KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Tommy Milone pitched so poorly in April that the Minnesota Twins sent him to the minors in May.

Milone is pitching confidently in September, helping keep the Twins in the playoff hunt.

Milone pitched seven effective innings and Eduardo Escobar reached base four times and drove in three runs as the Twins beat the struggling Kansas City Royals 6-2 on Monday night.

“You like the fact he’s an experienced guy,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “He trusts in what he does. He hasn’t been that way the whole year. We talked about it earlier in the year of getting back to being more aggressive. I think he’s tried to keep that philosophy.”

Milone (8-4) held the Royals to six hits and two runs, while striking out four and walking one. He is 2-0, allowing two runs and nine hits in two September starts.

“A lot of it is pitching games in September that are meaningful ones,” Milone said. “It kind of motivates me to go out there and pitch well. It’s a lot more fun.”

The Twins are 1 1/2 games behind Texas for the AL’s second wild card.

The Royals have been outscored 31-9 in dropping four straight, matching their longest losing streak of the season.

“We haven’t played up to our standard,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “I think our starting pitching hasn’t been exceptionally sharp through this run, and offensively, we’ve faced some tough pitching.

“Milone tonight did a great job. He was consistently strike one on everybody, he was commanding the low outside part of the plate and the up and inside part of the plate for strikes, really good changeups, and mixed in good curveballs.”

Escobar contributed an RBI-single in a three-run sixth and drove in two runs with a two-out single in the seventh off Joba Chamberlain, who was making his Royals’ debut.

Yordano Ventura (10-8), who was 4-0 with a 1.13 ERA in his five previous starts, yielded four runs, eight hits, five walks and two wild pitches in 5 1/3 innings, striking out eight.

“I wasn’t getting ahead of hitters, and this is the big leagues; if you don’t get ahead of hitters, you’re going to struggle,” Ventura said with coach Pedro Grifol acting as his interpreter.

Aaron Hicks hit Ventura’s third pitch for his second career leadoff homer.

The Twins broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth when Torii Hunter, Kurt Suzuki and Escobar opened with singles and all scored.

Suzuki scored on the first of two wild pitches by Ventura in the inning. Joe Mauer’s sacrifice fly brought home Escobar.

Kendrys Morales’ ground out in the first scored Lorenzo Cain and hiked his RBI total to 100, becoming the 28th player in Royals’ history to reach that milestone.

Salvador Perez’s sacrifice fly scored Morales in the seventh for the other run off Milone. Mike Moustakas was out at home to end the inning, attempting to score on Paulo Orlando’s double.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: LHP Glenn Perkins (back spasms) was not with the club. … RHP Phil Hughes (lower back inflammation) will throw his second simulated game Wednesday.

Royals: RF Alex Rios and Herrera were in uniform after being out nine days with the chicken pox.

STRIKEOUTS CONTINUE

Twins rookie DH Miguel Sano struck out twice in three at-bats and has struck out in 11 of his past 13 at-bats. He did draw two walks.

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Kyle Gibson, who went to the University of Missouri, starts the middle game of this series.

Royals: RHP Edinson Volquez lasted just three innings, matching the shortest outing of his career, in his previous start, allowing six runs and eight hits to the Tigers.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — It is probably too late for the Chicago White Sox, but they are back on a hot streak.

Adam Eaton homered and scored three times, and the White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 7-5 on Sunday for their fourth straight win.

“Yeah, it’s good to win in general, but Kansas City’s a high-quality baseball team,” Eaton said. “It’s good to take three from a very, very good team.”

The White Sox had lost their first six games at Kauffman Stadium before sweeping the Royals.

“It shows kind of our inconsistency this year,” Eaton said. “This last month of the season, we’ve got to empty whatever’s left in the tank and I hope this three-game series can kind of foresee what we can do for the rest of the month.”

David Robertson worked a flawless ninth to log his 29th save and has retired 25 straight batters.

“We’re the streakiest team I’ve ever been on in my life,” Robertson said. “We go from winning five or six to losing five or six. I don’t know why we do that. It just seems to happen. Hopefully we can continue to win. There’s still a chance for us to sneak in there.”

Eaton collected three more hits and is batting .517 (15 for 29) in his last seven games.

Erik Johnson (1-0) pitched six innings of three-run ball in his first major league appearance of the season, allowing three solo homers.

