KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Edinson Volquez is quickly proving his breakthrough season of a year ago was no fluke.

The Royals right-hander held down the Twins for seven innings Monday night, and Kansas City’s opportunistic offense took advantage of a series of Minnesota miscues in a 7-1 victory.

“It feels good because the way I’m pitching, I’m carrying over everything,” said Volquez, who went 13-7 with a 3.04 ERA for Pittsburgh. “Just trying to do what I did last year.”

Royals manager Ned Yost said that pitching coach Dave Eiland has been working on mechanics with Volquez (2-1) that have allowed him to pitch even better than he did with the Pirates. He only allowed five hits and a walk while striking out five against Minnesota.

“We’ve been talking about him since he first got here,” Yost said. “We felt last year was a big year for him. He really turned the corner with his mechanics on some things.”

Alcides Escobar returned from a sprained knee to score a run Monday night, and Kendrys Morales and Paulo Orlando drove in a pair each as the Royals finally figured out Kyle Gibson.

Their nemesis gave up four runs in five-plus innings after beating the Royals the first four times he faced them. Gibson (1-2) was dominant last week in a 3-1 victory at Target Field.

“Gibby didn’t have his best command, four walks and a couple of wild pitches,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “He was struggling with his feel for off-speed pitches. His last start he had a good slider and changeup. Tonight he had to battle with his fastball.

“He didn’t give up a lot of hits, but had a lot of base runners with the base on balls.”

Gibson also didn’t have the kind of defense that Kansas City has behind him.

After first baseman Eric Hosmer threw the ball away trying to start a double play in the second inning — helping to contribute to Minnesota’s only run — he was on the receiving end of a double-play relay to end the threat. Alex Gordon also made a diving catch in left field, and Mike Moustakas made a couple of difficult plays at third base look routine.

The Royals left the bases loaded against Gibson in the second, but they evened the score in the third. Escobar doubled to lead off the inning, went to third on Moustakas’s groundout, then trotted home easily when Gibson’s pitch in the dirt got away from catcher Kurt Suzuki.

The score remained deadlocked until the sixth, when the Twins’ Oswaldo Arcia dropped a slicing liner from Moustakas in left field. Hosmer worked a full-count walk, and Morales hit a double down the left-field line to give Kansas City its first lead of the game.

Hosmer scored moments later on a wild pitch by reliever Blaine Boyer, and Perez added a sacrifice fly to make it 4-1 through six innings.

Morales added an insurance run in the eighth when the Twins lost track of a pop fly in shallow right field, and Orlando’s two-run triple moments later put things out of reach.

Kelvin Herrera breezed through the eighth inning in relief of Volquez, and former Phillies closer Ryan Madson handled the ninth inning to wrap up the win.

“We’ve had a few of those games where they’ve had shape for a while and then things kind of broke down for us,” Molitor said. “We missed the play in left and we can’t contain them at the end to give ourselves a chance.”

TRIPLE TROUBLE

Orlando has been a solid fill-in for OF Alex Rios, who continues to recover from a broken finger. His triple against Minnesota was his fifth in 26 at-bats.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: RHP Ricky Nolasco (right elbow inflammation) is scheduled to make a rehab start Saturday for Class A Cedar Rapids. He threw off a mound Sunday with no problems.

Royals: 2B Omar Infante was feeling better after straining his left groin Sunday. Manager Ned Yost said the positive news put a hold on any plans to place him on the DL.

UP NEXT

Twins: LHP Tommy Milone (2-0) went 5 1/3 innings to beat the Royals last Thursday.

Royals: LHP Jason Vargas (1-1) allowed 10 hits and five runs in three innings against the Twins last Thursday. It was his shortest start since 2011.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Josh Reddick rounded the bases after his three-run homer, celebrated in Oakland’s dugout for just a moment, and then climbed to the top step and waited.

He knew exactly what was coming next.

Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura promptly plunked A’s third baseman Brett Lawrie with what appeared to be a retaliatory pitch for an incident the previous night, and Reddick and the rest of his teammates spilled onto the field in what could have turned into an ugly melee.

Cooler heads prevailed. So did the A’s, who went on to beat Kansas City 5-0 Saturday night.

“We knew it was coming,” Reddick said of the pitch that got Ventura ejected in the fourth inning. “It’s bush league. There’s no need for it.”

Stephen Vogt and former Royals designated hitter Billy Butler also drove in a run for Oakland during the five-run fourth inning, and Jesse Hahn (1-1) scattered three hits and a walk over 5 1/3 innings before leaving with a blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand.

Jesse Chavez then picked him up with 3 2/3 innings for the save, completing the fifth shutout by Oakland in its first 12 games. The A’s have outscored their opponents 47-1 in six victories.

“Never get tired of shutouts,” Oakland manager Bob Melvin said.

Tempers were still hot from the series opener Friday night, when Lawrie slid hard and late into second base and wiped out Alcides Escobar. The Royals shortstop sprained his left knee in the collision, and said before Saturday night’s game he thought the slide was dirty.

Ventura waited until he was pounded in the fourth before exacting some revenge.

After serving up Reddick’s homer to right field, the hard-throwing youngster plunked Lawrie in the left elbow. Plate umpire Jim Joyce immediately tossed Ventura from the game, and the rest of the umpire crew moved quickly to prevent a more heated confrontation between the teams.

Lawrie calmly walked to first base and waited for the furor to die down.

“I didn’t want to have any problems,” said Lawrie, who apologized to Escobar in a text that apparently was not well received. “You can’t control what happens on the other side.”

When asked whether Ventura expected to be suspended, fellow pitcher Jeremy Guthrie — serving as a translator — replied: “I don’t think we need to answer that.”

The five-run fourth by Oakland and Ventura’s ejection only made a miserable day worse for Kansas City. All-Star closer Greg Holland was placed on the 15-day disabled list prior to the game with a strained right pectoral muscle that has been bothering him for the last week.

Holland already has four saves, and has not allowed a hit in four scoreless innings.

Yohan Pino was recalled from Triple-A Omaha to take Holland’s place on the roster. He threw 4 2/3 innings of three-hit ball after Ventura was tossed from the game.

“I thought Pino threw the ball great,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He came in the fourth inning and got us through the eighth and gave us a nice chance to preserve the bullpen.”

ACE DEPATURES

Ventura still has not left a game in what would be considered standard fare. He was forced out of his first start of the season with a cramp in his right thumb, and left his next start with a cramp in his right calf.

“Up until the ejection was able to stay in the game without having problems with the cramping,” he said. “Those were the two things that were important for me.”

BUTLER STREAKING

Kansas City might end up regretting its decision to decline a $12.5 million option on Butler for this season. His run-scoring single in the fourth extended his hit streak to 12 games, the first A’s player with that long of a streak to begin their career with the organization.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: RHP Jarrod Parker (Tommy John surgery) threw 33 pitches in an extended spring game Saturday. He plans to go four innings his next time out, possibly in a minor league game.

Royals: Escobar remains day to day. Orlando Calixte was recalled from Omaha and OF Reymond Fuentes optioned to the same club to provide infield depth while Escobar is out.

UP NEXT

Athletics: LHP Scott Kazmir (2-0) has struck out eight or more batters in each of his first two starts. He allowed one run over six innings in a win Monday in Houston.

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy (1-0) is 3-0 with a 2.45 ERA in his career against Oakland.

— Associated Press —