KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Robinson Cano wasn’t focused on the distance. He was just happy to see the ball clear the fence.

Cano homered twice and drove in four runs and Hisashi Iwakuma struck out a season-high 10 as the Seattle Mariners romped past the slumping Kansas City Royals, 11-2 Tuesday night.

The Mariners muscled out five home runs, with Cano’s 433-foot three-run shot in the seven-run third his longest in more than two years.

“I knew it was a good swing but I didn’t think it was going to be that far,” Cano said. “But for me it doesn’t matter how far it goes if it goes over the wall.”

Kauffman Stadium is not a friendly park for power hitters, but it was not too big for the Mariners.

“It doesn’t usually play this small,” Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. ” I thought the ball jumped, really jumped in early BP tonight and I think it carried over into the game.”

The AL Central-leading Royals have dropped 12 of 17. Their magic number for clinching the division remained three.

Cano and Kyle Seager each hit solo homers in the first inning for Seattle, which has the league’s best record in September at 13-6 but is still three games under .500 (74-77). It was Seager’s 25th home run and his seventh in 23 games.

Brad Miller and Jesus Montero also connected for Seattle.

Cano hit a three-run shot in a seven-run third inning for his 15th career multihomer game. Cano’s next hit will be the 2,000th of his career.

Iwakuma (9-4), who is 7-2 in his past nine starts, curbed the Royals on three singles over seven scoreless innings. He has allowed one run and 10 hits in 13 innings in his past two starts, while striking out 19 and walking one.

Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie (8-8) was pulled after Miller homered with one out in the third. Guthrie retired only seven of the 17 batters he faced, allowing nine runs on nine hits, four home runs.

“When he missed location, they didn’t miss it,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

Guthrie is 1/3 with an 8.07 ERA in seven starts since the All-Star break, allowing 58 hits, including 12 home runs, and walking 11 in 35 2/3 innings.

Yost said he would “sleep on it” when asked if Guthrie would make another start.

Montero hit a two-run shot in the fourth off rookie right-hander Miguel Almonte for the final Seattle runs.

Alcides Escobar had three of the Royals’ hits, scored a run and drove in a run. Alex Rios doubled in the ninth to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mariners: RHP Felix Hernandez, who exited in the sixth inning Sunday with elbow tightness, played catch Tuesday and said he would not miss a start.

Royals: RHP Greg Holland, with lingering elbow issues, was replaced by RHP Wade Davis as the closer. … 2B Omar Infante has a left oblique strain and is probably out two to four weeks. … SS Alcides Escobar returned after missing the previous two games with a bruised left elbow after being hit by a pitch Friday.

NEWEST MARINER

Mariners 1B Logan Morrison was absent to be with his wife, who gave birth to the couple’s first daughter, Sophia. Montero replaced Morrison in the lineup and went 2 for 5 with a home run. He is hitting .500, 12 for 24, in six games at Kauffman Stadium.

UP NEXT

Mariners: LHP Roenis Elias is 1-1 with a 6.46 ERA in three career starts against Royals.

Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura has won eight of his past nine decisions.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Greg Holland is out and Wade Davis is in as the Kansas City Royals’ closer.

With Holland continuing to nurse a sore elbow, Royals manager Ned Yost said before Tuesday’s game against Seattle that Davis would close games for the remainder of the season and the playoffs.

“You know what you’ve got with Wade,” Yost said. “With Holly you don’t know from one day to the next how his elbow is going to respond, if it’s going to be tight or sore or stiff.

“You’ve got to pretty much know what you’re going to put out there, especially when you get in the playoffs,” he said. “It’s just decisions we have to make, but they are not easy decisions, trust me. But we just have other options.”

Holland, an All-Star in 2013 and ’14, when he saved 93 games in 98 chances, has 32 saves in 37 opportunities this year with a 3.83 ERA.

He was charged with a blown save and a loss Friday at Detroit, giving up two runs on three hits and two walks in the 12th inning. Holland’s velocity had dipped from the mid-90s in terms of of miles per hour to the upper 80s and low 90s.

“Rest isn’t going to help him,” Yost said. “He’s been functional through it all year long. It’s getting a little more sore the last month or so and he continues to go out, pitch through it and he’s been successful for the most part.”

Davis has 13 saves in 14 opportunities and a 7-1 record with a 0.88 ERA.

“He knows he can handle the ninth inning,” Yost said.

Also, second baseman Omar Infante, who has not played since Friday, has a grade one-plus oblique strain.

“Those things are generally from two weeks to four weeks,” Yost said. “So there’s still hope he can heal up and be ready for the back end of the playoffs.”

