field is definitely going to help.

Bruce Chen bounced back with a solid start and the Royals earned their fifth consecutive win with a 3-1 victory over Minnesota, sending the slumping Twins to their fifth straight loss.

”This was a nice series for us,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. ”We did everything really well, we pitched well, swung the bats well, played solid defense.”

The Royals outscored Minnesota 17-3 in the three-game set to finish the season series with a 15-4 record against their AL Central rival. Kansas City has won seven straight at Target Field.

”They’ve probably had our number in the past, so it’s tough to say anything bad about them,” said second baseman Chris Getz, who had one of Kansas City’s three RBI singles.

Coupled with Oakland’s 7-6 loss in Detroit, the Royals are six games back of the A’s for the AL’s second wild-card slot.

”I couldn’t even tell you who’s ahead of us,” Yost said. ”My focus is if we win everything else takes care of itself.”

Getting Chen back on track certainly helps.

Chen (6-2), who is good at deception and changing speeds, gave up one run and five hits in 5 2-3 innings. In his past two starts, he allowed 13 runs in nine innings. Before those two, he had allowed just three earned runs in 38 2-3 innings over six starts.

”I went back and tried to be more aggressive,” Chen said. ”I wanted to make sure I pound the strike zone.”

Kelvin Herrera and Will Smith combined for 2 1-3 innings of scoreless relief. Greg Holland pitched a scoreless ninth for his 36th save in 38 chances.

”It was a total team effort,” Chen said. ”We won collectively.”

The Twins hit just 15 for 91 (.165) in the series. Brian Dozier homered for Minnesota, which has totaled just six runs during its skid.

Minnesota is one game ahead of last-place Chicago in the division.

”It’s a tough time of the year,” said bench coach Terry Steinbach, who filled in when manager Ron Gardenhire was ejected in the second inning. ”They don’t call it the ‘Dog Days of August’ for nothing, and whether you’re in first place or last place or somewhere in the middle, as players and as organizations and teams you’ve got to figure out a way to get through this stuff.”

Justin Maxwell was hit by a pitch – the ninth batter plunked this season by Twins starter Samuel Deduno – and both benches were warned by plate umpire Alan Porter. Gardenhire came out to protest and was tossed for the fourth time this year.

Maxwell was hit by a pitch in Wednesday night. Salvador Perez homered twice in that game for the Royals and had a fastball come in high and tight.

”I don’t think they were trying to hit me on purpose,” Maxwell said. ”I’m just glad it helped lead to a big inning.”

Getz, Alcides Escobar and Alex Gordon singled home runs in the second.

Deduno (8-8) allowed three runs in three innings before leaving because of soreness in his right shoulder. An MRI is scheduled for Friday.

He said he felt a little pain when trying to throw his fastball hard.

”I wanted to be aggressive. That’s when I felt it,” he said. ”I wanted to keep pitching, but they told me they want to see what’s wrong with my shoulder.”

Deduno had been bothered by biceps tendinitis in his throwing arm earlier this month but told the team he was feeling fine.

Dozier homered in the sixth to make it 3-1. His 14th homer tied him with Tim Teufel (1984) for most homers in a season by a Minnesota second baseman.

Already playing short-handed because outfielder Oswaldo Arcia was unavailable with a sore wrist, Minnesota lost right fielder Wilkin Ramirez in the fifth inning after he fouled a ball off his left shin. He was scheduled for an MRI later Thursday.

— Associated Press —

Salvador Perez homered twice, got four hits and sent a message to Minnesota pitcher Andrew Albers after a high-and-inside fastball, leading the Kansas City Royals over the Twins 8-1 Wednesday night.

Danny Duffy (2-0) pitched 6 2-3 shutout innings hours after being promoted from Triple-A. Minnesota lost its fourth in a row.

Perez hit a two-run homer in the fourth, a 415-foot drive into the upper deck in left field off Albers (2-2) that made it 3-0.

When Perez came up again in the sixth, Albers threw an up-and-in pitch that sent Perez tumbling to the ground.

The 23-year-old catcher, who missed a week with a concussion earlier this month, took his helmet off and pointed at his side, apparently telling Albers to aim lower if he’s going to throw inside. Albers held both of his arms out and had a few words of his own for Perez.

Home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt warned both benches. Perez then struck back by lining a single that whizzed over Albers’ head.

Perez hit another two-run homer in the eighth, connecting off reliever Casey Fien in the eighth.

Perez had his first career multihomer game. In 15 games against the Twins this season, Perez is hitting .410 with four doubles, three homers and nine RBIs.

Duffy was called up from the minors and replaced the struggling Wade Davis in the rotation. Duffy allowed five hits and struck out seven in his third start with the Royals since having elbow surgery last June.

Duffy has shuffled among Kansas City, Triple-A Omaha and Double-A Northwest Arkansas as he comes back from surgery.

In three August starts with the Royals, Duffy has a 1.10 ERA and has struck out 17. The tall and thin lefty hasn’t given up a run in his last 12 2-3 innings.

The Twins struck out 10 times and set the club record for strikeouts in a season with 31 games to go. Minnesota batters have fanned 1,127 times, breaking the previous mark of 1,121 set in 1997.

Chris Colabello whiffed on a changeup from Duffy in the fifth inning to set the record.

Justin Morneau hit his 16th home run in the ninth to prevent the Twins from being shut out.

Alex Gordon hit a solo homer as the Royals beat Minnesota for the eighth time in their last nine games.

— Associated Press —