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Category: Professional

Smith sharp as Chiefs rout Titans 34-10 in third preseason game

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riggertChiefsKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Chiefs’ Alex Smith knows exactly how much weight Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota feels as the first-round pick tries to turn around the fortunes of Tennessee.

He was in a similar position in San Francisco a decade ago.

“For me, it was battling the anxiety of being the top pick and justifying that, and that’s what I fought for so long, and it took me a while,” Smith said shortly after leading Kansas City to a weather-shortened 34-10 victory over the Titans on Friday night.

“In some ways,” he said, “you have to play yourself out of that, and I think I did.”

Enough to solidify the starting job with the Chiefs, where Smith has flourished in coach Andy Reid’s West Coast offense. He was 16 of 18 for 171 yards and two touchdowns in less than a half against Tennessee, almost certainly his final tuneup before the regular season.

Meanwhile, Mariota misfired on his first three throws before completing seven of his last eight attempts. He threw for 99 yards while playing the entire first half.

“Kansas City has a very good defense, and for us to be able to score points against them, it says a lot about where we have come from,” Mariota said. “A lot of it we can still improve.”

The game was called with 3 minutes, 50 seconds remaining after thunder rumbled and lightning streaked across the sky. Heavy rains had turned one end zone into a lake.

By that point, starters and backups had mostly finished their dress rehearsals.

Aaron Murray took over late in the first half and wound up throwing for 146 yards and two touchdowns with an interception, while backup Chase Daniel got the night off for KC.

Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles, who played 10 snaps total the first two preseason games, carried three times for 26 yards and caught two passes for 15 yards. Jeremy Maclin hauled in seven catches for 65 yards, including a 29-yard touchdown grab that made it 7-0.

Travis Kelce also caught a touchdown pass for Kansas City, while All-Pro linebacker Justin Houston had his first sack of the preseason when he tracked down Mariota before halftime.

“We have everything we need to do the things we want to achieve this year,” Maclin said. “It all starts with the guy under center and we have all the faith in the world in him.”

The Titans, still trying to settle on an offensive line, struggled to move the ball on the ground. Bishop Sankey ran six times for just 17 yards, while former Chiefs wide receiver Dexter McCluster at least managed to move the chains when he got a handful of carries.

Zach Mettenberger, who had played so well for Tennessee that some have wondered whether he’ll be traded, took over to start the second half. He was 3 of 11 for 38 yards.

Antonio Andrews had a short touchdown run late in the first half for the Titans.

“Obviously we didn’t start the way we wanted to. A lot of it was because of mistakes we made,” Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “There were too many penalties, we fumbled the ball one time, we jumped offsides and we missed tackles. Those are the things you can’t do.”

Some observations from the game:

ROOKIE WATCH

Titans: Third-round pick Jeremiah Poutasi fared well at RT, even though he lined up against Houston most of the time, perhaps cementing the starting job.

Chiefs: WR Chris Conley, the Chiefs’ third-round pick, had three catches for 30 yards.

POSITION BATTLES

Titans: Poutasi started at RT because Byron Bell moved to LG in place of Andy Levitre, who had been ineffective. That could be the starting unit in the opener against Tampa Bay.

Chiefs: CBs Marcus Peters and Philip Gaines started together while Sean Smith stares at a three-game suspension for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy.

INJURY UPDATE

Titans: S Da’Norris Searcy left with a knee injury in the first half. The Titans’ defense was already without DT Sammie Hill (knee), CB Jason McCourty (groin) and DE DaQuan Jones (leg).

Chiefs: WR Albert Wilson hurt his left shoulder early in the game. There was no word on the injury, though he was favoring it in the locker room afterward.

QUOTABLE

Titans: “Where the game was, it didn’t make any sense to go back out there.” — Whisenhunt on the officials’ decision to call the game early.

Chiefs: “I was way too juiced up.” — Murray on his interception.

— Associated Press —

Morales hits 2-run homer as Royals beat Tampa Bay 3-2

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riggertRoyalsST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Kendrys Morales lost sight of his deep drive to center field. Turns out he missed seeing the end of a quirky long ball.

Morales hit his 15th homer, Edinson Volquez pitched into the seventh inning and the AL Central-leading Kansas City Royals beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 on Friday night.

Morales put the Royals up 3-1 with a two-run shot in the third off Erasmo Ramirez (10-5) that struck an overhanging catwalk.

“I was confused in a couple of ways,” Morales said through an interpreter. “I didn’t think I hit the ball that well, and I didn’t see where it actually hit.”

