TORONTO (AP) — Josh Donaldson hit two solo home runs, Troy Tulowitzki had a three-run blast and the Toronto Blue Jays connected four times to beat the Kansas City Royals 8-3 on Tuesday night.

Fresh off being named a reserve to the AL All-Star team, Donaldson went 3 for 4 and scored four runs while the Blue Jays won their fourth straight.

Donaldson has scored 77 runs, a franchise record for runs before the All-Star break. Carlos Delgado had 76 in 2003.

All four Toronto homers came off Royals right-hander Chris Young, who matched Runelvys Hernandez’s team record by allowing at least one home run in 13 consecutive starts. Hernandez did it from October 2005 to August 2006.

Young (2-8) has surrendered a major league-worst 26 home runs this season.

Toronto’s R.A. Dickey (6-9) allowed two runs, none earned, and four hits in seven innings to win for the first time in nine home starts this season. The knuckleballer came in 0-6 with a 5.14 ERA at home.

Kansas City lost for the fourth time in five games and dropped to 16-29 on the road.

Donaldson connected in the first inning and went back-to-back with Ezequiel Carrera in the third. It marked the eighth multihomer game of Donaldson’s career and the fifth time this season the Blue Jays have hit consecutive homers.

Three batters later, Tulowitzki chased Young with his seventh homer in 15 games since returning from the disabled list.

Fellow All-Star Edwin Encarnacion had two hits and an RBI, raising his ML-leading total to 77.

Young allowed six runs and seven hits in 2 1/3 innings. He is winless in nine starts.

Kansas City’s Cheslor Cuthbert hit a two run homer off Dickey and finished with three RBI.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: RHP Wade Davis (forearm) was placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to July 1. The Royals selected RHP Brooks Pounders from Triple-A Omaha and designated LHP Tyler Olson for assignment.

Blue Jays: OF Jose Bautista (turf toe) is no longer wearing a walking boot. “That’s progress, as long as he doesn’t stub it,” joked manager John Gibbons. There is no timetable for Bautista’s return. … RHP Marco Estrada (back) is feeling better but could be get one or two extra days of rest before his next start. RHP Drew Hutchison would like start for Toronto if Estrada cannot pitch Thursday against Detroit.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Ian Kennedy (6-7, 4.04) starts Wednesday’s series finale. Kennedy has allowed 20 home runs, including one in each of his past six starts.

Blue Jays: RHP Marcus Stroman (6-4, 5.08) allowed one run in 6 2/3 innings against Cleveland in his most recent start after allowing 38 earned runs in his previous eight outings.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Kansas City Royals will be well represented at the upcoming 2016 All-Star game in San Diego.

Catcher Salvador Perez and first baseman Eric Hosmer were voted into the starting lineup, with Perez receiving 4,965,838 votes, the most among all major league players this year. He is now the second Royal to lead the majors in All-Star voting, joining Hall of Famer George Brett (1981).

Relief pitchers Wade Davis and Kelvin Herrera were also named to the All-Star team, giving the Royals as many as four selections for the second year in a row as well as multiple starters for the second straight season and third time in franchise history. The four All-Star selections are also tied for the third-most in franchise history.  Kansas City had four players named to the squad in 1972, 1976 and 1978.

Perez will make his third consecutive start behind the plate for the American League, the most by a Royals player since Brett started five seasons in a row (1981-85). The four-time All-Star is tops among AL catchers in hits (74), batting average (.277), slugging percentage (.483) and tied for first in RBI (37).  His 24 two-out RBIs are tied for fifth in the majors, while he’s thrown out an AL-best 17 would-be basestealers.

Davis, 30, was tabbed an All-Star for the second straight year, though he will not participate in the game due to injury.  He’s posted a 1-0 record with 19 saves and a 1.23 ERA in 30 appearances this season, his first full year as the team’s closer.  His save total is tied for fifth in the American League, while his ERA is also fifth-best among the league’s relief pitchers.

Herrera, 26, was also selected an American League All-Star for the second-straight season.  He is 1-1 with a 1.40 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 38.2 innings this season.  He leads the league with 21 holds this year, while he’s tied for seventh among AL relievers with 39 appearances.  He hasn’t allowed a hit to a right-handed hitter since June 6, while righties are just 10-for-71 (.141) against him this season.

Hosmer, meanwhile, will be participating in his first All-Star Game. He’s batting .303 with 13 homers and 49 RBIs this season–28 of those RBIs have come since May 25, which ties him for seventh in the American League in that span.  He had a career-best 18-game hitting streak, April 10-29, which is also the third-longest in MLB this season.