“Since he’s been back, even from spring training, we’re seeing a confident guy, even from the solos,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “When you have a lead you can get away with some solo homers. You’d rather do that than sit there and walk everybody. I thought he was fantastic.”

The AL-leading Royals were swept at home for the first time this season. Johnny Cueto (2-5) was pulled after three innings in his fourth straight loss.

Kansas City pulled within one with two runs in the seventh. But Eaton doubled and scored on Jose Abreu’s sacrifice fly in the ninth, and David Robertson got three outs for his 29th save.

Johnson, who was the International League most valuable pitcher after going 11-8 with a 2.37 ERA with Triple-A Charlotte, allowed five hits, including homers to Salvador Perez, Jarrod Dyson and Mike Moustakas.

Cueto, who was acquired in a July 26 trade with Cincinnati, was charged with five runs and seven hits. It was his shortest outing since June 28, 2013, when he left after one inning at Texas and went on the disabled list the next day.

Cueto is 0-4 with a 9.45 ERA during his losing streak, yielding 21 earned runs and 37 hits in 20 innings.

“I’m not frustrated at all, but I’m a little bit disappointed I haven’t been able to help the team the way I was supposed to help this club,” Cueto said with coach Pedro Grifol acting as his interpreter.

The White Sox scored three runs before making an out. Jose Abreu singled in Eaton, and Avisail Garcia drove in two runs with a base hit.

Chicago tacked on two more runs in the third on Adam LaRoche’s RBI single and Rob Brantly’s sacrifice fly.

Eaton added his 12th homer with one out in the sixth. The speedy leadoff hitter had six career homers in 211 games coming into the year.

Perez’s second-inning homer was his team-leading 19th. Dyson and Moustakas went deep in the sixth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

White Sox: Eaton is dealing with shoulder discomfort. “He’s had something nagging him here and there, but it’s nothing to keep him out of the lineup,” Ventura said. He acknowledged trainer Herm Schneider is doing some “maintenance” work on Eaton.

Royals: RHP Ryan Madson (arm fatigue) pitched for the first time since Aug. 22 and gave up a run in the ninth. … Moustakas (hamstring pull) started for the first time since Aug. 30.

UP NEXT

White Sox: LHP Chris Sale (12-7, 3.29 ERA) gets the ball on Monday afternoon in the opener of a three-game series at home against Cleveland. He has struck out 10 or more in 13 starts, the most in a single season since Randy Johnson recorded 13 such starts in 2004.

Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura (10-7, 4.24 ERA) starts Monday in the opener of a three-game series against Minnesota. Ventura is 4-0 with a 1.13 ERA in his last five starts.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — John Danks loves it in Kansas City.

The Royals might prefer the city barred the White Sox left-hander from future visits.

Danks continued his mastery over the Royals with a complete game and Adam Eaton matched his career high with four hits, including a three-run homer, as the Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 12-1 Friday night.

Alexei Ramirez also had four hits — tying his career high — drove in two runs and scored three times. Tyler Flowers also hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning.

Eaton went back-to-back with Jose Abreu, his 25th, in a five-run eighth off Jeremy Guthrie.

Danks (7-12), who snapped a personal four-game losing streak, owns a 10-2 record in 21 career starts against the Royals. Three of his seven victories this season are over the AL Central-leading Royals, and he has a 2.14 ERA career at Kauffman Stadium.

“I’ve always enjoyed coming here in general,” Danks said. “This is one of my favorite cities to come to in the course of the summer. I’ve spent a lot of time in this ballpark.”

The Royals managed just seven hits off Danks after scoring 27 runs and notching 34 hits in crushing Detroit the previous two games.

Royals manager Ned Yost has no explanation for why Danks, who has a career record 18 games below .500, dominates the Royals.

“If you figure it out, let me know, because I have not figured it out,” Yost said. “I mean seriously I haven’t. Certain players have certain teams that they do really well against. It’s like certain players have certain pitchers that they do well against and other guys that they don’t and there’s just no explanation for it. I don’t know.”

The White Sox scored three runs in the first off Kris Medlen (3-1), with Ramirez contributing a two-run single. Avisail Garcia singled home Jose Abreu with the first run of the inning.

Medlen, who had allowed just six runs and nine hits over 11 1/3 innings in his first two starts, was roughed up for seven runs on 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings.

