KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Adalberto Mondesi hit a two-run homer and finished with four RBI, Danny Duffy allowed two hits over six innings and the Kansas City Royals routed the Detroit Tigers 9-2 on Wednesday to sweep their two-game series.

Duffy (8-11) gave up both hits and his only run in the first inning, when Mikie Mahtook drove in Jose Iglesias with a two-out single. The left-hander labored through the frame but breezed the rest of the way, striking out six while working around a trio of walks.

Alex Gordon hit a two-run homer and Brett Phillips had a pair of RBI as the Royals pounded Tigers starter Michael Fulmer (3-10) in his second outing off the disabled list.

Fulmer, who tossed 4 2/3 shutout innings against the White Sox last week, allowed seven runs on eight hits before he was chased with two outs in the fourth. Fulmer is winless in his last seven starts, losing five of them, since beating the Twins on June 14.

Mahtook also homered off Wily Peralta in the ninth for Detroit.

Mondesi began Kansas City’s onslaught with his homer in the second, his second in as many days. Gordon went deep in the third, and the Royals added on with two triple and two doubles in the fourth.

Seven of the eight hits Fulmer allowed went for extra bases.

The Royals kept tacking on runs against the Detroit bullpen, sending the Tigers to their fifth consecutive loss. They’ve now lost 26 of their last 32 on the road.

Much like Fulmer, Duffy had been struggling much of the past month, going winless in three starts around a stint on the DL. But he was in complete control after the first inning, the only runners he allowed coming on a pair of walks and an error by third baseman Hunter Dozier.

Duffy’s performance was rather unexpected, too. He’d lost three straight to the Tigers, including two rough outings earlier this season, and was 3-8 with a 6.01 ERA in day games.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Tigers: Iglesias left in the fourth inning with a lower abdomen strain. He singled in the first inning and flied out to center field in the third. Jim Adducci replaced him in the lineup.

Royals: RHP Ian Kennedy (left oblique strain) was scheduled to make his first rehab start at Triple-A Omaha on Wednesday night. … OF Bubba Starling, a former first-round pick, will begin his rehab stint after a dislocated finger at rookie-level Idaho Falls.

UP NEXT

The Tigers head to New York on Thursday night with LHP Francisco Liriano (3-9, 4.82 ERA) facing Yankees LHP J.A. Happ (15-6, 3.80) in the opener of a four-game set. The Royals get the day off before facing Baltimore on Friday night in a matchup of the two worst teams in the majors.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jakob Junis had just served up a home run to JaCoby Jones and a base hit to Jeimer Candelario, and the Royals’ young right-hander could feel the inning starting to get away from him.

So when he turned around to watch his infield turn a timely double-play on a grounder by Jose Iglesias, Junis wheeled right back around with the kind of fist pump rare for the soft-spoken starter.

“That was a big at-bat,” Junis said. “Who knows if I would have gotten a chance to go back out.”

Junis did indeed get to go back out for the ninth, and when he mowed through Detroit’s lineup one more time, he had his first career complete game. The six-hitter allowed Kansas City to roll to a 6-2 victory to begin a midweek, two-game set between AL Central rivals Tuesday night.

Not only was it his first big league complete game, it was his first as a professional.

“That’s a goal you set out to do,” said Junis, who improved to 4-0 with a 1.74 ERA in four starts against Detroit this season. “A great feeling to accomplish that. Hopefully more to come.”

The only runs Junis (7-12) allowed came in the third, when Candelario managed a sacrifice fly, and the eighth, when Jones went deep. Otherwise, the young right-hander worked briskly and efficiently, with seven strikeouts and no walks producing his second win since May 18.

“You have confidence against certain teams. Pitchers get that,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said. “You have success and that gives you confidence. You ride that.”

Junis’ three previous wins against Detroit came in April and May, when he was off to a hot start, but he struggled throughout June and landed on the disabled list with lower back inflammation. But he’s been solid in eight starts since his return, cutting down his walks and home runs.

“He wasn’t showing it, but he was very frustrated when he was going through that period. He’s not a robot,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “Tonight he was pretty much in control the whole way.”

