KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Ian Kennedy threw 111 pitches over eight scoreless innings and got a no-decision. Kelvin Herrera threw eight pitches in one inning and picked up the win.

Alcides Escobar hit an RBI single in the ninth over a five-man infield and the Kansas City Royals edged the Los Angeles Angels 1-0 Sunday for their fourth straight win.

Kennedy pitched two-hit ball and struck out 10 over eight innings as Kansas City sent the Angels to their fifth loss in a row.

“My fastball command was down,” Kennedy said. “It was up when I needed it to. All my misses were down. When I needed to go up, it was there.”

Kennedy didn’t allow a hit until C.J. Cron’s double with two outs in the fifth. Cliff Pennington singled with two outs in the eighth for the Angels’ other hit.

“That’s a tough lineup to navigate through,” Kennedy said. “They have two of the best three-and-four hitters you’ll face in a year with (Mike) Trout and (Albert) Pujols.”

Kennedy struck out 10, his 13th double-figure strikeout game, and walked two. He entered the game with an 0-4 record and 6.55 ERA in five career appearances against the Angels.

“He threw the ball well, he kept the ball down, and obviously he kept us off-balance,” Pujols said. “That’s pretty much it. Both sides threw the ball well.”

Salvador Perez led off the ninth with a single against Blake Parker (0-1), and pinch runner Raul Mondesi stole second and went to third on a wild pitch.

After pinch hitter Mike Moustakas walked, Cam Bedrosian relieved and Paulo Orlando fouled out. Escobar followed with his game-winner.

With the Angels using a five-man infield and two outfielders playing shallow, Escobar lofted a single to right-center over Trout’s head.

“I was trying to elevate the ball,” Escobar said. “I’m trying to get a fly ball in that situation. I’m looking for one pitch and I hit the ball good.”

Herrera (1-0) threw a flawless ninth.

Angels left-hander Tyler Skaggs, who had an 8.71 ERA in his first two starts, threw seven shutout innings, giving up four hits and striking out nine. He allowed three hits and walked one in the first two innings.

“I don’t know if impressive is the right word, but he definitely made some adjustments,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “I think that if he can carry that rhythm over, you’re going to see a guy that can do what he did today on a consistent basis. Getting his pitches in the zone; his process was great. He changed speeds. So, that was a terrific outing.”

In the past four games, Royals starting pitchers Jason Vargas, Danny Duffy, Nathan Karns and Kennedy have a combined 0.63 ERA, allowing two runs on 13 hits over 28 2/3 innings.

PERFECT ON CHALLENGES
The Royals, under the guidance of replay specialist Bill Duplissea, are 5 for 5 in challenges this year. Duplissea won 27 of 39 challenges last year, a 69.2 percent success rate that topped the majors.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Angels: RHP Huston Street (right lat strain) is playing catch, but is likely three weeks to a month away from returning. Street was injured in his first spring training outing.

Royals: OF Jorge Soler (left oblique strain) had a setback in his rehab, feeling tightness after batting practice Saturday. He has been backed off a couple of days from activity.

UP NEXT

Angels: RHP Jesse Chavez will start Monday at Houston as they continue this trip. He is 3-1 with a 2.90 ERA in 23 career games against the Astros.

Royals: Off Monday before hosting San Francisco to open a two-game series Tuesday. Royals RHP Jason Hammel will start the first game.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jason Vargas carried a shutout into the eighth, the Royals finally generated some early offense and Kansas City held on to beat Oakland 3-1 on Thursday night and snap an eight-game skid against the A’s.

Vargas (2-0) scattered four hits and a walk over 7 2/3 innings, striking out eight, in his second straight crisp performance. The left-hander only allowed one runner to reach second base in his longest outing since Aug. 13, 2014, when Vargas shut out the Athletics at Kauffman Stadium.

Kelvin Herrera served up a homer to Rajai Davis and a double to Jed Lowrie in the ninth, but bounced back to retire the next three batters and earn his first save.

Lorenzo Cain and Salvador Perez drove in runs off A’s starter Jesse Hahn (0-1) in the first, and Brandon Moss added a lazy sacrifice fly in the third. The three runs matched what Kansas City’s scuffling offense had managed in losing the first two games of the series.