Facing these Royals on the NL side will be a different shade of blue: the Chicago Cubs became the first team since the 1976 Cincinnati Reds’ Big Red Machine to have five players voted as All-Star Game starters when their entire infield earned the honor Tuesday along with center fielder Dexter Fowler.

First baseman Anthony Rizzo, second baseman Ben Zobrist, shortstop Addison Russell and third baseman Kris Bryant also were elected. The only other team to start four infielders was the 1963 St. Louis Cardinals.

Rizzo led NL players with 3.2 million votes, and Zobrist won the closest race by finishing 88 votes ahead of Washington’s Daniel Murphy. Seven Cubs were picked in all, with Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester selected for the National League pitching staff. Fowler hopes to recover from a hamstring strain that has sidelined him since June 18.

San Francisco catcher Buster Posey was elected along with New York Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes and Washington outfielder Bryce Harper.

Arrieta is among five first-time All-Stars on the NL pitching staff, joined by New York’s Noah Syndergaard and Jeurys Familia, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Kenley Jansen and Miami’s A.J. Ramos. Other NL pitchers include Washington’s Stephen Strasburg, the Giants’ Madison Bumgarner, the Marlins’ Jose Fernandez and Atlanta’s Julio Teheran. Washington’s Max Scherzer was bypassed.

Back on the AL side, Boston has six All-Stars, including four starters. Designated hitter David Ortiz, who is retiring at the end of the season, became a 10-time All-Star and is joined by a trio of first-timers: shortstop Xander Bogaerts and outfielders Jackie Bradley Jr. and Mookie Betts. Knuckleballer Steven Wright and closer Craig Kimbrel were selected for the pitching staff.

Andrew Miller and Dellin Betances were picked for the AL bullpen from the New York Yankees’ Run BMC trio but Aroldis Chapman was left off after missing the first 29 games of the season while serving a domestic violence suspension.

Miller and Wright are among seven first-time All-Stars on the AL pitching staff, joined by Tampa Bay’s Alex Colome, Toronto’s Marco Estrada, Baltimore’s Brad Brach, Houston’s Marco Estrada and Cleveland’s Danny Salazar. Other AL pitchers include Chicago’s Chris Sale and Texas’ Cole Hamels.

Overall, the July 12 game at San Diego’s Petco Park will feature 11 first-time starters, the most since 2005. In a sign of the sport’s generational change, 12 of the 17 elected starters are 26 or younger.

Petco Park is the second of four straight NL ballparks to host the All-Stars, following Cincinnati last year and ahead of Miami in 2017 and Washington in 2018. Because of that, the AL will be the home team, wear white uniforms and use the Padres clubhouse. Wil Myers was the only Padres player picked.

St. Louis’ 1963 infield included first baseman Bill White, second baseman Julian Javier, third baseman Ken Boyer and shortstop Dick Groat. The 1976 Reds’ starters were catcher Johnny Bench, second baseman Joe Morgan, shortstop Dave Concepcion, third baseman Pete Rose and outfielder George Foster.

— Associated Press —

TORONTO (AP) — Aaron Sanchez wasn’t feeling too good for his start against Kansas City. It was hard to tell from the way he pitched.

Sanchez overcame flu-like symptoms to work eight innings and win his eighth straight decision, Josh Donaldson and Darwin Barney each hit two-run singles in a four-run seventh and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals 6-2 on Monday night.

Troy Tulowitzki had two hits, his third multi-hit game in the past four, as the Blue Jays won a rematch of last year’s ALCS, which Kansas City won in six games.

Sanchez (9-1) has not lost since April 22, against Oakland. He allowed one run and three hits and matched the longest start of his career.

“It’s just starting to come together for him,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “I think he’s going to get even better and better.”

Sanchez also gave up one run in eight innings at Colorado in his previous start.

“He threw the ball extremely well,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “Good downhill action on a 95 mile per hour fastball, good curveball. He just threw a great game.”

Sanchez retired the first seven batters he faced and held the Royals hitless until Cheslor Cuthbert’s two-out single to center in the fifth. The next hitter, Alcides Escobar, grounded out.

“That’s the name of the game, trying to get these guys back into the dugout as fast as I can,” Sanchez said. “When you can do that you kind of keep a flow of things.”

Michael Saunders gave the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead with an RBI groundout off Edinson Volquez in the first.

Toronto nearly doubled its lead in the fourth but Alex Gordon threw out Edwin Encarnacion trying to score from second on Kevin Pillar’s two-out single to left.

