SAN DIEGO (AP) — Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez made sure the Kansas City Royals will start at home, sweet, home if they get a chance to defend their World Series title.

The Royals duo homered off former Kansas City teammate Johnny Cueto during a six-pitch span in the second inning, Hosmer added an RBI single to become MVP of the All-Star Game and the American League beat the Nationals 4-2 Tuesday night for their fourth straight win.

David Ortiz found himself in the middle of the most touching moment at Petco Park, embraced by his AL teammates near first base after exiting his final All-Star Game. The popular Big Papi plans to retire at 40 after this season with Boston.

Kris Bryant of the Cubs led the parade of sparkling young talent with a first-inning home run. Dellin Betances flashed his 100 mph heat and Astros reliever Will Harris came on to throw a called third strike past Cardinals rookie Aledmys Diaz on a 3-2 pitch on the outside corner with the bases loaded to end the eighth.

Royals reliever Kelvin Herrera pitched a hitless sixth for the AL, which will open the Series at home for the 11th time in 14 years since the All-Star winner was used to determine the hosts for Games 1 and 2.

Kansas City became baseball royalty last fall, bursting to a 2-0 lead over the New York Mets at Kauffman Stadium, where Cueto pitched a two-hitter in the second game. The Royals won in five games for their first title since 1985.

This year, Kansas City is languishing at 45-43, seven games off the AL Central lead and in the middle of the wild-card race as attention turns to which teams will be buyers and sellers as the Aug. 1 trade deadline approaches.

Cleveland’s Corey Kluber pitched a 1-2-3 second inning for the win, and Zach Britton got the save for the AL, which cut its deficit to 43-42 with two ties

Ortiz, Boston’s beloved designated hitter, wore spikes with gold-colored bottoms and matching batting gloves to mark his 10th All-Star selection and delivered the AL batting order to umpires at home plate.

Ortiz hit a smash down the first-base line that Anthony Rizzo snagged to rob him of a potential RBI double in the first and walked against Jose Fernandez in the third.

When Edwin Encarnacion came out to pinch run for him, Ortiz waved to the crowd and then his AL teammates came out of the dugout to exchange hugs as the crowd of 42,386 rose in tribute.

“I was supposed to hit a home run in my second at-bat. My boy told me he was going to throw me a fastball, and the first pitch was a changeup,” Ortiz said.

“Then 3-2 he threw me a slider and I’m like, ‘Are you trying to break my back?’ But he said it was the catcher’s fault.”

Fernandez admitted “I couldn’t believe that I was actually pitching to him. We both looked at each other and smiled.”

“He signed the jersey I brought for him,” the 23-year-old Miami Marlins ace said.

Ortiz delivered a pregame speech to his mates.

“You don’t get here with a good name or a good family,” he said. “You have to put up the numbers. I told them that they have to do that for their whole career.”

The All-Star Game returned to San Diego for the first time since 1992 at Jack Murphy Stadium. Just before this first pitch, commissioner Rob Manfred joined Rod Carew, his family and the family of late Padres great Tony Gwynn and named the batting titles after the two Hall of Famers, giving Gwynn the NL honor and Carew the AL championship.

Gwynn died of salivary gland cancer two years ago at age 54.

Sailors dressed in white lined the foul lines and outfield warning tracks for the national anthems. The Tenors, a British Columbia-based group, changed an “O Canada” lyric to “We’re all brothers and sisters. All lives matter to the great,” and one held up a sign reading “All Lives Matter.”

Randy Jones threw out the ceremonial first pitch and former Padres All-Star closer Trevor Hoffman helped open, bringing the game ball to the mound from the bullpen accompanied by AC/DC’s “Hell’s Bells.”

With an NL ballpark hosting for the second year in a row in a streak of at least four, the AL wore white uniforms, hit last and used the Padres clubhouse on the first-base side. Ball boys in retro-style mustard-and-mud Padres uniforms lent a San Diego feel to Petco, which opened in 2004.

There was a home run on the game’s fourth pitch for the second straight year; Bryant connected on a 96 mph Chris Sale fastball with two outs as hitters swung early in the count to beat the shadows creeping in from the left-field corner in the late-afternoon start.

Bryant, who had struck out in all of his regular-seat at-bats against Sale, was part of an all-Cubs infield — the first starting infield quartet from a single team since the 1963 St. Louis Cardinals.