Hahn settled down to last six innings, allowing six hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.

Vargas missed most of last season following Tommy John surgery, but he pitched well in the handful of starts he made late in the year, leaving the Royals optimistic about his spot in the rotation.

He also doubled down on his conditioning while his elbow was recovering, and arrived to training camp leaner and more athletic. And that paid off in the seventh inning, when Vargas deftly leaped off the mound to snare a hard bounder and start a double play to escape his only real jam.

Things weren’t nearly as tidy for the A’s, who committed two more errors in the series finale. They came into the game tied for the American League lead with nine, and have committed at least one error in seven consecutive games — matching their longest streak from last season.

The Royals became the last team in the big leagues to commit an error of their own when Alcides Escobar booted a grounder with two outs in the eighth. Vargas was lifted afterward to a standing ovation, and Joakim Soria promptly got Marcus Semien to ground out and end the inning.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Oakland RHP Sonny Gray (lat strain) threw two 15-pitch stints to batters prior to the game and had no issues. A’s manager Bob Melvin said Gray will throw three innings Monday at extended spring training and could rejoin the Oakland rotation by the end of April.

YOST’S TAKE

Royals manager Ned Yost said he’s not worried that fans are antsy about his club’s poor start. “It just shows when they panic, they care about you and they want to win,” he said. “That’s fine.”

UP NEXT

Oakland RHP Kendall Graveman will try to start the season with three straight wins when he faces Houston on Friday night. It’s the start of a 10-game homestand for the A’s.

Kansas City sends LHP Danny Duffy to start a three-game series against the Angels on Friday night.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Andrew Triggs pitched six shutout innings, Jed Lowrie drove in three runs and the Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals 8-3 Wednesday night.

Triggs (2-0) scattered four hits and a walk, striking out three. It was the former Royals farmhand’s second solid start this season, having allowed one unearned run over 5 1/3 innings against the Angels.

Triggs combined with Ryan Dull to extend the Royals’ scoreless-inning streak to 19 before Lorenzo Cain and Eric Hosmer drove in runs off reliever Liam Hendricks in the eighth. Raul Mondesi homered in the ninth.

The A’s have won eight in a row over the Royals, six of those coming at Kauffman Stadium — and most of them in romps. Oakland has outscored the Royals 53-15 in the games played in Kansas City.

Jason Hammel (0-1) gave up four runs on seven hits and two walks before getting yanked with two outs in the fifth.

Travis Wood and Chris Young allowed four more runs in another embarrassing show by the Royals’ bullpen, which hardly resembles the group that led them to the 2015 World Series title.

Then again, their performance was moot the way the offense was sputtering.

Triggs got an inning-ending double play to escape the first, then stranded a runner at third in the second before cruising through the next four innings. By the time the Royals squandered a leadoff double in the fourth, they had gone 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position for the second straight game.

OAKLAND RAISES TARP

The A’s announced the tarps covering third-deck seats at the Coliseum will be removed ahead of a 10-game homestand beginning Friday night against Houston. The move frees up about 12,000 seats that cost $15 each, bringing the total capacity to 47,170. The tarps have been used since 2006.

ALEX IN RIGHT

The Royals’ Alex Gordon started in RF for the first time since 2010 and only the fourth time in 1,282 big league games. The reason was to get Brandon Moss into the lineup in LF, where he’s more comfortable, and Cheslor Cuthbert’s bat in the lineup as DH. Moss and Cuthbert combined to go 0 for 8.

ROSTER MOVES

The Royals recalled LHP Scott Alexander and RHP Jake Junis from Triple-A Omaha to reinforce their struggling bullpen. Alexander pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief, while Junis loaded the bases in the ninth before getting a double play to end it.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Kansas City OF Jorge Soler (left oblique strain) hit in the cage before the game and could take live batting practice Friday. That would put him on pace to begin a rehab assignment next week.

UP NEXT

Athletics: RHP Jesse Hahn makes his first start of the season in Thursday night’s series finale. He pitched six innings in relief in a 10-5 loss at Texas last week.

Royals: LHP Jason Vargas makes his fifth start since Tommy John surgery in 2015. He earned his first win since June of that year in a 5-1 victory at Houston last week.

— Associated Press —