“When (Gordon) first got that ball I thought he’s got no shot at throwing (Encarnacion) out,” Yost said. “All of a sudden, boom, here we go. He came up firing. It was a fantastic throw.”

Kansas City tied it when Kendrys Morales homered off Sanchez to begin the seventh, his 15th. Morales has hit five home runs in his past five games.

Volquez (7-8) left after the first three batters reached to load the bases in the bottom half. Luke Hochevar came on and walked Devon Travis to bring in the go ahead run. Barney followed with a two-run single.

“That was the whole game,” Volquez said. “I got myself in trouble in that inning.”

Volquez allowed four runs and four hits in six-plus innings. He is winless in three starts, allowing 15 earned runs in 13 2/3 innings.

After Ezequiel Carrera advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt, Donaldson lined a two-run single to right, making it 6-1.

Eric Hosmer hit a two-out homer off Brett Cecil in the ninth, his 13th.

EARLY RETURNS

The Blue Jays have scored in the first inning in each of their past three games.

TOUGH TIME WITH TORONTO

Volquez is 0-5 with a 6.38 ERA in seven career starts against the Blue Jays.

END OF THE LINE

Donaldson had reached safely in nine straight plate appearances before grounding out in the third.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura has a Grade 1 sprain of his right ankle but hopes to make his next start, Friday against Seattle, Yost said. Ventura left Sunday’s start after he was injured running the bases.

Blue Jays: RHP Marco Estrada received multiple cortisone injections in his sore lower back and expects to make his next start, Thursday against Detroit.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Chris Young (2-7, 6.24) is 0-5 with a 8.53 ERA in six road starts. Young is winless on the road since a victory at Chicago on July 17, 2015.

Blue Jays: RHP R.A. Dickey (5-9, 4.21) is 0-6 with a 5.14 ERA in eight home starts. The knuckleballer has lost three of his past four decisions.

— Associated Press —

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Vince Velasquez just needed a few pitches to get going.

Cameron Rupp hit a three-run homer, Velasquez threw six effective innings and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Kansas City Royals 7-2 Sunday.

Cody Asche and Maikel Franco also went deep to help the Phillies win two of three against the defending World Series champions.

Velasquez (7-2) allowed two runs and five hits, striking out seven in his second start since returning from the disabled list. It appeared Velasquez was hurt in the first inning when manager Pete Mackanin and a trainer visited the mound after he threw just five pitches. But Velasquez stayed in, his velocity increased and he threw 96 pitches.

“It took me a little bit longer to warm up,” Velasquez said. “Just dragging a little bit. Everyone has dead arm at some point. You have to pitch through it and utilize all your pitches.”

Mackanin went out to see Velasquez because his hardest pitch was only 90 mph among the first five. Velasquez was removed from the game after throwing only two pitches on June 8 and missed almost three weeks because of a strained right biceps.

“We thought: `Oh-no, not again.’ But He assured us he was fine,” Mackanin said. “He didn’t have his above-average velocity, but he made his secondary pitches.”

Royals starter Yordano Ventura (6-6) exited in the third inning after spraining his right ankle running the bases following his second career hit. Ventura lined a single to right but got hurt running to second on Alex Gordon’s double-play grounder.

Ventura went out to the mound in the bottom half and left after Asche hit a shot into the second deck in right field with two outs.

“It feels better now,” Ventura said through an interpreter. “It’ll be a couple days before we know.”

Rupp gave the Phillies a 3-0 lead in the first when he hit a 1-2 pitch the opposite way into the right-field seats for his eighth homer.

“It was 98 mph so he supplied the power,” Rupp said. “He left the pitch up and over the plate.”

Gordon’s two-run homer off Velasquez cut it to 4-2 in the fifth. Maikel Franco’s infield single drove in a run in the bottom half. He hit a solo homer off Brian Flynn in the eighth.

“Nice to see homers from the middle of the lineup,” Mackanin said. “All of our runs came with two outs and that’s encouraging.”

STANDINGS

The Royals fell to 43-38 with their 13th loss in their last 18 road games. The Phillies (37-46) have won five of six.

EVERYBODY HITS

Each of Philadelphia’s starters except Velasquez had a hit. “It only takes one or two guys to get going,” Mackanin said. “I always thought we’re a better hitting team than we showed.”

HOME COOKING

The Phillies won their first series in Philadelphia since May 16-18.