“I think a lot of us were looking first pitch,” said Bryant, who played college ball for the University of San Diego. “A lot of pitchers are coming into the game trying to light up the radar gun a bit.”

That was the highlight for the NL Central-leading Cubs, whose fan base was pumped up by a fast start and dreams of the team’s first title since 1908.

Mike Trout, the All-Star MVP in 2014 and ’15, singled in the first for a five-All-Star Game hitting streak — only Mickey Mantle, Joe Morgan and Dave Winfield (seven each) and Stan Musial, Willie Mays and Nellie Fox (six apiece) strung together more.

The lead was short-lived, with Hosmer and Perez going deep for a 3-1 lead in the second, sandwiched around Mookie Betts’ single. Cueto was hard to miss in the center of the field, wearing lime green and orange spikes.

“This morning I got up and didn’t feel well. That is not an excuse,” Cueto said. “I just left two pitches up, and that was the story.”

Hosmer, the first Kansas City player to homer in an All-Star Game since Bo Jackson in 1989, made it 4-1 in the third against Fernandez when he hit a one-hopper off Bryant’s left arm and into left field for an RBI single.

Marcell Ozuna cut the gap with an run-scoring single off Aaron Sanchez in the fourth.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Seattle Mariners desperately wanted to go into the All-Star break with a winning record.

Robinson Cano and Adam Lind homered in a five-run seventh inning and the Mariners held off the Kansas City Royals 8-5 on Sunday.

Cano’s two-run shot to deep right field for his 21st home run of the season extended the Mariners’ lead to 5-0. Lind hit a three-run shot, his 13th, a few batters later.

“A lot of good at-bats,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “Guys were grinding. Definitely want to go to the break above .500. It was an important game for us today.”

The Mariners (45-44) head into the break above .500 for the second time since 2010, after going 51-44 in 2014.

The Royals scored five runs over the final three innings, pulling within three on Alex Gordon’s homer leading off the ninth.

Mike Montgomery (3-3) pitched 6 1/3 strong innings, giving up one run and five hits, in his first start of the season.

Dillion Gee (3-3) struggled early and picked up the loss for the Royals, giving up three runs and five hits in 3 2/3 innings.

One of the key moments in Gee’s rough outing occurred in the first inning where an errant throw on a double play opportunity eventually led to Seattle’s first score.

“I kinda got caught in between when I came up to take a look at second,” Gee said. “It was right when the umpire was kinda like, making his way into position and I tried to slow up a little bit and it sailed on me. Just a costly mistake”

Brett Eibner had three hits, including his third homer of the season in the seventh and an RBI single in the Royals’ three-run eighth.

Despite the loss, the Royals went into the All-Star break with a winning record for the third straight season at 45-42.

Kyle Seager had a two-run single in the first, and Ketel Marte added a run-scoring single in the fourth to give the Mariners a 3-0 lead.

Marte finished the game with two hits in four at bats to go along with that run scoring single in the fourth inning.

“You know, see the ball, see the ball. If I feel good, I know I’ll get on base.” Marte said. “I know I’ve got the talent. I know I can hit. You know, I’m trying to come back and give a hundred percent every day and see what happens after.”

Kendrys Morales’ bases-loaded walk pulled the Royals to 8-2 in the eighth, and Cheslor Cuthbert capped the three-run inning with a sacrifice fly.

MASHING MARINERS

Seattle’s two homers pushed it into second by themselves with a team total of 132 home runs on the season. … Cano will compete in the 2016 Home Run Derby on Monday at Petco Park. He is the first Mariner to compete in the contest since Bret Boone in 2003. This is Cano’s first Derby since 2013 when he was with the New York Yankees.

ROYALS AT THE ESPYS

After the All-Star Game on Tuesday, Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez will attend the 2016 ESPY’s on Wednesday night in Los Angeles. Kansas City is nominated for “Best Team” and manger Ned Yost is nominated for “Best Coach/Manager”. This will be Perez first trip to the ESPY’s. “Yeah, it’s cool. The All-Star Game is a special moment, there’s a lot of top players there-a lot of All Stars. As for the ESPY’s, this is my first time going so that’s pretty good for us.”