Adalberto Mondesi went deep off Matthew Boyd (8-12) to lead off the third inning, and the Royals wound up batting around. Jorge Bonifacio hit a sacrifice fly, Hunter Dozier added a two-run double and Alcides Escobar wrapped up the big inning with a two-out single that gave Kansas City a 5-1 lead.

That turned out to be plenty with Junis on the mound.

Boyd, who threw six shutout innings against the White Sox his last time out, wound up allowing five runs on seven hits and three walks in six innings. The Tigers’ right-hander dropped to 3-7 in 13 career starts against Kansas City, and he’s just 8-21 in 41 starts on the road.

“I just got away from my fastball. Hats off to Mondesi, he hit my pitch,” Boyd said. “I lost a little feel for the fastball as the inning went on and that’s what happened.”

Detroit could have used a gem from him as they opened a nine-game trip. They’ve lost four straight and five of six, their offense failing to score more than three runs in any of the defeats.

STATS AND STREAKS

Junis had the first nine-inning complete game by the Royals since Jason Vargas on June 2, 2017, against the Indians. … Royals 1B Hunter Dozier has six RBI in his last six games. He had four in his previous 35. … Tigers LF Mikie Mahtook has reached base in 13 straight games.

JONES RETURNS

Jones (right hamstring strain) was back in the lineup for the first time since hitting the DL on Aug. 13. OF Mike Gerber was optioned to Triple-A Toledo on Sunday to create a roster spot for him.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Tigers: LHP Daniel Norris (left groin strain) could start Saturday against the Yankees in New York, Gardenhire said. Norris has been sharp in rehab outings at Toledo after compiling a 5.87 ERA in five appearances for Detroit before getting hurt.

Royals: OF Brian Goodwin (left groin strain) will rejoin the club when rosters expand Sept. 1, Yost said. … OF Jorge Soler (left toe fracture) will finish the season with Triple-A Omaha before he rejoins the Royals. That would mean Soler is expected back Sept. 4.

UP NEXT

Tigers RHP Michael Fulmer tries to build on a solid start in his return from the disabled list, when he threw 4 2/3 scoreless innings against the White Sox last Friday. The Royals counter with LHP Danny Duffy as the teams wrap up their two-game series with a matinee Wednesday.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jason Kipnis had been mired in such a batting slump that the Indians second baseman had resorted to watching old film of himself, trying to discover what had changed in the past couple years.

He finally noticed a subtle, almost imperceptible difference in his hand position, so he rolled up a magazine and began mimicking his old swing in his hotel room. And while it felt a bit odd, and looked just as goofy, Kipnis nevertheless went to sleep feeling as if something had finally clicked.

Did it ever.

Kipnis proceeded to club four hits and drive in four runs Sunday, the big shot an inside-the-park homer in the ninth inning, to lead Cleveland’s 12-5 rout of the Kansas City Royals.

“Obviously every day I’ve been working to snap out of it. It’s been ugly to watch and worse to go out there,” said Kipnis, who is still hitting just .223 this season. “I came in with better spirits and said, `Let’s see where it goes from here.”

Kipnis nearly went 5 for 5, but a baserunning mix-up by Melky Cabrera on his flyball in the second resulted in a fielder’s choice. Kipnis later had a pair of singles and a double before the homer.

“He swung the bat very well,” Indians manager Terry Francona said, “and I’ll tell you what, what a lift that would give us. He’s showed flashes, but if he could get hot, what a lift it would be.”

Shane Bieber (8-2) allowed four runs for Cleveland — on homers by Whit Merrifield, Salvador Perez and Lucas Duda. He departed after allowing six hits and striking out seven in 5 1/3 innings, but it was still enough for the AL Central-leading Indians to improve to 10-1 when facing a series sweep.

Right-hander Jorge Lopez (0-4) allowed five runs, all in the fourth inning, on five hits and three walks for Kansas City. He was lifted after throwing 79 pitches in just four innings.

“You give a chance to your guys when you go deep in a game and I couldn’t do it today. I need to get better for sure,” Lopez said. “We’ll see about going forward from this start.”