Morales has 89 RBI this season, including a majors-best 46 with two outs.

“He’s been consistent all year,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. “Got a lot of big hits, picked up a lot of big RBI. An anchor in the middle of our lineup.”

Tampa Bay center fielder Kevin Kiermaier started to climb the fence on Morales’ drive, but the ball ended up well short of him after striking the overhead structure.

Volquez (12-7) allowed two runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings. Greg Holland, the third Kansas City reliever, got three outs for his 29th save.

“I thought he did a great job of navigating the lineup a couple of times,” Yost said of Volquez.

The Royals (79-49) are 30 games over .500 for the first time since finishing the AL Pennant-winning season of 1980 at 97-65.

Ramirez gave up three runs and six hits over 4 1/3 innings for the Rays, who fell 3 1/2 games back in the crowded second AL wild-card race. Tampa Bay is 1/3 on a six-game homestand.

The Rays closed to 3-2 in the third as Daniel Nava scored when left fielder Paulo Orlando dropped John Jaso’s routine fly for an error.

Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash was ejected by first base umpire Brian O’Nora for arguing after the next batter, Logan Forsythe, was called out on a grounder to short with runners on second and third with two outs.

Cash couldn’t challenge the call after having an earlier unsuccessful one.

“I think the replay shows enough,” Cash said. “It stings, but it’s part of baseball.”

O’Nora had another call overturned after a Kansas City challenge in the first inning when Ben Zobrist was called out on what was changed to an infield single.

Kansas City took a 1-0 lead on Orlando’s second-inning RBI single. The Rays tied it at 1 in the bottom half when James Loney had a run-scoring double.

Zobrist had the infield single and a double in four at-bats during his first game at Tropicana Field since being traded by the Rays to Oakland in January. Zobrist, obtained by the Royals from the Athletics July 28, played nine years for Tampa Bay and received a standing ovation after a video tribute was shown on the scoreboard prior to the game.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: LF Alex Gordon, out since July 9 with a strained left groin, played in his sixth game with Triple-A Omaha.

Rays: OF Steven Souza Jr. (broken left hand) is looking to return in mid-September. He has sidelined been since Aug. 2.

ROYAL FLUSH

Kansas City has scored 36 runs in winning all five games against the Rays this season. … The Royals are 19-5 against Tampa Bay the last four seasons.

NUMBER’S GAME

Rays: OF Brandon Gomes tied the team mark held by Sean Rodriguez (2011) when he got by a pitch for the 18th time this season.

Royals: Morales had his 26th multi-RBI game, the most by a Kansas City player since Carlos Beltran had 26 in 2003.

UP NEXT

Rays RHP Jake Odorizzi (6-6) and Royals RHP Kris Medlen (2-0) are Saturday night’s scheduled starters. Odorizzi has five straight no-decisions, which ties the Tampa Bay team record set by current Royals pitching coach Dave Eiland in 2000.

— Associated Press —

St. Louis loses on a walk-off in series opener at San Francisco

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riggertCardinalsSAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Rookie Kelby Tomlinson has been called upon out of necessity for the injury-plagued Giants, and he keeps delivering. Veteran Marlon Byrd has been called upon for big moments like this down the stretch, and is doing his part since coming to San Francisco this month in a trade from the Cincinnati Reds.

Tomlinson lined a bases-loaded single up the middle with one out in the ninth against previously unbeaten Kevin Siegrist, and the Giants topped the Cardinals 5-4 on Friday night to snap St. Louis’ five-game winning streak.

“He just seems comfortable here,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’s hit everywhere he’s gone, Double-A, Triple-A and he’s continuing to do that.”

Left fielder Brandon Moss grabbed another glove from the dugout and moved in to make a five-man infield, then Tomlinson found a hole against Siegrist (5-1).

Byrd hit a grand slam off 15-game winner Michael Wacha in the third inning for the Giants, who kept pace 2 1-2 games behind NL West-leading Los Angeles.

Javier Lopez (1-0) got Moss to line out to second in the ninth and Tomlinson quickly fired to first to double up Stephen Piscotty, who was off the bag.

Byrd’s eighth career grand slam gave the Giants eight for the season, a franchise record. Byrd last hit one on July 9, 2013, while with the Mets facing the Giants at AT&T Park.

“This one’s a lot bigger,” Byrd said. “It’s a pennant race and the Dodgers already won. We needed this win tonight to stay on pace.”

The scoreboard went out for about four minutes and the ballpark lights briefly flickered twice.

