KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kyle Gibson threw eight innings of four-hit ball, Danny Santana and Eduardo Escobar had RBI triples, and the Minnesota Twins beat the AL Central-leading Kansas City Royals 2-0 Thursday night.

Gibson (6-6) stranded a pair of runners in the eighth before turning the lead over to Glen Perkins, who remained perfect in 26 save attempts. Perkins is two saves shy of matching Eddie Guardado (116) for third-most in Twins history.

The Royals’ Chris Young (7-4) dodged trouble for most of 5 1/3 innings, the only run he allowed coming on a triple by Santana in the fifth. The big, lanky right-hander turned over a 1-0 deficit to the game’s best bullpen, but his offense was unable to bail him out.

It was a good way to start the four-game set for the second-place Twins, who dropped four of their first six on a 10-game road trip.

Kansas City has lost four straight. Two of them have been shutouts.

The fact that the Royals were even in the game was surprising. The Twins collected five extra-base hits — including the run-scoring triples — and had runners advance three times when Young threw a pitch that got away from Royals catcher Salvador Perez.

Then again, all Minnesota needed was a run against the slumping Royals.

Two of Kansas City’s four hits were bunts against the shift, and the hardest-hit ball — a single by Lorenzo Cain in the fourth — led to the most frustrating frame of the night: Kansas City went on to load the bases before Perez struck out looking to end the inning.

Not that it should have been surprising that Gibson shut them down.

The former University of Missouri star came into the game with 4-2 record and 2.68 ERA in six starts against the Royals. Even in a relatively poor start against them in June, when he took the loss at Target Field, Gibson’s sinker still drove the Kansas City hitters to fits.

Just as it did again on Thursday night.

SANO’S DEBUT

Miguel Sano, one of baseball’s top prospects, made his big league debut for Minnesota. The power hitter from the Dominican Republic was the designated hitter and beat out an infield single for his first career hit in the ninth inning.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: RHP Ricky Nolasco received another opinion on bone chips in his right ankle, but no decision has been made on a course of treatment. … CF Byron Buxton (sprained left thumb) is still dealing with swelling, though manager Paul Molitor said he is improving.

Royals: 1B Eric Hosmer (sprained right ring finger) was back in the starting lineup. … LHP Jason Vargas (left flexor strain) threw 40 pitches in a simulated game. He’ll throw 60 pitches on Tuesday. “It was very encouraging,” manager Ned Yost said.

UP NEXT

Twins: Molitor officially announced that RHP Ervin Santana will return from his suspension to start the series finale Sunday. LHP Tommy Milone takes the mound Friday night and RHP Mike Pelfrey gets the start Saturday.

Royals: RHP Jeremy Guthrie tries to continue his dominance Friday at Kauffman Stadium, where he is 2-1 with a 1.88 ERA over his last four starts.

— Associated Press —

HOUSTON (AP) — Jose Altuve had three hits and scored the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning to help the Houston Astros complete a three-game sweep of a the Kansas City Royals with a 6-5 win on Wednesday night.

The game was tied at 5 in the seventh when Kelvin Herrera (1-2) plunked Altuve on the forearm. Altuve stole second and reached third on a lineout. He put Houston on top when he beat the tag at the plate on a fielder’s choice by Chris Carter.

The play was reviewed and upheld.

The Astros trailed early before taking a 5-3 lead after a four-run fifth inning. A two-run triple by Jarrod Dyson off Josh Fields tied it in the seventh before Altuve scored the go-ahead run.

Luke Gregerson (3-1) pitched a perfect ninth for the win.

Carter and Marwin Gonzalez hit solo homers for Houston and Evan Gattis drove in two runs.

— Associated Press —

HOUSTON (AP) — Dallas Keuchel allowed seven hits in eight innings to lead the Houston Astros to a 4-0 win over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.

The performance comes after Keuchel (10-3) threw a six-hit shutout in a win over the New York Yankees in his previous start. Keuchel struck out seven and didn’t walk a batter to lower his ERA to 2.03. Pat Neshek allowed one hit in the ninth.

George Springer had a two-run homer in the third inning. Jose Altuve drove in a run in the fifth to help Houston to the victory.

The Astros have taken the first two games of this matchup of teams with the best records in the American League. Houston is 46-34 and Kansas City is 44-30.