The Royals avoided a shutout when Kendrys Morales’ sacrifice fly in the ninth scored Alcides Escobar.

NUMBERS AND STATS

The White Sox won their first game at Kauffman Stadium after dropping the first six. … Ramirez’s four-hit game was the 14th of his career, while Eaton accomplished it eight times. … Royals CF Lorenzo Cain went 0 for 3, snapping his season-high 11-game hitting streak. … Danks threw a season-high 121 pitches, two shy of career high.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: 3B Mike Moustakas (hamstring strain) was out of the lineup for the fourth consecutive game. … RHP Kelvin Herrera and OF Alex Rios worked out in the morning at Kauffman Stadium for the first time since contracting chickenpox. They left before the rest of the team arrived.

UP NEXT

White Sox: LHP Jose Quintana has a 5.63 ERA in four no-decisions against the Royals this season.

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy is 5-2 with a 3.08 ERA in his past 11 starts after going 2-4 with a 5.44 ERA in his first 10 starts.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals skipped their normal batting practice before Thursday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers, a prudent move considering how hot they have been at the plate lately.

They wound up getting plenty of swings in during the game anyway.

Lorenzo Cain hit a three-run homer, Paulo Orlando added a two-run shot and Kendrys Morales drove in four as Kansas City routed Detroit 15-7 to wrap up another series win.

Ben Zobrist drove in two runs for the Royals, whose 15 runs and 20 hits were their most since piling up 21 hits in a 16-8 victory at Colorado on July 3, 2011.

“It was definitely a long game,” Cain said, “but we’ll take that kind of win.”

Chris Young (10-6) got the victory with two scoreless innings in relief of Edinson Volquez, who yielded six runs, eight hits and a walk in three innings — but still put on a smile.

“It’s just part of the game,” he said. “Just a bad day.”

Not as bad as Matt Boyd’s day. The Tigers starter was hammered for six runs before getting the hook four batters into the second inning. The last batter he faced was Cain, whose skyscraping homer barely cleared the wall in left field on its descent for his second in as many nights.

“I just couldn’t throw stuff where I wanted to,” Boyd said.

Reliever Kyle Ryan (1-3) was tagged with the loss as Detroit pitchers allowed 61 runs during a 1-5 trip through Toronto and Kansas City, two teams in the thick of the playoff hunt.

“You better learn from it,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. “You better try to get better `cause if it gets any worse, I don’t know what we’ll do. This was a very tough road trip for the pitching staff. We do have some young guys, but we’ve got to work to get them better.”

Nick Castellanos drove in three runs for the Tigers while James McCann drove in two.

After dropping the series opener, the Royals managed 34 hits and 27 runs in taking the next two games. That allowed the AL Central leaders to extend their unbeaten streak to eight series.

Perhaps coincidentally, their offense came alive in the two games that Jonny Gomes started after his arrival in a trade from Atlanta. Gomes had an RBI double on Wednesday night and two hits on Thursday night, including another run-scoring double.

All told, the teams combined for 34 hits while leaving 18 on base in a game that lasted 3 hours, 58 minutes. The first inning alone included 76 pitches — 38 each side — along with seven hits, five runs and two visits from pitching coaches during a 46-minute marathon.

Detroit scored three times in the first, including Anthony Gose’s leadoff homer, only for Kansas City to answer with two runs in the bottom half. The Royals scored four in the second, and the Tigers knotted the game 6-all by stringing together a series of hits in the third.

Both starting pitchers had been discarded by that point, and it came down to which team had the better bullpen. The Tigers kept faltering while Kansas City buckled down.

“They came in above the call of duty to get us through,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

ROSTER MOVES

The Tigers optioned RHP Guido Guido Knudson to Triple-A Toledo and recalled LHP Jeff Ferrell and INF Dixon Machado after the game. Machado will replace SS Jose Iglesias for a few days after Iglesias fouled a pitch off his finger while attempting to bunt Thursday night.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Tigers: RHP Anibal Sanchez (rotator cuff strain) reported no problems throwing from 90 feet before the game. He will try from 120 feet on Friday. “Baby steps,” Sanchez said.

Royals: The Royals have had no more cases of chickenpox after RHP Kelvin Herrera and RF Alex Rios were diagnosed last weekend, Yost said. Both are doing better.