Byrd, previously 0 for 17 against Wacha, sent the first pitch he saw in the third over the wall in center field moments after Buster Posey was hit on the left elbow to load the bases against the team with baseball’s best record.

“I’ve had a tough time against Wacha,” Byrd said. “That’s my only hit in my career, a lot of strikeouts. He’s tough. I got one pitch to do something with and put a good swing on it.”

Wacha surrendered an even more memorable shot more than 10 months ago.

Travis Ishikawa’s improbable walkoff three-run homer clinched the NL pennant for the Giants with a 6-3 Game 5 win against the Cardinals in the NLCS at AT&T Park last October.

Mike Leake retired the first nine batters in order but is still missing his first win after three starts since joining the Giants in a trade from Cincinnati on July 30.

Josh Osich relieved Leake with runners on first and second and one out in the seventh, then retired pinch-hitter Jason Heyward and Matt Carpenter.

Cardinals rookie Piscotty, who played at Stanford and grew up in nearby Pleasanton, hit a two-run double in the fourth as St. Louis pulled back within 4-3. The right fielder robbed Matt Duffy in the sixth with a diving catch that took him over the bullpen mound.

“Let’s not overlook, too, the fact we were down four in this game,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. “It was a great job of getting us back into this. Just couldn’t get a whole lot going.”

The Cardinals tied it on Leake’s wild pitch in the top of the sixth.

St. Louis, which turned nine double plays in its recent four-game sweep at Arizona, committed two errors in the Giants’ big third that made all four runs unearned.

Center fielder Gregor Blanco returned to the Giants’ lineup after missing two games with a left hip strain.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Matt Belisle, on the DL since June 26 with right elbow inflammation, threw a bullpen session. … OF Matt Holliday (strained right quadriceps muscle) is scheduled to be re-evaluated this weekend in St. Louis. … Closer Trevor Rosenthal was placed on the paternity leave list and recalled RHP Sam Tuivailala from Triple-A Memphis.

Giants: RHP Matt Cain went on the 15-day DL with irritation in his pitching elbow and received a cortisone injection to help it calm down. RHP Chris Heston was recalled from his rest period at Triple-A Sacramento and will pitch Sunday’s series finale. … SS Brandon Crawford missed his third straight game with tightness in his left oblique, and is unlikely to play the rest of the weekend. “It’s not something you want to rush,” Crawford said. “Obliques are one of the most re-injured.”

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Lance Lynn (10-8) tries again for his first career regular-season victory against the Giants after beginning 0-4 with a 6.33 ERA in his previous four starts — and 0-1 in three postseason starts. The Cardinals managed only two hits in his start last week at Busch Stadium, a 2-0 loss. He has never pitched at AT&T Park in the regular season.

Giants: RHP Ryan Vogelsong (9-9) looks to bounce back from a start of 3 1/3 innings his last time out at Pittsburgh. He pitched opposite Lynn on Aug. 18, tossing six shutout innings to improve to 3-6 in the regular season vs. St. Louis.

— Associated Press —

Ventura overpowers Orioles as KC wins series finale

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riggertRoyalsKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Yordano Ventura’s locker sits next to that of Edinson Volquez in the Kansas City clubhouse, and two down from Johnny Cueto, who arrived last month in a trade from Cincinnati.

In other words, he gets plenty of veteran advice.

“I believe Johnny’s had a big impact on Ventura the last three or four starts,” Royals manager Ned Yost said after his young flamethrower tossed a gem in a 5-3 victory over Baltimore.

“Every once in a while, you hear it from the pitching coach, you hear it from the pitching coach, and then you hear it from a teammate and it sinks in,” he said.

Exactly what “it” might be is anyone’s guess, but the results have been obvious: Ventura (9-7) struck out a career-high 11 in just six innings Thursday, allowing only two hits and four walks while improving to 5-0 in his last seven starts.

“There’s been a lot of work put in preparing to get better,” Ventura said with catching coach Pedro Grifol serving as a translator. “I feel like this was one of my better outings.”

The Royals’ usually solid bullpen nearly gave it away, though. Kelvin Herrera served up a homer to Ryan Flaherty in the seventh, and Greg Holland allowed two more runs in the ninth before getting Gerardo Parra to ground out with a runner on to end the game.

Chris Tillman (9-9), who tossed a five-hitter at Kauffman Stadium last May, followed his first loss since May 31 with another. He allowed four runs over six innings.

The game wasn’t all that Baltimore lost, either.

All-Star outfielder Adam Jones left soon after crashing into the wall trying to track down a fly ball in the first. Jones lay on the warning track for a few minutes before standing up and finishing the inning. Paul Janish replaced him as a pinch hitter.

