George Brett took over as the Kansas City Royals’ interim hitting coach with the rudderless team mired in an eight-game skid. He leaves with them showing signs of life.

The Hall of Famer announced Thursday that he was stepping down from his on-field job and returning to the Royals’ front office, where he’s served as vice president of baseball operations since retiring as a player following the 1993 season.

“George did an incredible job,” general manager Dayton Moore said in a statement. “His expertise as a baseball man and his passion to win will have an everlasting effect on our team. I’m thrilled that he will be more involved in all aspects of baseball operations.”

Brett has helped out at spring training for years, but his stint as the interim hitting coach was the first time in 20 years he’d put on his familiar No. 5 jersey for games that counted.

The Royals were hitting just .261 when he assumed the job along with Pedro Grifol, who will stay on as the permanent hitting coach. The team was averaging four runs a game and ranked near the bottom of the American League in just about every statistical offensive category.

They were 21-29 and in danger of falling out of contention by June.

Well, the team’s batting average has actually fallen to .255 since Brett and Grifol took over, but the offense is no longer stagnant. Young cornerstones such as Eric Hosmer have started to hit – he had two homers in Wednesday night’s win over Baltimore – and there’s a sense that the Royals could still be clinging to playoff contention entering August.

With the July 31 trade deadline approaching, they were 47-51 and eight games behind Detroit in the AL Central heading into Thursday night’s series finale against the Orioles.

“My lifelong passion after playing was not to be a hitting coach, but Dayton asked me if I would consider it, and I did, but only on the promise that it would be on an interim basis,” Brett said in a statement. “There is a ton of talent here and doing this for almost two months has prepared me to be a better adviser to Dayton and his staff.”

Still, Brett took to his job with relish after finally agreeing to a monthlong tryout that ultimately lasted eight weeks. He arrived at the ballpark early and was easy to spot in the cages before games, overseeing early batting practice with the young players.

He said at the time of his hiring May 30 that he always found the game easier to do than say – that is, he found it natural to play and difficult to instruct. But the guys in the clubhouse almost universally praised him for the job he’d done, particularly on the mental side, where he helped an uptight bunch of Royals start playing like they were kids again.

“This has been an unbelievable experience for me,” Brett said, “and now I’m energized to contribute more to this organization as I return to my non-uniformed role.”

While Brett was fixing that part of the Royals, Grifol was doing the behind-the-scenes work on players’ mechanics, poring over video and tinkering with their swings.

The 43-year-old began his first season with the Royals as the hitting coach of the Surprise Royals. Before that, he was a manager for Class-A High Desert in the Seattle organization, and had worked as an area scout, manager and minor league director over the past 13 seasons.

Now, Grifol has the chance to make a name for himself as the permanent hitting coach.

— Associated Press —

Eric Hosmer hit two home runs and Alcides Escobar drove in the winning run in the ninth to lift the Kansas City Royals to a 4-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night.

David Lough singled and scored the game-ending run when Escobar doubled off the fence in left center with one out in the ninth.

Hosmer homered in the first and his two-run home run in the eighth tied the score at 3. It was Hosmer’s third multi-homer game and his second this season.

Darren O’Day (5-1) took the loss, while Luke Hochevar (3-1), picked up the victory after working a scoreless ninth.

Wei-Yin Chen, who went on the disabled list May 13 with a right oblique strain before returning July 10, departed after Hosmer’s second home run with Lorenzo Cain aboard with one out in the eighth.

Chen gave up a home run to Hosmer on a full-count pitch in the first inning. Chen had not permitted a home run in his previous four starts.

Chen retired the next 12 hitters after Hosmer’s first home run until Escobar’s single in the fifth.

A bevy of scouts were in attendance to watch Royals right-hander Ervin Santana. He can be a free agent after this season and it has been reported he would be dealt before the July 31 trading deadline without a player having to clear waivers.

Santana gave up three runs, only one earned, on seven hits in eight innings to lower his ERA to 3.06, which ranks eighth in the American League.

Matt Wieters homered in the fourth off Santana with two out after Adam Jones reached on an error by first baseman Hosmer.

The Orioles added a run in the eighth to take a 3-1 lead. Brian Roberts and Nate McLouth led off with singles. After Manny Machado bunted them over, Santana walked Nick Markakis intentionally to load the bases. Roberts scored on Jones’ fielder’s choice grounder to shortstop.

— Associated Press —

Bruce Chen tossed six strong innings, Greg Holland pitched out of a ninth-inning jam, and the Kansas City Royals held on to beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-2 on Tuesday night.

The loss snapped the Orioles’ season-best, five-game winning streak.

Holland, who logged his 25th save in 27 chances, gave up a leadoff single in the ninth to Nick Markakis and a run-producing triple to Adam Jones with none out.

Holland preserved the victory by striking out Chris Davis, and retiring J.J. Hardy and Henry Urrutia on grounders.

Chen (4-0), who was making just his second start after replacing Luis Mendoza in the rotation, limited the Orioles to three hits and one run, retiring the final 10 batters he faced. The Orioles had bashed 45 hits in their previous three games before Chen and three Kansas City relievers shut them down.

Chen, the Royals’ 2012 opening day starter, was relegated to the bullpen to start the season after Mendoza earned the final rotation spot in spring training. In two starts, Chen has yielded one run and four hits in 12 innings.

Manny Machado homered with two outs in the third for the only run Chen permitted.

The Royals went 2 for 15 with runners in scoring position, stranding 12 runners, including nine at second and third base.

They loaded the bases with none out in the first, but scored only one run when Billy Butler grounded into a double play.

In the second, Chris Getz’s one-out single scored David Lough.

Mike Moutakas’ double into the right-field corner in the third scored Lorenzo Cain, who singled to lead off the inning. The Royals had runners at second and third with none out, but failed to pad their lead.

Jason Hammel (7-7) took the loss, giving up 10 hits in six innings for the second straight start. After starting the season 7-2, Hammel is 0-5 with a 5.47 ERA in eight starts since his last victory on May 27 at Washington.

— Associated Press —