The Royals, who had snapped their own five-game skid Friday night, looked as if they’d keep their momentum going when Merrifield took Bieber deep to left field leading off the game.

It was his fifth career leadoff homer and second this year.

But the Indians answered with their big fourth inning, when six consecutive batters reached on four hits and a pair of walks. And after Perez went deep in the bottom half, the Indians added two more runs on Francisco Lindor’s two-out single in the sixth to add to their cushion.

Edwin Encarnacion continued the offensive outburst — which came after the Indians were held to one run on five hits on Saturday night — when he took Royals reliever Jake Newberry deep in the eighth.

“It’s been a tough trip for a lot of guys, but they’re going to be OK,” Francona said. “We needed to find a way today, whether it was ugly or whatever, and we did that.”

O’HEARN IN LF

Royals 1B/DH Ryan O’Hearn got the start in left field, the first time he’s played the outfield in the big leagues. O’Hearn played 13 games there at Triple-A Omaha this season, and manager Ned Yost said the move was designed to “find a way to keep his bat in there.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Indians: RHP Cody Anderson (Tommy John surgery) struck out two in a scoreless inning Saturday night for the club’s Arizona League team. It was his first game since September 2016. “No red flags or anything,” Francona said. … OF Brandon Guyer is getting a couple days off after getting hit where the foot meets the ankle, or as Francona called it, the “fankle.”

Royals: RHP Ian Kennedy (left oblique strain) threw 60 pitches last Friday without any problems and expects to make a rehab start Wednesday, Yost said. … OF Jorge Soler (fractured left toe) will begin a rehab assignment in the next couple of days, but even then he is unlikely to play in the outfield. “I don’t think so,” Yost said. “DH him some, give him some at-bats, make sure he’s ready to go for spring training, which he will be.”

UP NEXT

The Indians and Royals will both take Monday off before beginning their next series. Cleveland is back home to face Minnesota with Carlos Carrasco (15-7, 3.55 ERA) on the mound, and Kansas City begins a five-game trip to Detroit and Baltimore with Jakob Junis (6-12, 4.70 ERA) getting the first start.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Rookie Heath Fillmyer pitched six strong innings, Lucas Duda homered and the Kansas City Royals beat Corey Kluber and the Cleveland Indians 7-1 on Saturday night.

Fillmyer (2-1) limited the AL Central leaders to three hits and two walks, striking out three, as the Indians lost their fourth straight, matching their longest skid of the season.

Kansas City pounded out 14 hits, nine against Kluber (16-7), who went 5 1/3 innings, allowing five runs with two walks and six strikeouts.

Duda hit his 12th homer this season and the 150th of his career in the sixth, a solo shot to right-center field. Two batters later, Hunter Dozier drove in Jorge Bonifacio with a single to put the Royals ahead 5-1 and drive Kluber from the game.

Duda had three hits and scored twice, while Ryan O’Hearn drove in three runs. Prior to 2018, Duda was 3 for 36 in his career against the Indians, but he has eight extra-base hits in 11 games against Cleveland this year, batting .275 (11 for 40).

Cleveland scored its only run in the second when Fillmyer balked to bring in Yonder Alonso, who had moved to third on the first of Melky Cabrera’s two doubles. Three relievers completed the five-hitter.

In the third, Adalberto Mondesi singled, stole second without a throw and scored on Whit Merrifield’s hit to right. The stolen base was the first against Kluber in 250 1/3 innings.

O’Hearn’s double scored Salvador Perez and Duda to give the Royals a 3-1 lead in the fourth.

Merrifield doubled to bring Mondesi in the seventh, and O’Hearn’s eighth-inning single brought in Duda, who had doubled to lead off the inning.

Kluber had his five-game win streak against the Royals snapped, and Kansas City’s five runs were its most against him since June 15, 2016, when the Royals last beat the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner.

UP NEXT

Seeking their first series sweep in more than a month, the last-place Royals send Jorge Lopez (0-2, 3.99 ERA) to the mound for his third start since being acquired in the trade that sent Mike Moustakas to the Brewers. Shane Bieber (7-2, 4.36) starts for Cleveland.

— Associated Press —