KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Ryan O’Hearn and Hunter Dozier hit back-to-back home runs leading off the ninth inning against Cleveland closer Cody Allen to lift the Kansas City Royals over the Indians 5-4 on Friday night.

After a broken water pipe near the outfield fountains led to a half-hour delay in the fourth, the Royals and Indians put on a splashy finish.

Cleveland’s Yonder Alonso hit his second homer of the game in the eighth, a two-run shot for a 4-3 lead. Alonso also had a solo shot in the fourth, moments before the right field warning track flooded.

O’Hearn and Dozier then rescued Kansas City from a sixth straight loss with their homers off Allen (4-5). O’Hearn, a rookie first baseman, tied it with a blast into the left field bullpen, and Dozier followed with a wall-scraper to right-center field.

Allen has blown four saves this season and let his ERA rise to 4.50. Wily Peralta (1-0) got the victory for Kansas City, which had just been swept over four games by Tampa Bay.

Royals All-Star catcher Salvador Perez promised a wheelchair-bound fan, Colin Couch, that he would hit a home run after meeting him on the field before the game, according to the team’s Twitter page and broadcaster Steve Physioc.

After Whit Merrifield opened the game with a walk and Alex Gordon followed with a single, Perez made good on the promise by smashing a 454-foot, opposite-field home run — the longest home run for the Royals this season — into Kauffman Stadium’s iconic right field fountains.

A pipe burst near those fountains a few innings later, delaying the game for 30 minutes. Water began leaking onto the field with two outs in the top of the fourth. Relievers in the Royals’ bullpen yelled to alert stadium and game officials to the problem, triggering the stoppage.

As maintenance personnel worked to stop the flow of water, more than a dozen grounds crew members armed with squeegees wicked water from the warning track as it poured from under the fence. They created a sandbag barrier to keep standing water from reaching the outfield grass.

Rookie right-hander Brad Keller shrugged off the unusual delay, which came after Yan Gomes’ double, and struck out Greg Allen to get of the inning with the lead.

Home plate umpire Ramon DeJesus ejected Royals bench coach Dale Sveum during Brantley’s at-bat leading off the eighth inning. It was Sveum’s 16th career ejection — 10 as a manager, five as an assistant coach and once as a player.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: RHP Ian Kennedy (left oblique strain) threw a simulated game. Kennedy hasn’t pitched since July 10 at Minnesota. … RF Jorge Soler (left toe fracture) took some swings against Kennedy during the simulated game. … RHP Jesse Hahn underwent surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow a few weeks ago. It was not a reconstruction, commonly known as Tommy John surgery, but Hahn is expected to be sidelined at least six months. He suffered the UCL strain in March and had worked his way back to Triple-A through the rehab process, which started last month, before the surgery.

Indians: LHP Andrew Miller (right knee inflammation) returned Aug. 3 from the 60-day disabled list, but he’s only appeared in nine games during the last three weeks. Indians manager Terry Francona said Friday that the priority is using Miller in situations when a win is on the line. When he’s not available, it taxes the bullpen — which is down to seven pitchers, including two situational arms. Relief will come when the rosters expand Sept. 1. … RHP Nick Goody has been sidelined with right elbow inflammation since May 3. He will have season-ending arthroscopic surgery on his elbow “sometime next week,” but the ulnar collateral ligament is intact, Francona said. … RHP Cody Anderson pitched off the mound in Arizona for the first time since having Tommy John surgery in March 2017.

UP NEXT

Two-time Cy Young Award winner RHP Corey Kluber (16-6) gets the nod for the Indians in the second game of a three-game series. He is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA in two previous starts this season against the Royals, who send rookie RHP Heath Filmyer (1-1) for the 6:15 p.m. first pitch.

— Associated Press —

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay reached its high-water mark of 2018 by just putting the ball in play.

A throwing error on Kevin Kiermaier’s bases-loaded grounder in the bottom of the ninth inning helped the Rays complete their first season sweep of an American League opponent with a 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night.

“A win is a win,” Kiermaier said. “We’ll take it any way possible.”

Tampa Bay swept the four-game series and finished 7-0 against the lowly Royals this year. The only other season sweep in team history that included multiple series was a four-game wipeout of the Marlins in 2013.

Jake Bauers drew a leadoff walk from Brian Flynn (4-4) in the ninth and went to third on C.J. Cron’s single.

After Joey Wendle grounded out and Willy Adames was intentionally walked to load the bases, Kiermaier grounded a 3-2 pitch to first baseman Ryan O’Hearn, who made a wild toss to the plate.

“We always say, `Put the pressure on the defense,” Kiermaier explained. “Anytime you put the ball in play, you at least give yourself a chance.”

Sergio Romo (3-3) worked a perfect ninth and the Rays improved to a season-high six games over .500 (67-61) with their fifth consecutive victory. It is Tampa Bay’s sixth winning streak of at least five games this year.

Kansas City, which has lost five in a row and 17 of 21, fell a franchise-record 52 games under .500 at 38-90 and was eliminated from the playoff race.

“We wanted to salvage one at the end of the series,” Flynn said. “You don’t want to be the guy that comes in here and gives that one up.”

The Rays tied it at 3 when Matt Duffy scored from second on bad throw to first by second baseman Whit Merrifield on a potential double-play grounder hit by Cron.

Tampa Bay appeared to go up 4-3 later in the seventh on Kiermaier’s grounder, but the run was taken away after a replay review determined Adames made an illegal slide at second base. The call was changed to an inning-ending double play.

“There were a lot of odd things that took place in that game,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.