UP NEXT

Following the All Star break, the Royals travel to Detroit to face the Tigers in a three game series then come back home for a nine game homestead against Cleveland, Texas and Los Angeles. The Mariners return from the break for two series at home then will hit the road for the rest of July to face Toronto, Pittsburgh and Chicago.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Salvador Perez picked a perfect time for his first pickoff of the season.

The star catcher homered, then helped protect the lead by trapping Kyle Seager off first base in the eighth inning to lead the Kansas City Royals over the Seattle Mariners 5-3 Saturday.

Perez hit a solo home run off the foul pole in the seventh that gave the Royals a two-run lead. Moments later, the World Series MVP made the defensive play of the game.

With runners at the corners and one out, Perez threw down to first baseman Eric Hosmer for his 18th career pickoff.

“That was Hosmer,” Perez said “He gives me a sign and I throw the ball right to him. I think he knows more than me.”

In turn, Hosmer credited the catcher.

“That’s all him,” Hosmer said. “Just knowing he’s behind the plate you’ve got to stay close to the bag at all times because he’s so quick back there.”

“The pitch takes him that way and he just throws it right back over there, just an unbelievable play and that’s why Salvy’s the best. He changes the game, just completely took all the momentum away from them right there. First and third with one of their big hitters up, it was a huge play.”

Even Seager had to compliment Perez.

“You can’t get picked off in that situation, but he’s pretty special back there. But, I obviously got off too far.”

Edinson Volquez (8-8) gave up three runs and six hits in six innings.

Kelvin Herrera pitched a perfect ninth for his first save since April 10, 2013.

Wade Miley (6-6) gave up 10 hits. He left after Cheslor Cuthbert’s RBI single made it 4-3 in the sixth.

Cuthbert also doubled and finished with two RBI.

Seager hit his 18th homer, tying it at 3 in the fourth. Nelson Cruz added two hits for Seattle.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: LHP Jason Vargas threw a simulated game and manager Ned Yost was encouraged by the progress he showed. “Looked good, really good,” he said. “Three pitches, good changeup, fastball with life. Good breaking ball, good first step.” Yost anticipates Vargas could make a return in September.

ROSTER MOVE

The Cleveland Indians claimed LHP Tyler Olson off waivers from the Royals and will be sent to Triple-A Columbus. Olson was designated for assignment by the Royals on July 5.

UP NEXT

In Sunday’s finale, former Royals draftee LHP Mike Montgomery (2-3) will get the start for the Mariners against RHP Dillion Gee (3-2). Montgomery was selected in the first round in 2008 and was part of the December 2012 trade with Tampa Bay that brought pitchers Wade Davis and James Shields to Kansas City. “Probably cool for Mike,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “I know he was drafted by the Royals, was a high prospect there. The anxiety of going back and pitching against your friends, your teammates, your former teammates, but he’s been away long enough now, I hope that it’s kind of gone away and I’m sure he’ll give us a good effort.”

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Seattle has struggled to win on the road over the last month, losing 10 straight capped by a ninth-inning meltdown in the Mariners’ series-opener against the Kansas City Royals.

Some strong pitching and a bit of fortune helped them break their long road skid Friday night.

Hisashi Iwakuma pitched into the seventh inning, Seattle scored the go-ahead runs on Yordano Ventura’s wild pitch and the Mariners held on to beat the World Series champions 3-1 to even the four-game set.

Iwakuma (9-6) allowed one run, five hits and three walks over 6 2/3 innings, striking out six. He kept the Royals off balance with his usual herky-jerky delivery, the only run he allowed coming on Cheslor Cuthbert’s base hit in the fourth inning.

“Overall I was able to make good pitches, location-wise, and execute when I needed to, change speeds, go back and forth,” Iwakuma said through an interpreter. “Especially with the breaking ball I was able to go from strike to ball and they were chasing those pitches and it made it very helpful from my end.”

Steve Cishek, who blew the save the previous night, allowed Salvador Perez’s homer in the ninth before finishing off the inning. It was his 21st save of the season.

“Yesterday was tough. I felt really good yesterday. It’s just baseball,” he said. “I wanted a chance to go back out there and, if I had the chance, give the team the win to make up for it. It got a little sketchy there. I didn’t think he hit that that well, but, you know, I was able to finish it off.”