Kansas City starter Danny Duffy (2-4) allowed six hits and four runs in 6 2/3 innings in his second start since returning from the disabled list.

Keuchel has been a workhorse for the Astros, working at least six innings in 28 straight games, the longest active streak in the majors.

Lorenzo Cain had three hits for Kansas City, including two doubles, but the rest of the lineup fizzled. The Royals produced more than one hit in only one inning while being shut out for the second time in a week.

Keuchel got a little help from his defense when Springer robbed Omar Infante of a hit to center field. Springer raced and made an over-the-shoulder catch for the third out of the seventh inning.

Marwin Gonzalez singled with two outs in the third inning before Springer’s soaring shot, which bounced off the foul pole in left field to make it 2-0 and snapped Springer out of an 0 for 8 slump.

Evan Gattis tripled with one out in the fourth inning. The fly ball sailed just out of reach of the glove of Cain, who raced up Tal’s Hill in center to try and grab it and instead crashed to the ground and into the padded wall after missing coming up short. Gattis already has four triples this season after tripling just once in his first two years in the majors.

Chris Carter walked on a wild pitch by Duffy, which sailed over catcher Drew Butera’s head, and allowed Gattis to score and make it 3-0.

Springer drew a one-out walk in the fifth inning before scoring on a double by Altuve to push Houston’s lead to 4-0.

Kansas City shortstop Alcides Escobar, who was scratched from Monday’s game with a bruise on his index finger, went 1 for 4.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: 1B Eric Hosmer missed a second straight game and will likely miss Wednesday’s game too with a sprained left ring finger. Manager Ned Yost said he isn’t sure when Hosmer will return, but doesn’t expect him to be out too long. Hosmer said he was feeling better on Tuesday and that most of the swelling was gone.

Astros: OF Colby Rasmus was out for the fourth straight game because of a skin infection on his left arm caused by a bug bite. Manager A.J. Hinch said Rasmus spent Monday night in the hospital receiving intravenous antibiotics to try to eliminate the infection and that he remained there on Tuesday. Hinch said they hope Rasmus responds to treatment and can avoid going to the disabled list. … OF Jake Marisnick, who is on the disabled list with a strained left hamstring, will begin a rehabilitation assignment at Triple-A Fresno on Wednesday. … RHP Scott Feldman (arthroscopic knee surgery) threw 45 pitches in a simulated game on Tuesday and Hinch said he looked good. Feldman will throw a bullpen in two days and then likely go on a rehabilitation assignment.

UP NEXT

Houston rookie Vince Velasquez (0-0) tries for his first win in his fifth major league start when he opposes Kansas City’s Edinson Volquez (8-4) in the series finale. Velasquez has a 3.72 ERA, but has not factored in the decision in any of his first four starts. Volquez looks for his fifth straight win.

— Associated Press —

HOUSTON (AP) — Chris Carter and Jose Altuve homered to back a solid start by rookie Lance McCullers, and the Houston Astros beat the Kansas City Royals 6-1 on Monday night.

In a matchup of teams with the best records in the American League, Houston snapped Kansas City’s four-game winning streak. The Royals are 44-29 and the Astros are 45-34.

McCullers (4-2) allowed four hits and a run with six strikeouts in seven innings in his ninth major league start.

The Astros jumped on Joe Blanton (2-1) for five runs in the first three innings and Carter added a solo home run in the fifth to help them to the win.

Blanton, who didn’t walk anyone in his first two starts this season, struggled with control, walking four and giving up five runs and five hits in just 2 2/3 innings. It was his first loss since Aug. 20, 2013. He was out of baseball in 2014 and started this season 2-0 with a 1.73 ERA after being called up from Triple-A Omaha.

McCullers held the Royals scoreless until a solo homer by Salvador Perez cut the lead to 6-1 in the seventh inning.

He retired nine in a row after a single by Alex Gordon to start the second inning. Rios singled to start the fifth, but McCullers still faced the minimum in that inning after Christian Colon grounded into a double play.

Jarrod Dyson drew a walk to start the sixth but he set down the next three batters to end the inning.

The Royals were without shortstop Alcides Escobar and first baseman Eric Hosmer, who both sat out with finger injuries.

Luis Valbuena singled with no outs in the second before Blanton walked Jon Singleton and Preston Tucker with one out to load the bases. A third consecutive walk, this one by Domingo Santana, made it 1-0.