“He feels a lot better now than he did. His vision was — most of it was whiplash,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “I don’t think there’s any head trauma, concussion-wise.”

Showalter said that Jones would be evaluated Friday in Texas.

“Any time Adam says anything’s bothering him,” Showalter said, “you’d better multiply it times two because he’s a tough nut.”

The first five outs Ventura recorded were punchouts, and he later struck out Matt Wieters to leave runners on second and third. Ventura eventually surpassed his career-best of 10 strikeouts set last May by fanning Wieters for the third time with a 99 mph fastball.

Orlando also contributed a sacrifice fly for the Royals, while hot-hitting Mike Moustakas drove in a pair of runs and Salvador Perez had an RBI single

The AL Central-leading Royals took three of four in the series, and have won 10 of their last 11 against the Orioles. Baltimore, which began the day two back of the final wild-card spot, still has not won back-to-back games since sweeping Oakland earlier this month.

The start of the game was delayed by 1 hour, 35 minutes, as a storm rolled through.

Then, Ventura followed up the thunder with some lightning of his own, an assortment of fastballs that nipped at triple digits and kept the slumping Orioles flailing.

Ventura had at least two strikeouts each of his first four innings.

“He was good,” Showalter said. “We had him close to 30 pitches the first inning, we let him get back in step second or third inning or he could have had a lot shorter outing.”

STATS AND STREAKS

The Royals have won eight straight series at home. … Flaherty’s homer snapped Herrera’s streak of 18 1/3 scoreless innings against the Orioles. … Janish had a pair of hits, the first time he’s had a multihit game since Sept. 4, 2013, with Atlanta.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Orioles: Jones walked in his only plate appearance before leaving the game.

Royals: CF Lorenzo Cain and 1B Eric Hosmer got a day off from the starting lineup as manager Ned Yost tries to keep key players fresh. Hosmer pinch ran in the seventh and stayed in the game.

UP NEXT

Orioles: RHP Kevin Gausman opens a three-game set Friday night at Texas.

Royals: Volquez starts a three-game series Friday night at Tampa Bay.

— Associated Press —

Cueto roughed up again as Kansas City loses to Baltimore 8-5

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riggertRoyalsKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Orioles had managed a measly 15 runs while losing six straight games, and were preparing to face Johnny Cueto and the streaking Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night.

Naturally, they pounded five homers in an explosive performance.

“It’s why the people come to the games,” Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said after an 8-5 victory. “Because what’s supposed to happen on paper doesn’t always happen.”

For instance, Chris Davis breaks out of an 0-for-16 slump with a double and a two-run homer. Or Manny Machado, also struggling at the plate, hits his own two-run shot. Or Jonathan Schoop hits yet another two-run homer off Cueto, who struggled for the second consecutive start.

Wei-Yin Chen (8-6) allowed three runs for the Orioles while scattering nine hits over six innings. The losing pitcher against the Royals in Game 3 of last year’s AL Championship Series, he has now gone seven straight starts without a defeat.

“Every day we come here to the ballpark, all we think about is how to win today’s game,” Chen said through a translator. “Hopefully we can move up from here.”

Cueto (9-9) labored through five innings for Kansas City, allowing 10 hits and a walk. He was coming off a career-high 13 hits in a loss to Boston.

“I’m not a robot,” he said. “Just have to keep working, get ready for the next one.”

Steve Pearce made it 7-3 with a solo shot in the eighth for Baltimore. Mike Moustakas kept the Royals close with a two-run homer off Brian Matusz in the bottom half of the inning, but Ryan Flaherty answered with the Orioles’ fifth homer leading off the ninth.

Zach Britton got three outs for his 30th save.

The Orioles had lost nine straight to the Royals, and appeared to be in trouble again when they failed to score with runners on the corners and nobody out in the second inning.

In the bottom half, Moustakas hit a sacrifice fly and Salvador Perez an RBI double to stake Kansas City to a 2-0 advantage that could have been more substantial. The inning ended when Omar Infante ran past Paulo Orlando on a flyout, resulting in Infante also being called out.

Moments later, the Orioles started to showcase their power.

Baltimore tied the game in the third on Machado’s two-run shot, then pulled ahead in the fourth when Schoop clobbered his two-run homer an estimated 427 feet to left field.

Davis made it three straight innings with a two-run shot when he went deep in the fifth, the big first baseman’s 35th home run giving Baltimore a 6-2 advantage.

Kansas City clawed back with a run in the sixth when Kendrys Morales hit an RBI single, but Chen calmly retired Moustakas and Perez to prevent more damage.