Ventura (6-6) was nearly as stingy as Iwakuma, giving up only a sacrifice fly to Ketel Marte in the fifth, before things unraveled for him after Seth Smith’s single and Robinson Cano’s double in the sixth.

Nelson Cruz stepped to the plate and nearly gave Seattle a three-run homer, sending a pitch soaring down the right-field line. First base umpire CB Bucknor initially signaled home run, then signaled foul ball, then decided that he wasn’t quite sure and met with the rest of the umpires.

“I lost it. I think that happened to the umpire, too,” Cruz said. “I had no clue.”

After a review, the ball was declared foul and Nelson dug in again.

This time, Ventura’s pitch got past Perez and bounded away, allowing Smith to score from third base and tie the game 1-all. Perez threw the ball away trying to get him out at the plate, allowing Cano to also score — the star catcher was given an error on the play.

“I was pitching good up to that point, I got two quick outs in that inning,” Ventura said. “I lost concentration and got a little bit behind the count, gave up a couple of hits and then came that play.”

The Mariners used three relievers to get the game to Cishek, who bounced back from Perez’s home run to retire Paulo Orlando and Cuthbert and help snap Seattle’s road losing streak.

“That’s the beauty of baseball,” Cishek said. “You play so many games that if you have a bad outing you have an opportunity to get back out there the next night.”

HOME SWEET HOME

Royals manager Ned Yost has given up trying to explain his club’s bizarre home-road split — they began the day 28-11 at Kauffman Stadium, best in the majors, but are just 16-30 away from the spacious ballpark. They average five runs at home and just over three on the road. “It’s puzzling,” Yost said, “but there’s not anything you can point to other than we’re just not producing.”

TRAINERS ROOM

Felix Hernandez will return July 20 against the White Sox. He is slated for a rehab start with Class-A Everett on Sunday. When asked what directions he would give Hernandez upon his return, manager Scott Servais replied: “Go pitch. Have fun.” Hernandez went on the DL on June 1 with a right calf strain.

UP NEXT

Royals RHP Edinson Volquez tries to continue his dominance of Seattle when the teams continue their four-game set Saturday. Volquez is 4-0 with a 2.38 ERA in six career starts against the Mariners. He’ll face Mariners LHP Wade Miley, who is 0-2 since his return from a left shoulder injury. Miley is 4-1 with a 2.91 ERA against the Royals, throwing a shutout against them on April 30.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Salvador Perez gave Royals reliever Brooks Pounders his first career win, Mariners starter James Paxton a frustrating no-decision and Kansas City a much-needed confidence boost with one mighty swing.

Perez capped a three-hit night with a double off the wall in the ninth inning Thursday night, scoring Whit Merrifield and Jarrod Dyson and giving the Royals a 4-3 victory over Seattle to open a four-game set.

“How many times have we been through it? I mean, we fight. We keep fighting,” said Danny Duffy, who kept the Royals in the game with 6 1/3 strong innings. “You’re never out of the game with these boys.”

Paxton kept them out of it for eight innings, using just 78 pitches to get that far. The only damage he allowed came in the eighth when Paulo Orlando delivered a two-out single to get Kansas City within 3-2.

Steve Cishek (2-5) came on to close the game and Merrifield doubled to lead off the ninth. Kendrys Morales was hit by a pitch moments later, Jarrod Dyson came on to run for him, and Eric Hosmer struck out before Perez dug in at the plate and a crowd of 31,425 reached a fevered pitch.

He lined a shot to center to give Pounders (1-0), who pitched an inning of relief, his stunning win.

“It’s a great moment in my life,” the big reliever said. “To walk away with a win in that game is just unbelievable. It says a lot about the team we have here.”

The victory snapped a four-game skid for Kansas City an extended Seattle’s road losing streak to 10.

“I don’t know if you can be much more in control of the game to being on the wrong side of things in an inning and a half,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “Tough game to lose.”

The Mariners built an early 2-0 lead not with a homer — they entered the game tied for second in the majors with 128 of them — but with old-fashioned small ball. Dae-Ho Lee scored from second on Dan Robertson’s single in the second inning, and Robertson scored after a sacrifice bunt and sacrifice fly in the fifth.

Nelson Cruz added a homer off Joakim Soria in the eighth.

Those three runs seemed insurmountable the way Paxton was cruising along.