Jason Castro’s sacrifice fly pushed the lead to 2-0 before George Springer struck out to end the inning.

Altuve led off the second with a homer to the Crawford Boxes in left field to make it 3-0.

Valbuena singled with one out before Singleton drew a two-out walk. A bloop single by Tucker scored Valbuena and a single by Santana drove in another run to make it 5-0 and chase Blanton.

Carter added a solo homer off of Brandon Finnegan in the fifth inning to snap an 0-for-7 slump.

Singleton doubled in the eighth inning for his first hit since being called up from Triple-A Fresno on Friday.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: Escobar was scratched Monday with a bruise on his index finger. … Hosmer was out with a sprained left ring finger and manager Ned Yost said he probably won’t play during this series, which ends on Wednesday. Hosmer was injured on Saturday and left Sunday’s game early with the problem. He had improved on Monday and the swelling in his finger was subsiding.

Astros: OF Colby Rasmus was for the third straight game because of a skin infection on his left arm caused by a bug bite. Manager A.J. Hinch said Rasmus received intravenous antibiotics on Monday to try to eliminate the infection. He is day to day. … OF Jake Marisnick, who is on the disabled list with a strained left hamstring, is improving and could start a rehabilitation assignment soon. … RHP Scott Feldman (arthroscopic knee surgery) will throw a simulated game in Houston on Tuesday.

UP NEXT

Houston left-hander Dallas Keuchel (9-3) opposes Danny Duffy (2-3) when the series continues on Tuesday. Keuchel, who is second in the AL with a 2.17 ERA, threw his third complete game of the season in his last start, a 4-0 win over the Yankees on Thursday.

— Associated Press —

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Jeremy Guthrie and Salvador Perez delivered a milestone win for the Kansas City Royals.

Guthrie struck out a season-high seven batters to top 1,000 for his career and Perez homered for his 500th career hit to help Kansas City complete a three-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics with a 5-3 victory on Sunday.

“We had two big milestones today, which I think are big,” manager Ned Yost said. “So they got that behind them and now they just keep moving forward.”

Omar Infante hit a tiebreaking single in a three-run sixth inning for the Royals, who have won five of six to open a nine-game road trip.

Guthrie (6-5) allowed two runs in six innings and reached 1,005 career strikeouts in his 12th big league season.

“It’s 1,000 more than I thought I’d probably ever thought I’d have,” he said. “It’s a great accomplishment to be able to get there and have the endurance to get to that number.”

Perez took much less time to reach his big number, getting there in his fifth season with a homer in the eighth inning off Edward Mujica that provided insurance for the Royals.

“It means a lot,” he said. “It’s pretty special to me.”

The Royals bullpen did the rest with Wade Davis pitching the ninth for his ninth save in as many chances as Kansas City swept the A’s for the first time since 2008.

Jesse Chavez (4-7) was hurt by an error by third baseman Max Muncy in Kansas City’s three-run sixth inning as Oakland lost its third straight following a season-long five-game winning streak.

“We were playing really good ball lately and this happens,” Muncy said. “It’s really frustrating that we had good momentum going as a team and we were playing really good ball.”

Billy Burns helped spark a two-run third inning for Oakland when he led off with a single to extend his hitting streak to 16 straight games.

Ben Zobrist drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly and Josh Reddick made it 2-0 when his popup to shallow left fell between shortstop Alcides Escobar and left fielder Alex Gordon for his 500th career hit.

A poor defensive play by Oakland helped the Royals take the lead in the sixth. With runners on first and third and one out, Perez hit a slow grounder to third base. Muncy charged and his throw home was high. Mike Moustakas scored on the fielder’s choice and the runners advanced to second and third on Muncy’s throwing error.

Alex Rios tied the game with a sacrifice fly and Infante gave the Royals their first lead with his two-out hit that knocked out Chavez.

“I got to stop the bleeding and make a pitch,” Chavez said. “It didn’t go our way. I made a pitch to the next hitter for what would have been the third out. I’ve still got to stop the bleeding there. There’s no excuse for it. It’s all my fault.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: OF Lorenzo Cain did not start after tweaking his hamstring stealing a base Saturday. He pinch hit for Eric Hosmer in the eighth and singled. Hosmer, who was moved to DH from first base, sprained his left ring finger on that same double steal Saturday and left Sunday’s game early. He is day to day. … Escobar was also removed in the eighth inning for precautionary reasons with a split nail on his right index finger, but Yost said he thought Escobar would be able to play Monday.