Infante hit .220 with a .234 on-base percentage in 124 games. Ben Zobrist has replaced him at second base and is hitting .308 with a .389 on-base percentage in 47 games with the Royals after being acquired in a July 28 trade with Oakland.

— Associated Press —

DETROIT (AP) — The Kansas City Royals signed Kendrys Morales last offseason to add some power to what had been a fairly punchless offense in 2014.

“We expected him to have a great year,” manager Ned Yost said.

Morales has indeed been productive, and on Sunday he enjoyed what might have been the best offensive game of his big league career, hitting three home runs in a 10-3 win over the Detroit Tigers. Morales also hit a triple and set a team record with 15 total bases.

The Royals lowered their magic number to three to clinch the AL Central, which would be their first division title in 30 years. Christian Colon had a career-high four hits, and Paulo Orlando also homered for Kansas City.

Morales homered in the third, fourth and eighth innings, becoming the first Kansas City player to go deep three times in a game since Danny Tartabull against Oakland on July 6, 1991. Morales ended up scoring five times on the day, but he was on deck when Eric Hosmer flied out and ended the top of the ninth.

The Royals won the American League pennant last year, but they finished last in the majors in home runs. They’ve shown more pop in 2015, thanks in part to Morales, who took over the team lead in homers Sunday with 21. Mike Moustakas and Salvador Perez have 20 each.

“It’s not about competition, it’s just about putting up good ABs and everybody doing their part,” Morales said through a translator.

Kris Medlen (5-1) allowed three unearned runs and five hits in five innings for Kansas City, which leads second-place Minnesota by 11 games in the division.

Detroit’s Alfredo Simon (13-10) allowed eight runs and 13 hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Danny Duffy pitched four innings for his first career save.

Morales became the second player with 15 total bases in a game this season. Yoenis Cespedes of the New York Mets did it at Colorado on Aug. 21.

George Brett held the previous Royals record of 14 total bases. He did it in a 16-inning game in 1979.

The Royals scored two runs in the first, and Morales homered to lead off the third. Orlando’s two-run homer later that inning made it 5-0.

Detroit scored three runs in the third, but Morales answered that with a solo homer the following inning. His third home run of the day was also a solo shot, easily clearing the wall in right off reliever Jeff Ferrell.

“They had 19 hits, so it wasn’t just him, but yeah, that was obviously a pretty good show,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. “He’s a switch-hitter who can hit the ball over 400 feet from both sides of the plate and he’s a run producer.”

BASERUNNING GAFFES

The Royals might have scored even more if not for baserunning mistakes in each of the first three innings. With men on first and third in the first, Lorenzo Cain got caught in a rundown between first and second when Simon made a pickoff throw to first. During the rundown, a throw hit Cain, but Detroit 2B Andrew Romine was able to grab the ball out of the air and make the tag.

With men on first and second in the second, Hosmer hit a single to right. Ben Zobrist tried to go from first to third, but Colon — the runner in front of him — stopped at third. The Tigers trapped Zobrist between second and third, and when Colon broke for home, they threw him out at the plate.

Colon was also picked off first in the third.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: SS Alcides Escobar (elbow contusion) sat out a second straight game after hurting himself Friday night.

Tigers: All-Star SS Jose Iglesias (broken right middle finger) remained out of the lineup. He hasn’t played since Sept. 3.

UP NEXT

Royals: Return home to face Seattle on Tuesday night. Jeremy Guthrie (8-7) starts for Kansas City against Hisashi Iawkuma (8-4).

Tigers: Host the Chicago White Sox in a doubleheader Monday. Detroit’s Kyle Ryan (2-3) faces Jeff Samardzija (9-13) in the opener, and Randy Wolf (0-3) starts for the Tigers against Erik Johnson (2-0) in the second game.

— Associated Press —

DETROIT (AP) — Ian Kinsler homered in the 11th inning to give the Detroit Tigers a 6-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night.

Kinsler led off the 11th against Miguel Almonte (0-1) and hit a 1-2 curveball into the Tigers’ bullpen for his second walk-off homer against Kansas City this season. He also hit one on August 6.

Tom Gorzelanny (2-0) got the win with two innings of scoreless relief.

The celebration at home was Kinsler’s second in three innings, but this one counted.

Kinsler was initially called safe at home on a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning, setting off a mob scene at the plate. However, a replay review showed Royals catcher Salvador Perez caught Jarrod Dyson’s off-line throw and caught the tip of Kinsler’s shoe with a diving tag to end the inning.