Alex Gordon had an RBI single in a two-run fifth against Tampa Bay starter Tyler Glasnow that put the Royals ahead 3-2.

Adames hit a run-scoring infield single against Danny Duffy during a two-run third.

Duffy, making his first start in 12 days due to a left shoulder injury, allowed two runs and six hits over five innings.

“The last start I felt really bad,” Duffy said. “This start I felt really good.”

Lucas Duda drove in a run with a first-inning single and had a potential two-run extra-base hit taken away with two outs in the third on a leaping catch by Rays right fielder Carlos Gomez.

Glasnow allowed three runs, five hits and three walks in five innings. He struck out eight.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: INF Adalberto Mondesi (hamstring) was out of the lineup. … RHP Ian Kennedy (left oblique) will throw a simulated game Friday. … OF Jorge Bonifacio (lower back stiffness) missed his third straight game.

Rays: OF Tommy Pham (dislocated right ring finger) felt soreness hitting off a tee but could play this weekend.

ROAD TRIP

Former Royals George Brett, Mike Sweeney, Bret Saberhagan and Reggie Sanders will visit U.S. troops at four locations in the Middle East next month as part of a USO trip. The group will watch a Sept. 11 telecast with members of the Missouri National Guard’s 35th Combat Aviation Brigade.

NUMBERS GAME

Merrifield had three hits, extending his hitting streak to 12 games. … Rays LF Mallex Smith went 3 for 5 and has multiple hits in seven of his last eight games. … The Royals have been swept 15 times this season. . Tampa Bay has played 52 one-run games, most in the majors. The Rays are 24-28 in those games.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Brad Keller (6-5) will face Cleveland RHP Mike Clevinger (9-7) on Friday night.

Rays: Will go with a bullpen day, including LHP Jalen Beeks (2-1), against Boston RHP Hector Velazquez (7-1) on Friday night.

— Associated Press —

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — It took Brandon Lowe 20 at-bats to get his first major league hit last week, so the Tampa Bay rookie wasn’t about to let an 0-for-9 stretch bother him.

Lowe came through with a two-out, two-run single in the first inning Wednesday night, and the Rays went on to a 6-3 win over the Kansas City Royals.

“You get up to the big leagues and you feel that you have to go out and prove yourself,” said Lowe, one of six Rays to produce two hits each in the club’s fourth straight win. “I’ve been really stressing, trying to prove I belong here. Yesterday I was able to take a step back and relax and it worked out for the better.”

Lowe is hitting .135 after 11 games, but he feels the worst might be over.

“All you want to be able to do is help the team win,” he said. “I was searching, racking my brain and stressing out. Today I came in a little early, got in the cage and told myself to relax and don’t stress, trust your skills.”

Lowe and Mallex Smith drove in two runs each, and the Rays moved five games over .500 for the first time since July 2017. They had 14 hits, none of them with two outs.

“A lot of good offensive numbers tonight that we kind of needed,” manager Kevin Cash said.

Lowe’s two-run single came off Jakob Junis after hits by Michael Perez and Carlos Gomez.

Junis (6-12) allowed four runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings, striking out five. Only two of the runs were earned.

“He’s been consistently sharp, especially the last four outings,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “I expect him to go out and make starts like this, give us a chance to win like he did.”

Whit Merrifield led off the fourth with his ninth home run, the Royals’ first hit of the game, extending his hitting streak to 11 games.

Hunter Dozier added a two-run homer in the eighth, the second of the game off Yonny Chirinos. Dozier’s sixth homer of the season came on his 27th birthday.

Ryan O’Hearn had his first first multi-hit game for the Royals with three of their seven hits, but Rosell Herrera was thrown out at the plate for the game’s final out after O’Hearn’s third hit.

Rays opener Ryne Stanek pitched two hitless innings before Chirinos (2-5) took over. Chirinos gave up three runs on four hits while striking out four in five innings.

Sergio Romo pitched the ninth for his 18th save in 25 opportunities.

The loss clinched a sixth straight series loss for the Royals, who have lost 16 of 20 games overall and all six games against Tampa Bay this season.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

Kevin Kiermaier, who had two hits and a walk, is hitting .357 in his last eight games, noteworthy mostly because he was batting .175 before that. “I’ve been pressing this whole year, trying to make up for all my lost time and all my (lack of) performance in one swing,” the Rays center fielder said. “I’ve been trying to kill the ball all year and hit the ball 700 feet, and that’s how I get myself out. You learn from things like this — being hurt and not playing the way you want to. It’s a learning experience and now I’m instituting those experiences into my approach.”

GETTING A BREAK

Rays rookie 1B Jake Bauers, mired in a 1-for-33 slide, was out of the lineup. “He’s been pressing, there’s no denying it,” Cash said. “He’s frustrated with himself.” Bauers entered Wednesday hitting .209 with nine homers and 34 RBI in 66 games.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: OF Jorge Bonifacio, scratched from Tuesday’s lineup with lower back stiffness, was on the bench again Wednesday, but available, Yost said.

Rays: OF Tommy Pham said he hopes to be back Friday after dislocating his right ring finger on a head-first dive back to first base on Tuesday. “It feels fine other than the swelling,” Pham said.

UP NEXT

Right-hander Tyler Glasnow (1-3, 4.10 ERA) will make his fifth start for the Rays in the season series finale Thursday night. Glasnow took his first loss Saturday at Boston, going 6 2/3 innings after a second inning in which he gave up three walks and four runs. Left-hander Danny Duffy (7-11, 4.90) will start for Kansas City. He hasn’t started since Aug. 11 because of a left shoulder impingement.

— Associated Press —