When the Orioles tacked on a couple more home runs in the final two innings, the Royals were headed to only their third loss in 15 games at Kauffman Stadium.

“You’re facing the best team in the American League last year and they’ve added players to improve on that,” Showalter said. “So it’s a challenge, but we’ve got a chance to split against the American League champions tomorrow and move on to Texas.”

STATS AND STREAKS

The five home runs allowed by the Royals matched a season high. … Royals RHP Jeremy Guthrie made his first relief appearance since June 30, 2012, when he was with the Rockies. He had been in the Kansas City rotation. … Machado has 26 homers, the most by an Orioles third baseman since Melvin Mora hit 27 in 2005. … Pearce’s homer was his first since July 11.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Orioles: After another rough start Tuesday night, Showalter was asked whether RHP Miguel Gonzalez is fully recovered from a groin injury. “Yeah,” Showalter replied. “Far as I know.”

Royals: Manager Ned Yost has given reliever Ryan Madson and closer Greg Holland some rest due to sore arms, though Holland has been available the past two nights.

UP NEXT

Orioles: RHP Chris Tillman took a tough-luck loss in his last outing against Minnesota, but is 3-0 with a 2.50 ERA over his past six starts.

Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura allowed one run and six hits in a win last Saturday at Boston, making him 4-0 with a 3.55 ERA in his last six outings.

— Associated Press —

Cardinals defeat Arizona for fourth straight win

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riggertCardinalsPHOENIX (AP) — John Lackey pitched seven strong innings and the St. Louis Cardinals beat Arizona 3-1 on Wednesday night, their seventh straight win over the Diamondbacks.

The Cardinals scored four first-inning runs off Robbie Ray on Tuesday, but had to wait a little longer Wednesday with Patrick Corbin limiting them to Mark Reynolds’ homer in six innings.

St. Louis quickly took advantage after Corbin left, scoring twice off David Hernandez (1-4) in the seventh. Kolten Wong had an RBI double and Matt Carpenter a run-scoring single in the inning.

Lackey (11-8) bounced back from a shaky start, giving up a solo homer to Paul Goldschmidt in the first inning and little else. Trevor Rosenthal worked around a walk in the ninth for his 40th save.

St. Louis moved to 36 games over .500 (81-45), its highest since finishing the 2005 season plus-38. The Cardinals have won 12 of 13 against Arizona.

Lackey had a streak of 12 straight quality starts snapped his last time out, allowing five runs and nine hits in six innings of a loss to San Diego.

The right-hander was back on track against the Diamondbacks, getting them to chase breaking balls out of the strike zone for most of the game.

Goldschmidt got a good piece of a ball in the strike zone in the first inning, hitting a 471-foot solo homer, his 25th of the season. It was the 108th of his career, matching Justin Upton for fifth on Arizona’s all-time list.

Lackey limited the damage after that with some defensive help from his teammates.

Centerfielder Tommy Pham robbed Aaron Hill of extra bases in the fourth inning by diving to snare a line drive in the gap. Wong made a nifty backhanded stop in the fifth to start an inning-ending double play.

Lackey gave up a run and seven hits, the 11th time in 13 starts he allowed two runs or less.

Corbin lasted six outs his last start, allowing four runs and eight hits against Cincinnati in a no-decision.

The left-hander was sharp against the Cardinals, giving up two hits — one by Lackey — until Reynolds lined a solo homer over the wall in left in the fifth inning. The homer, which tied the game 1-all, was Reynolds’ 11th of the season.

Corbin allowed the run and three hits and struck out seven in his 10th start since returning from Tommy John surgery.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Carlos Martinez has a 2.15 ERA since May 20 heading into Thursday’s series final against the Diamondbacks.

Diamondbacks: RHP Rubby De La Rosa, Thursday’s starter, is 5-0 with a 2.54 ERA and 26 strikeouts in his last seven starts.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: OF Jon Jay, who’s been bothered by a sore wrist, took an extended round of batting practice before the game.

Diamondbacks: LF David Peralta fouled a ball into the dirt that bounced back up and hit him in the nose, but he stayed in the game after being attended to by the team trainer.

— Associated Press —

Royals hang on to defeat Baltimore for fourth straight win

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riggertRoyalsKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Eric Hosmer rolled a grounder toward first base in the third inning with the score tied, and Lorenzo Cain put on the brakes — a heads-up play that may have won the Royals the game.

Cain hesitated just long enough between first and second base that Baltimore was unable to turn a double play. He later scored on a single by Mike Moustakas, and the Royals went on to a 3-2 victory Tuesday night that pushed their winning streak to four games.