STREAKING

Royals SS Alcides Escobar hit a single in the ninth to extend his hitting streak to 14 games. … Phillies OF Peter Bourjos extended his hitting streak to 12 games. He’s 21 for 47 in those games, raising his average to .268 from .217. … Kansas City’s Kendrys Morales was 0 for 3 with a walk and two strikeouts, ending his eight-game hitting streak.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Edinson Volquez (7-7, 4.60 ERA) pitches the opener of a three-game series at Toronto. RHP Aaron Sanchez (8-1, 3.08) goes for the Blue Jays.

Phillies: RHP Jerad Eickhoff (5-9, 3.38) starts the opener of a three-game series against Atlanta. RHP Joel De La Cruz (0-1, 4.50) pitches for the Braves.

— Associated Press —

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Danny Duffy pitched deeper than he ever had in a game while Kendrys Morales continued to hit like he has in the last two weeks.

The red-hot Morales had two home runs and four RBI, Duffy pitched 8 2/3 strong innings and the Kansas City Royals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-2 on Saturday.

It was the third straight game with a homer for Morales, who extended his hitting streak to eight games by going deep in the second inning. He is batting .565 with seven homers and 21 RBI in his last 13 games.

“I feel really good right now at the plate and the key is I’m making hard contact when I’m swinging the bat,” Morales said through an interpreter.

Duffy (4-1) allowed two runs on seven hits with eight strikeouts and no walks while setting a career high for innings. The left-hander’s previous best was eight innings, which he tied in Monday’s win over St. Louis.

The 27-year-old Duffy recorded the first two outs of the ninth but was lifted for Joakim Soria after Cesar Hernandez’s RBI single.

He said that prior to Saturday he’d never gotten an out in the ninth inning at any level of baseball. Duffy lobbied manager Ned Yost after the eighth inning to stay in the contest.

“It’s cool to finish a game,” Duffy said. “(Yost) gave me the opportunity and I’m grateful for it.”

Whit Merrifield and Cheslor Cuthbert added a pair of hits for the defending World Series-champion Royals, who finally gained some ground on Cleveland in the AL Central after the Indians had their 14-game winning streak snapped in Toronto. Kansas City trails the Indians by six games.

Hernandez and Maikel Franco had two hits and an RBI each for Philadelphia, which had its four-game winning streak snapped.

Aaron Nola (5-8) lost his fourth straight game after giving up five runs on six hits in five innings. Nola hadn’t gotten past 3 2/3 innings his three previous losses, and the 23-year-old right-hander has a 13.50 ERA during his skid. There were signs of encouragement, though, as Nola finished by retiring 10 straight batters.

“The last three innings, he looked like his old self,” Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said.

The Royals scored all five of their runs off Nola in the second inning.

Morales did the greatest damage, putting the Royals up 5-1 with a three-run home run to right field. Normally Kansas City’s designated hitter, Morales has played right field the last two games because Yost wanted to keep his hot bat in the lineup.

“He’s carrying us a little bit right now,” Yost said.

The Royals tied the game at 1 on Duffy’s first major league hit and RBI, a bunt single that was popped up into a perfect spot between the pitcher’s mound and shortstop. Duffy had been 0 for 10 with five strikeouts this season.

“I’ll take it,” Duffy said. “It just worked.”

Merrifield’s RBI single to right with two outs put Kansas City ahead 2-1 before Morales’ drive.

The Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the first on Franco’s single that bounded off Duffy’s outstretched glove to score Peter Bourjos, who reached with a triple to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.

Philadelphia looked poised to score again in the fourth, but Alcides Escobar’s stellar defense saved a run. Escobar sprinted deep in the hole at shortstop to field Hernandez’s ground ball and threw to second for a force play on Carlos Ruiz for the final out.

Kansas City capped its scoring in the eighth when Morales led off with his 14th homer of the season.

“I hit it good but I hit it straight up in the air. Luckily I’m playing in a park that is conducive to home runs.”

STREAKING ROYAL

Escobar singled in the first to extend his hitting streak to 13 games.

SLUMPING PHILLIE

Philadelphia’s Tommy Joseph went 0 for 3 with a strikeout, extending his slump to 0 for 17 with seven strikeouts.

POWER OUTAGE

The Royals pitchers had allowed a home run in a club record-tying 18 straight games before not surrendering one on Saturday. They gave up 31 homers from June 21 through Saturday.

UP NEXT

Royals RHP Yordano Ventura (6-5, 5.00) opposes Philadelphia RHP Vince Velasquez (6-2, 3.38) on Sunday afternoon in the conclusion of the three-game series.

— Associated Press —