Athletics: Burns (hip flexor) returned to the lineup after missing the previous two games.

STREAKING

Burns had two hits and is one game away from tying the Oakland rookie hitting streak record of 17 games shared by Mike Edwards (1978), Luis Polonia (1987) and Terrence Long (2000).

UP NEXT

Royals: Joe Blanton (2-0) takes the mound at Houston in the opener of a three-game series between first-place teams. Lance McCullers (3-2) pitches for the Astros.

Athletics: Kendall Graveman, who is 3-2 with a 2.31 ERA in seven starts since being recalled from the minors, starts the opener of a three-game series against Colorado.

— Associated Press —

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — With his team nearing its 43rd win of the season to tie Houston for the most in the AL, Kansas City manager Ned Yost finally relaxed and allowed himself to enjoy the moment.

The Royals are rolling again and the normally stoic Yost broke character to take it in.

Chris Young bounced back from his worst start of the year to pitch six innings and Kansas City beat the Oakland Athletics 3-2 Saturday to move a season-high 15 games over .500.

“I was sitting there thinking about that in the ninth inning, this would be a chance to get our high-water mark to 15 over,” Yost said following the Royals’ third consecutive win. “If I would say I’m not excited about being 15 over, I’d be lying. It’s great, but we want to continue to keep going, keep going, keep going.”

Kendrys Morales hit a two-run single in the sixth off Scott Kazmir (4-5) that erased a 2-1 deficit. The Royals won for the fourth time in five games on their road trip.

Young (7-3) allowed four hits and two runs. He walked one and struck out four.

That was in stark contrast to Young’s previous start against Boston when he was tagged for seven runs in 4 2/3 innings.

“He did a great job of changing eye level,” Yost said. “He’d get them looking up then pitch down. He’d get them looking down, then he’d pitch up. He moved the ball in and he’d move the ball out. He just did a great job of executing pitches.”

Ryan Madson and Wade Davis pitched one inning apiece, and Greg Holland worked the ninth for his 16th save.

Sam Fuld doubled for the A’s, who were wearing throwback uniforms from 1965 when the franchise was in Kansas City. Oakland has lost two straight after a season-high, five-game winning streak.

Oakland had two on with no outs in the eighth but failed to score. Stephen Vogt struck out looking against Davis after getting ahead in the count 3-0, and Ben Zobrist hit into a 1-6-3 double play.

“Once they get to the seventh, they feel like they have a good chance with the lead,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said of the Royals. “We had an opportunity. We just didn’t get a big hit there.”

For the second consecutive game these two bitter rivals played without incident. When they played in Kansas City in April, all three games were marred by bench-clearing dustups.

The Royals trailed 2-1 in the sixth before stringing together a walk and two hits. Lorenzo Cain and Hosmer also pulled off a double steal before Morales singled.

Young, who made a throwing error that led to Oakland’s first run, won for the third time in four starts.

Fuld doubled leading off the first, alertly stole third against the Royals shifted defense and scored when Young’s throw to third sailed wildly into foul territory.

Omar Infante doubled in the third, moved up on a balk by Kazmir and scored on a sacrifice fly by Moustakas.

A two-out throwing error by shortstop Alcides Escobar in the fifth led to an unearned run for the A’s in the fifth.

Kazmir owned the lowest home ERA in the majors going into the game, but gave up three runs and seven hits in seven innings.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura allowed three runs in four innings during his first rehab start for Triple-A Omaha. He has been out since June 13 with ulnar neuritis.

Athletics: OF Billy Burns (hip flexor) rested for a second straight day, but should be available for the series finale. … Switch-pitcher Pat Venditte (strained right shoulder) played catch with his right arm before the game and reported no pain. … Stephen Vogt was Oakland’s DH a day after getting hit in the right wrist by a pitch from Franklin Morales.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Jeremy Guthrie (5-5) needs two strikeouts to reach 1,000 for his career. Teammate Edinson Volquez reached the milestone Friday.

Athletics: RHP Jesse Chavez (4-6) seeks his third consecutive win. He has never won more than two in a row.

— Associated Press —