“Just kind of hesitated and didn’t let him tag me,” Cain said. “It ended up being the winning run, so I guess it was a good one to have.”

Kendrys Morales hit a solo homer and Hosmer also drove in a run for the Royals, who improved to 44-20 at home this season, including 12-2 in their current stretch.

Danny Duffy (7-6) dodged trouble for most of 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks. The left-hander struck out five in a start that began in crisp efficiency and ended with the Orioles threatening to pull ahead in the sixth inning.

Luke Hochevar calmed things down with an inning of relief, though. Kelvin Herrera had no trouble with the rest of the seventh and eighth, and Wade Davis pitched a perfect ninth in place of closer Greg Holland to earn his 12th save.

“They did an awesome job,” Royals manager Ned Yost said of his bullpen. “It’s what they do.”

Miguel Gonzalez (9-10) allowed all three runs on six hits and three walks in 4 1/3 innings, the latest in a string of lousy starts for Baltimore. Gonzalez is 0-4 in his last six tries.

Leadoff hitter Manny Machado went 0 for 5 with three strikeouts, his last ending the game.

The Orioles (62-63) have lost a season-high six straight, falling below .500 for the first time since they were 48-49 on July 26. The calamitous slump has also damaged their playoff hopes — they began the night 2 1/2 games back of Texas for the final AL wild-card spot.

“Always takes a little bit of everything,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “Everybody wants to throw one big circle around one thing. It’s a lot of things. A lot of things. And you can’t (borrow) from Peter to pay Paul in this game. You’ve got to do it all.”

The Royals never trailed after Morales sent a 3-2 pitch into the fountains in right field in the second inning. Hosmer added an RBI groundout in the third, and Moustakas delivered yet another two-out single by the league’s best-hitting team in such situations to score another run.

The Orioles got two runs back in the fourth when Matt Wieters drew a two-out walk and Steve Pearce, Jonathan Schoop and Caleb Joseph strung together a trio of singles. But Duffy managed to get recently called up Paul Janish to ground out to end the threat.

Duffy was in trouble again in the sixth, but Hochevar got Joseph to fly out to deep right field to leave runners on second and third and preserve the 3-2 lead.

It was up to one of the best bullpens in the majors to take care of the rest.

“We’ve just got to figure out a way to score more runs,” Showalter said. “That’s one of the reasons why they’re sitting where they are, is they don’t give up many. They’re taking people out of the rotation that would be in a lot of people’s, so it kind of gives you an idea one of the reasons why they’re good.”

EVEN NED

Yost managed his 900th game with the Royals. He is now 450-450. “I guess it’s cool,” he said, pointing out that at one point he was 53 games under .500. “The last two years we’ve won a bunch of baseball games with a really good group of guys.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Orioles: C Steve Clevenger went on the three-day paternity list to attend the birth of his daughter. Peyton Lee was born Tuesday afternoon.

Royals: Yost said there is still no timetable for OF Alex Gordon to return from his rehab stint at Triple-A Omaha. Gordon had been out with a groin injury.

UP NEXT

Orioles: LHP Wei-Yin Chen tries to keep his unbeaten streak intact Wednesday night. He is 3-0 with three no-decisions since July 21.

Royals: RHP Johnny Cueto makes his sixth start since being traded to Kansas City. He is 2-2 with a 3.00 ERA since leaving the Reds.

— Associated Press —

St. Louis rolls past Arizona for 80th win

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riggertCardinalsPHOENIX (AP) — Jaime Garcia knew when he came to the plate to bat in the first inning that it looked like another good night for the St. Louis Cardinals.

And it was.

The Cardinals batted around in a four-run first and went on to rout the Arizona Diamondbacks 9-1 on Tuesday night.

“It’s a good feeling when you have to get up to hit in the first inning,” Garcia said. “It means something good is happening.”

Tommy Pham had his second career three-hit game and Garcia pitched six strong innings for the Cardinals.

Three days after his first three-hit game, Pham singled twice and got his second career triple. He scored three times.

Six players had RBI for the Cardinals, two apiece for Jhonny Peralta, Jason Heyward and Yadier Molina. The Cardinals’ Peter Bourjos’ got his first career pinch-hit home run.

Garcia (6-4) allowed a run and four hits, striking out six and walking one. His ERA dropped to 1.77.

The Cardinals earned their MLB-best 80th victory and are 35 games above .500.