He induced inning-ending double plays the first two innings, then another one in the third after back-to-back singles led it off. Ketel Marte then made a nice play ranging out from third base on Alex Gordon’s blooper into shallow left field to leave Brett Eibner on third base and end the inning.

The worst throw Paxton made before the eighth wasn’t to the mound but to first base, when Kendrys Morales chopped a grounder back to him the previous inning. Paxton’s throw slipped and bounced halfway to the bag.

With everything else going for him, it still beat Morales easily for the out.

“They were popping up the cutter, hitting it on the ground. A lot of ground balls,” Paxton said. “Guys were making great plays behind me. So that’s what happens, you saw guys turn double plays.”

STATS AND STREAKS

Morales was 0 for 3 before getting hit by a pitch in the ninth, allowing him to extend his streak of reaching safely to 21 starts. … The Mariners lost for the fourth time when leading after eight innings. … Cruz homered for the seventh time in his last 14 games.

ROTATION REMOVAL

The Royals are sending RHP Chris Young to the bullpen and will start RHP Dillon Gee or LHP Brian Flynn in Sunday’s series finale. Young is 2-8 with a 6.90 ERA in 15 appearances, 13 of them starts. He’s also given up a league-leading 26 home runs despite pitching many of his games at spacious Kauffman Stadium.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals RHP Kris Medlen has been shut down after straining his shoulder during a rehab outing. Medlen was 1/3 with a 7.77 ERA in six starts before going on the disabled list in May with rotator cuff inflammation. “He is going to be no-throw for a couple weeks,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

UP NEXT

RHP Yordano Ventura returns for Kansas City on Friday night after spraining his right ankle running the bases in his last start in Philadelphia. RHP Hisashi Iwakuma will oppose him for Seattle.

— Associated Press —

TORONTO (AP) — Michael Saunders hit a solo home run in the fourth inning and singled home the winning run in the eighth as the Toronto Blue Jays completed a three-game sweep of Kansas City, beating the Royals 3-2 on Wednesday.

Toronto won its fifth straight, while its 2015 ALCS opponent dropped its fourth in a row.

Edwin Encarnacion hit a two-out double off Kelvin Herrera (1-2) in the eighth and scored when Saunders lined a single to center. Russell Martin followed with an RBI double.

Marcus Stroman (7-4) pitched eight innings to win for the first time in four starts. Roberto Osuna finished for his 17th save.

Saunders, one of five AL candidates for the All-Star Final Vote, opened the scoring with a one-out drive off Ian Kennedy in the fourth, his 16th.

The homer was the 21st allowed by Kennedy this season, tied for second-most in the majors. Kennedy has allowed at least one homer in seven consecutive starts, giving up 13 in that span.

Stroman was perfect through five innings, throwing 44 pitches. Kansas City didn’t hit a ball out of the infield until Paulo Orlando flied to center to end the fifth.

Brett Eibner broke Stroman’s streak when he walked on a 3-2 pitch to begin the sixth. The next batter, Alcides Escobar, broke up the no-hitter and ended Stroman’s shutout bid with an RBI triple.

Toronto led 2-1 on Ezequiel Carrera’s RBI single in the fifth, but Eibner tied it 2-all when he connected off Stroman in the eighth.

Kennedy allowed two runs and four hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out 10, one shy of his season high.

The retractable roof was open when the game began but started to close during the top of the sixth. It was still sliding shut when a light rain began falling in the bottom of the seventh. Play was not interrupted.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: DH Kendrys Morales (back) was held out of the starting lineup.

Blue Jays: RHP Marco Estrada was placed on the 15-day DL, one day after being named to the All-Star team for the first time. Estrada will still attend the game in San Diego but won’t be able to pitch. RHP Drew Hutchison will start for Toronto in the opener of a four-game series against Detroit on Thursday. RHP Bo Schultz was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo.

UP NEXT

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy (4-1, 3.11) starts as Kansas City returns home for a four-game series against Seattle. He’s 0-1 with a 1.69 ERA in five games against the Mariners, including three starts. LHP James Paxton (2-3, 4.24) starts for Seattle.

Blue Jays: Hutchison is 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA in two games, one start. He went 6-3 with a 2.78 ERA in 15 starts at Buffalo. RHP Justin Verlander (8-6, 4.11) starts for Detroit.

— Associated Press —