UP NEXT

Tigers: LHP Kyle Lobstein makes his first start since late May in the opener of a three-game set against Cleveland. He had been out with a sore left shoulder.

Royals: RHP Kris Medlen continues his quest for a spot in Kansas City’s postseason rotation in the opener of a three-game series against the White Sox.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The only things that slowed down Yordano Ventura on Wednesday night were the long periods that Kansas City’s 24-year-old flamethrower spent on the bench between innings.

While the Royals were pounding four homers and nine extra-base hits off Detroit pitching, Ventura had to sit idly in the dugout. Still, he managed to strike out 11 in seven sharp innings as the AL Central leaders cruised to a 12-1 rout of the slumping Tigers.

“Definitely good to have,” Ventura said of the run support, “but when things take that long, it can be challenging. I was able to overcome that.”

Ventura (10-7) walked one and hit one while matching a career high for strikeouts set in his last start. The 24-year-old with the 100 mph fastball has not allowed more than two earned runs in his last five outings, and is 6-0 since his last defeat July 20 against Pittsburgh.

“Good pitching generates good offense,” said Jonny Gomes, who got a hit and scored in his first start for Kansas City since arriving in a trade from Atlanta. “Obviously that strikeout stuff plays.”

Kendrys Morales hit a three-run shot, Cheslor Cuthbert added his first career homer, and Ben Zobrist and Lorenzo Cain also went deep as the Royals matched a season high for runs.

Randy Wolf (0-3) gave up eight runs in 3 2/3 innings for Detroit, though he did last longer than Miguel Cabrera. The slugger was tossed by third base umpire Gary Cederstrom after fanning in the third inning, and after a quarrel with plate umpire Quinn Wolcott proved fruitless.

Even before Cabrera hit the showers, the Detroit hitters were sputtering.

After the Tigers put runners on the corners with one out in the first, Ventura allowed just one of the next 13 batters he faced to reach base. Ventura didn’t give up a run until the sixth, when Anthony Gose hit a leadoff triple and scored on Ian Kinsler’s groundout.

By that point, the Royals already led 12-0.

Zobrist homered in the first to give Kansas City the lead, and Cuthbert — called up Tuesday when rosters expanded — added a two-run double in the second. Cain’s home run in the third and a five-run fourth inning highlighted by Morales’ towering shot to center made it a rout.

Cuthbert added his two-run homer during a three-run fifth.

“I couldn’t throw my curveball for a strike to save my life,” Wolf said. “My changeup was up. My fastball location wasn’t where I wanted it to be. You put all those elements together, it’s going to be tough to have a good night.”

Just about the only thing that didn’t go right for Kansas City was when Cain fouled a pitch off his left calf in the fourth inning. He was checked out by trainer Nick Kenney and manager Ned Yost and remained in the game, and promptly hit a two-run double.

Cain was replaced by Jarrod Dyson for precautionary reasons in the fifth, and said after the game that his calf was “a little tight right now. Kind of hurts to walk but I’ll be OK.”

With the game out of hand, both teams substituted as liberally as in spring training.

Left-hander Scott Alexander made his big league debut in the ninth for Kansas City, while Rajai Davis — who had been bothered by a finger injury — got into the game for Detroit.

“I don’t have much to say,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. “It was all Royals.”

STATS AND STREAKS

Cabrera was ejected for the seventh time in his career and first since May 2014. … The Royals scored in each of the first five innings for the first time since July 2000, when they did it against the White Sox. … Cain has hit in 10 straight games.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Tigers: RHP Al Alburquerque (hip) had a precautionary MRI exam Wednesday, Ausmus said. The reliever has not pitched since Aug. 24.

Royals: RHP Ryan Madson (weak arm) hopes to return this week, Yost said. Madson last pitched Aug. 22. … 3B Mike Moustakas (hamstring) got his second straight night off. “He’s feeling well. Better,” Yost said.

UP NEXT

Tigers: LHP Matt Boyd starts the series finale against Kansas City, though Ausmus declined to say who would start Friday night against Cleveland. LHP Kyle Ryan could get the nod.

Royals: RHP Edinson Volquez (12-7) has lost twice to the Tigers this season, including a 2-1 defeat when David Price was on the mound for Detroit on May 2.

— Associated Press —