KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jordan Schafer tied a career high with four RBIs, including a two-run single in the 10th inning Thursday night as the Minnesota Twins defeated the Kansas City Royals 11-5.

Bruce Chen (2-4), the sixth pitcher for the AL Central-leading Royals, gave up five hits and walked two in the 10th.

Eduardo Nunez singled home the go-ahead run and Brian Dozier added a two-run double. Kurt Suzuki capped the burst with an RBI double, his third hit of the game and second double.

Schafer had three hits and extended his hitting streak to eight games.

Anthony Swarzak (3-1) picked up the victory.

Alex Gordon homered off Ryan Pressly to lead off the Royals seventh, tying it at 5.

Twins lefty Tommy Milone was pulled after 5 1/3 innings, giving up four runs on nine hits and two walks. He is winless in four starts since the Twins acquired him in a July 31 trade with Oakland.

Royals right-hander Jeremy Guthrie, who was 5-1 in his previous six starts, exited after six innings. He gave up five runs on nine hits and two walks.

The Twins took a 2-0 lead in the first, which included a double by Suzuki. The Royals countered with two runs in the bottom half, with Gordon and Salvador Perez hitting RBI singles.

Minnesota forged ahead with two more runs in the fourth. Schafer hit an RBI double and scored on Dozier’s single.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals conjured up a little more late-game magic Wednesday night.

This time, they didn’t wait until the ninth inning.

Shut down most of the night by the Twins’ Phil Hughes, the Royals finally broke through with six runs in the eighth. Nori Aoki drove in the go-ahead run, and Billy Butler and Salvador Perez each drove in a pair during the surge, sending the Royals to a 6-1 victory.

“That’s kind of who we are,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We’re a team that plays with a lot of heart, with a lot of energy and a lot of passion.”

In the series opener, the Royals were shut out until the ninth inning, when Alex Gordon hit a two-run homer for a 2-1 win. This time, it was a series of bloopers and infield singles that gave Kansas City the offense it needed in the waning innings.

“We’re just living on a high right now,” said Jarrod Dyson, whose bunt single scored the tying run. “We’re going out and having fun and playing like we’re 5 years old.”

Wade Davis (8-2) pitched a perfect eighth for the win, helping the Royals extend their lead over Detroit to 2 1/2 games in the AL Central. They have won 11 of their past 13 at home.

Minnesota has lost four straight and eight of 11 overall.

“We’ve scored two runs in two games here,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “That’s not going to win very many games.”

The Royals’ big rally began when Raul Ibanez led off the eighth with a blooper to right, and Mike Moustakas beat out an infield hit with a dive to first base. Two batters later, Dyson’s bunt allowed pinch runner Lorenzo Cain to slide home and knot the game 1-1.

Aoki followed with a slicing single to left field to give the Royals the lead, and Butler and Perez added four more runs with two well-timed hits to provide plenty of cushion.

“I can remember probably two hard-hit balls tonight. That’s how baseball is going to go,” Hughes said. “That’s a team over there that finds a way and battles.”

Most of the game had been an entertaining duel between Hughes (14-9), who had won his last four starts, and Liam Hendriks, a former Twins pitcher making his Royals debut.

Hughes gave up singles in each of the first two innings before finding his groove, allowing one other baserunner until his fateful eighth. Hendriks retired the first 14 batters he faced, and never ran into trouble until Kennys Vargas singled with one out in the seventh.

Oswaldo Arcia followed with a double off the wall to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead.

Hendriks, making a spot start for ailing Yordano Ventura, finished out the inning without any more damage. The Australian wound up allowing four hits while striking out five without a walk.

“That was awesome,” he said. “It was a good way to start off in Kansas City.”

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Royals were trailing the Twins by a run in the ninth inning Tuesday night, and Kansas City manager Ned Yost was on the top step of the dugout, conferring with catching coach Pedro Grifol about the potential decisions he would have to make.

That’s when Yost heard a voice pipe up.

“The bat boy who never says anything turns around and says, `Esky is going to get a hit and Gordo’s taking him in the fountain,” Yost said. “I said, `OK. Sounds like a pretty good plan.”

One that worked out perfectly, too.

Alcides Escobar led off with a blooper to shallow right for a single, and Alex Gordon swatted the second pitch he saw over the right-field wall to give the AL Central-leading Royals a dramatic 2-1 victory over Minnesota — and help them avoid their first three-game skid since mid-July.

“Got a slider over the plate and put a good swing on it,” Gordon said. “Really didn’t have any offense going all night and was able to muster up something, so that was great.”

The Royals had been shut down all night by Ricky Nolasco, who scattered three hits over seven innings. But after going quietly in the eighth, they managed to break through against Perkins (3-1), who had converted 18 consecutive saves on the road.

“We had a really good game out of Ricky. I feel bad for him because he pitched seven shutout innings and threw the ball well,” Perkins said. “He and the team don’t have anything to show for it. It’s not a fun feeling.”

Wade Davis (7-2) earned the win with a perfect ninth inning in relief.

Danny Duffy was nearly as sharp for the Royals as Nolasco was for Minnesota. The left-hander allowed four hits and a pair of walks over 6 2/3 innings, but was in line for the loss after giving up a double to Brian Dozier and a slicing single to Joe Mauer to start the seventh.

The Royals had several chances to push a run across much earlier — and with much less drama.

Billy Butler was hit by pitches from Nolasco on two occasions, and the first time — in the second inning — he advanced to third before getting stranded. Christian Colon was left standing on second in the third inning, and Jarrod Dyson was picked off first base in the sixth.

Dyson was also picked off first base in Monday night’s 1-0 loss to the Yankees.

The Twins also had opportunities to push across an early run. Trevor Plouffe grounded into inning-ending double plays in the second and fifth, and Danny Santana was picked off first base in the fourth. Eduardo Escobar was stranded at second base in the sixth.

Those missed chances proved to be important when the ninth inning rolled around.

“I don’t think anybody saw that coming,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said, “a bloop and a blast and a big walk-off for them.”

— Associated Press —