— Associated Press —

DETROIT (AP) — The Tigers and Royals had just about everything on Friday night.

The start of the game was delayed by 23 minutes when a light tower malfunctioned, and there was another delay in extra innings because of a problem with the mound. Detroit took a two-run lead in the eighth, only to blow it in the ninth.

Finally, the Royals took a lead in the 12th only for Dixon Machado’s bases-loaded single off Greg Holland to give the Tigers a 5-4 victory.

“That’s a couple of games where the guys have fought back, this time after being down in extra innings,” said Tigers manager Brad Ausmus. “We fought back and got a great win.”

The game — which lasted 4 hours, 9 minutes — wouldn’t have been able to go much longer, as heavy rains hit Comerica Park about 20 minutes after the final out.

The Royals took a 4-3 lead in the top of the 12th after Salvador Perez singled and pinch-runner Terrance Gore stole second, took third on Jarrod Dyson’s bunt and scored on Paulo Orlando’s groundout.

“Dyson and Gore are a great pair of weapons,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “VerHagen’s delivery to the plate was 1.29 seconds, and (James) McCann’s throw was outstanding and in a perfect spot, and Gore still stole the bag and got us into scoring position.”

However, Anthony Gose led off the bottom of the 12th with a single off Holland (3-2), and after Ian Kinsler popped out, Miguel Cabrera singled and took second when no one covered the bag as Gose went to third. Holland intentionally walked J.D. Martinez to face Victor Martinez with the bases loaded.

Holland got the strikeout he needed, but walked Tyler Collins to force in the tying run. Machado then lined a 2-2 slider down the left-field line for the winning run.

“I knew I couldn’t take a deep breath when I got Victor, because if you relax in a situation like that, you are going to implode,” Holland said. “I just couldn’t consistently get the ball where I needed it in the zone, so I walk Collins and then hang a two-strike slider to Machado.”

Justin Verlander allowed one run and four hits with a walk, and has posted a 2.02 ERA in his last 11 starts. In that stretch, he has walked 14 batters and struck out 69 in 80 1/3 innings.

Ausmus pulled him to tremendous boos with a 3-1 lead and two out in the ninth after Eric Hosmer’s single. Perez crushed Alex Wilson’s second pitch for a game-tying homer.

“I’m a big believer in positive energy, and I don’t think that was a good situation to boo,” Verlander said. “We had a lot of good things going; here comes our reliever in to a bunch of boos. Obviously, they weren’t for him, but I’m a believer in positive vibes.”

Royals starter Johnny Cueto also got a no-decision, allowing two runs on eight hits and a walk in seven-plus innings. He gave up a first-inning run for the fourth straight start, but settled down for his best outing since allowing one run in eight innings against the Angels on Aug. 15.

“I take a lot of pride in what I did tonight, because I threw the ball really well,” Cueto said through an interpreter. “I got myself into a rhythm and finally felt the way I’m supposed to feel out there.”

The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the first on Cabrera’s double, but he was easily thrown out at the plate by Orlando on Victor Martinez’s two-out single.

Orlando tied the game with a two-out double in the fifth, but Kinsler prevented a second run by making a sliding stop of Alcides Escobar’s grounder, then threw Escobar out from his knees.

Cueto and Verlander dueled until the bottom of the eighth, when Gose led off with a double. That brought Wade Davis into the game, and after almost hitting Kinsler with his first pitch, he allowed a single on the second.

Cabrera then lined a sacrifice fly to right, bringing home Gose with the go-ahead run. Kinsler took third when Davis threw away a pickoff attempt, and J.D. Martinez drew a walk.

Victor Martinez followed with another sacrifice fly to right, making the first run Davis had allowed in over a month, ending a string of 13 scoreless outings that started on Aug. 18.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: 2B Omar Infante left the game in the fifth inning with a left oblique strain and was replaced by Zobrist. Infante, who had 7 RBI in Thursday night’s win over Cleveland, will be evaluated tomorrow. . Alcides Escobar left the game after being hit with a pitch in the 10th inning, but is expected to play Saturday.

Tigers: 3B Nick Castellanos was out of the starting lineup for the second straight game with a groin strain, but pinch-hit in the 11th inning. . SS Jose Igleisas was undergoing tests on his broken finger to see if he will be cleared to play before the end of the season.

UP NEXT:

The teams continue their three-game weekend series on Saturday night, with Edinson Volquez (13-8, 3.59) facing Detroit’s Matt Boyd (1-5, 8.02). Boyd has an 8.50 ERA in his last four starts, once against Kansas City, having allowed 17 runs on 22 hits in 18 innings.

— Associated Press —