“We keep track of that but we’re right in the middle of a dogfight in our division,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “I think it’s good for us to be honest with you, just keep pressing and make sure we’re not backing off. There’s no time for that.”

The Cardinals lengthened their lead to five games over second-place Pittsburgh in the NL Central.

“We just keep playing a good game every single day and demand that it should look a certain way,” Matheny said. “I think that’s something these guys do. They have a responsibility to themselves, this organization, our fan base. I think they’re representing themselves well.”

Robbie Ray (3-10) lasted three innings plus two batters. He allowed six runs and five hits. Ray walked five, hit a batter and struck out one.

“They jumped on him,” Arizona manager Chip Hale said. “They got the runs obviously. That is easy to see but we made some mistakes again behind him, with the defense. We let them get some extra bases, the throws from the outfield. It happened a couple of times. You just can’t do that with a team like this.”

With Ray having control issues, the Cardinals jumped on the young left-hander for four runs in the first.

Matt Carpenter started it with a leadoff walk. Heyward had a two-run single and Molina an RBI double. Kolten Wong snapped an 0-for-8 skid with an RBI single. Molina, not the fastest base runner to say the least, stole third in the inning.

Ray faced two batters in the fourth without getting an out. He hit Carpenter with a pitch and gave up a single to Pham. The runners scored on sacrifice flies by Peralta and Molina.

Bourjos’ homer to left came on the first pitch he saw from Randall Delgado in the seventh inning.

The Diamondbacks lost their second straight to the Cardinals after returning home one game above .500 following a four-game sweep of Cincinnati. Arizona fell 6 1-2 games behind the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.

EMOTIONAL VISIT

Reliever Evan Marshall visited Chase Field for the first time since he was struck in the head by a line drive while pitching for the Diamondbacks’ Triple-A Reno affiliate in El Paso three weeks ago. Marshall’s jaw was fractured and he had bleeding in his brain. Speaking publicly for the first time, Marshall said he had only minutes to live and wouldn’t have survived had doctors not acted so quickly. His wife Ani called it a “terrifying” experience but says she can’t wait to see her husband back on the mound.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Carpenter was hit in the elbow by a pitch in the fourth and left the game in the seventh. However, Matheny said Carpenter was not hurt.

Diamondbacks: RHP Archie Bradley (shoulder) was activated from the 15-day DL and assigned him to Reno.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP John Lackey (8-8, 2.99 ERA) makes his team-leading 26th start of the season as the Cardinals try to clinch the four-game series.

Diamondbacks: LHP Patrick Corbin (3-3, 4.30) makes his 10th start since coming back from Tommy John surgery.

— Associated Press —

KC scores seven in the sixth inning to defeat Baltimore 8-3

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riggertRoyalsKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Omar Infante led a seven-run charge in the sixth inning to support a strong start by Kris Medlen, helping the Kansas City Royals beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-3 on Monday night.

Despite working on a pitch count, Medlen (2-0) lasted six innings in his first start since Sept. 27, 2013, with Atlanta. The right-hander allowed five hits — one of them a two-run homer by Adam Jones in the first inning — while striking out six without a walk.

Medlen, who returned last month after his second Tommy John surgery, made seven appearances out of the Kansas City bullpen before replacing Jeremy Guthrie in the starting rotation.

Infante followed a tying, two-run homer by Mike Moustakas in the sixth with a two-run triple, then scampered home when the throw to third base skittered away. Lorenzo Cain drove in two more later in the inning, spoiling what had been a promising start by Ubaldo Jimenez.

Jimenez (9-8) allowed seven runs and 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings.

The loss was the fifth straight for Baltimore and sixth in seven games. It carried a little added sting in that it was the first meeting between the teams since the Royals swept the Orioles in the AL Championship Series on their surprising run to the World Series.

The two-run homer by Jones and a run-scoring double by Steve Clevenger in the fourth inning got the Orioles off to a good start, and Jimenez was cruising through five. The only run he had allowed was on an RBI groundout by Eric Hosmer in the third inning.

Things finally unraveled for Jimenez in the sixth.

Hosmer doubled with one out and Moustakas sent a pitch soaring into the right-field stands to knot the game 3-all. Salvador Perez singled, Alex Rios hit a double and Infante sent a triple into the gap in left-center, sliding into third base ahead of the throw. When it skipped away to the third-base dugout, Infante clambered to his feet and chugged on home.

Alcides Escobar and Ben Zobrist followed with hits before Cain’s two-run double made it a seven-run inning, matching a season best for the Royals.

Medlen’s night was done by that point. He threw 69 pitches, one fewer than manager Ned Yost had said was his limit. Bullpen buddies Franklin Morales and Luke Hochevar did the reset.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Orioles: SS J.J. Hardy (groin) went on the DL and INF-OF Steve Pearce (left oblique) was reinstated. … RHP Mike Wright (calf) will start for Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday.

Royals: First base coach Rusty Kuntz was back at work after missing 13 days with a sinus infection and stomach virus. Kuntz said he lost more than 10 pounds during the illness.

UP NEXT

Orioles: RHP Miguel Gonzalez tries to bounce back from an awful start against Minnesota in which he allowed seven runs in five innings of a 15-2 rout.

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy has dominated the Orioles in three career outings, going 1-1 with a 1.46 ERA. Last May, he retired the first 20 batters he faced.

— Associated Press —

Royals use four-run ninth inning to rally past Red Sox

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riggertRoyalsBOSTON (AP) — Mike Moustakas kept fouling off good pitches. He finally saw one he could handle and didn’t miss it.

Moustakas’ two-run double capped a wild four-run ninth inning that carried the AL Central-leading Kansas City Royals to an 8-6 comeback victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.

The Royals had two runners cut down at the plate in the ninth, one trying for an inside-the-park homer, and collected six hits against Boston closer Junichi Tazawa (2-6).

Moustakas capped off a 10-pitch at-bat with his go-ahead hit into the right-center field gap.

“A lot of great at-bats that inning,” Moustakas said. “It ended up coming around to me and I was able to get the job done.”

Moustakas also had a solo homer and RBI double for Kansas City, which salvaged a split of the four-game series.

Boston led 6-4 going into the ninth. After left fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. threw out Omar Infante trying for the homer for the first out, Kansas City rallied with four hits, tying it on Eric Hosmer’s two-run single.

“There were some great at-bats,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. “It was an awesome ninth inning for us. Just a succession of great at-bat after great at-bat.”

Batting eighth in the final inning, Moustakas knew if he came up, the Royals were likely doing something special.

“I was hoping it would get to me,” he said. “If it gets to me, we’re going to be in pretty good shape.”

Tazawa gave him everything he had.

“He was getting to all the pitches that were borderline,” he said through a translator. “Fouling off a lot of pitches and I was dealing with a slippery ball. Obviously I was trying to get through, but he got the best of me.”

Chris Young (9-6) retired one batter and Wade Davis got the final three outs for his 11th save.

Bradley Jr. had two RBI doubles and a single for the Red Sox, who went 6-4 on a 10-game homestand — all under interim manager Torey Lovullo, who took over for John Farrell on Aug. 14. Farrell took a medical leave for the rest of the season to deal with Stage 1 Lymphoma.

“They hit some good pitches and it was not a typical Taz day,” Lovullo said.

Boston trailed 4-2, but scored twice in both the sixth and seventh.

Royals starter Edinson Volquez gave up six runs in 6 2/3 innings.

Trailing 2-1 in the fourth, the Royals scored twice, taking advantage of two errors on one play. Second baseman Josh Rutledge booted a grounder and center fielder Mookie Betts’ throw bounced into the Royals’ dugout for the first run. Moustakas followed with his RBI double. He homered into the Green Monster seats.

Boston starter Eduardo Rodriguez allowed four runs — two earned — in six innings.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: C Salvador Perez had the day off. He took a hard foul tip off the mask and one off the right leg Saturday night, but was feeling fine.

Red Sox: Utility infielder Brock Holt was out of the lineup again Sunday. He was set to play Saturday, but was taken out of lineup after batting practice with a strained left oblique. … OF Hanley Ramirez had the day off.

WHAT A THROW

Yost was still praising Bradley’s peg from left-center in the ninth, even saying he wanted third-base coach Mike Jirschele to send Infante.

“I was screaming, ‘Send him,'” he said. “I said, ‘It’s not on you.’ It was just a great throw. He’s got a tremendous arm.”

NAILED AT HOME

Besides Infante, Kendrys Morales was cut down at home 8-4-2 for the final out of the ninth.

RAINY DAY

A light mist started falling early and remained for most of the game.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Kris Medlen (1-0) makes his first start since returning from Tommy John surgery Monday when the Royals host the Baltimore Orioles. RHP Ubaldo Jimenez (9-7) is set to start for the Orioles in the first meeting since the Royals swept the ALCS.

Red Sox: Joe Kelly (6-6) looks to win his fifth straight start as Boston faces RHP Jeff Samardzija (8-9) on Monday in the opener of a three-game series at the Chicago White Sox.

— Associated Press —

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