CHICAGO (AP) — David Ross did just fine when he swung away.

After failing to execute a safety-squeeze in the ninth inning, Ross hit an RBI single with one out in the 11th inning Sunday that lifted the Chicago Cubs over the Kansas City Royals 2-1.

“I’m playing the game out in my head. I knew what was coming the first time and I didn’t get the bunt down, but luckily I drove that ball into the gap right there at the end,” Ross said with a smile.

The Cubs and Royals split the abbreviated two-game series. Saturday’s game was rained out and will be made up at Wrigley Field during the last week of the regular season.

Ross delivered the fifth game-ending hit of his career, a bases-loaded single just beyond the reach of shortstop Alcides Escobar, who tried to make a sliding, over-the-shoulder catch.

With runners on second and third, the Royals intentionally walked Starlin Castro to load the bases.

“I knew when they got to second and third, I knew they were going to walk Starlin. I’m batting a buck-60 or something, I would do the same thing.”

Despite the lack of power put on the ball, it was perfectly placed.

“Based on the configuration of the defense, you couldn’t have thrown the ball any better to end the ballgame,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said.

The ball was just out of the range of left fielder Alex Gordon.

“The ball was just dying. He (Escobar) looked at me, I know I didn’t call it, so he went after it and that was that,” Gordon said.

Earlier in the inning, Dexter Fowler was thrown out at the plate by Gordon when he tried to score on a single.

It was 47 degrees at gametime with the wind blowing in. The crowd included many Royals fans who made up the announced attendance of 37,766.

“It was a great game. The conditions were tough. You knew offense was going to come at a premium,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

Zac Rosscup (2-1) struck out Salvador Perez with runners on first and third with two outs in the 11th.

Ryan Madson (0-1) walked Fowler and Kris Bryant to begin the 11th. Jason Frasor relieved and Anthony Rizzo blooped a single, with a video replay confirming Fowler was out at the plate.

Royals reliever Wade Davis pitched out of a jam in the ninth. Rizzo tripled with one out and Castro was intentionally walked. Ross then bunted back to Davis, who held Rizzo at third base and got the out at first. Davis struck out Jorge Soler to end the inning.

Royals starter Yordano Ventura pitched seven innings, allowing one run and four hits. It was his fourth straight outing that he pitched seven innings. He struck out six and walked one.

“He just had everything going. He had a really good curveball, was throwing strikes with his fastball and mixed in some straight changeups,” Yost said.

Chris Coghlan had three hits off Ventura, including an RBI single in the seventh.

Cubs starter Tsuyoshi Wada pitched into the sixth. Recently demoted starter Travis Wood gave up an RBI single to Gordon.

Maddon though it was the right time to get Wada.

“If he goes 1, 2, 3 there, beautiful. I took the walk as a sign that maybe that was the Waterloo moment right there,” Maddon said. “From my perspective I’m seeing a little bit of laboring.”

Before the game, there was a moment of silence for Lennie Merullo. He died Saturday at 98 and was the oldest former Cubs player, and the last living member of their 1945 World Series team.

The Cubs and the Royals both wore 1915 throwback uniforms. The Cubs wore Chicago Whales uniforms and the Royals broke out the Kansas City Packers threads.

UP NEXT

Royals: Start a six-game homestand vs. the Indians on Tuesday. Jeremy Guthrie (4-3) is scheduled to make his 10th start of the season. He will try to bounce back from his worst outing of his career when he gave up 11 runs on nine hits, three walks in one-plus inning against the Yankees on May 25.

Cubs: Begin a nine-game road trip in Miami on Monday. Jason Hammel (3-2) is the scheduled starter. In eight games against Miami, he is 1/3 with a 4.86 ERA.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: Alex Rios returned to the lineup after breaking his left hand on April 13. He was 0 for 4 and played right field. … Eric Hosmer, who got some rest from the field, pinch-hit in the 10th inning and walked.

— Associated Press —

CHICAGO (AP) — The Kansas City Royals were sailing along with a three-run lead.

In a flash, they lost it. Then, they regrouped for a win they sorely needed.

Lorenzo Cain hit a tiebreaking RBI double and scored in a three-run eighth inning, and the Royals beat the Chicago Cubs 8-4 Friday to snap a four-game losing streak.

Alcides Escobar homered on the game’s first pitch. Alex Gordon and Salvador Perez also went deep, and the Royals came out on top after squandering a 4-1 lead.

“It feels like a new day,” said Eric Hosmer, who had an RBI double.

Mike Moustakas walked leading off the eighth against Pedro Strop (1-3). Cain, who had three hits, then drove him in with a double to the base of the wall in right-center, and the Royals scored two more thanks to an error by center fielder Dexter Fowler with two out and Justin Grimm pitching.

Fowler dropped Omar Infante’s liner trying to make a shoestring catch with runners on first and second, then fell trying to pick up the ball. Cain and Hosmer scored, making it 7-4, and the Royals got back to winning after a three-game sweep by the Yankees in New York.

Edinson Volquez was making it look easy before Chicago’s Jorge Soler chased him with a two-run homer with two out in the sixth. He connected on a 3-0 pitch, making it 4-3.

Kelvin Herrera (1-1) gave up a tying solo drive to Addison Russell in the seventh but picked up the win. Wade Davis struck out the side in the eighth and Greg Holland worked the ninth.

“We played well today,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “We had them on the ropes. They showed why they went to the World Series last year. We showed why we’re not ready yet.”

Volquez was in line to win his third straight start before the late rally. The right-hander allowed three runs and six hits, struck out a season-high nine and walked one.

Jake Arrieta lasted seven innings, allowing four runs and eight hits. He struck out five without a walk.

Kansas City, making its first appearance at Wrigley Field since 2001, wasted no time jumping ahead in this one.

Outscored 29-5 over the previous four games, the Royals immediately grabbed the lead when Escobar drove the first pitch to the bleachers in left-center for his second home run. It was also his second career leadoff homer, both coming this season.

“We needed to have this win today,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We didn’t want to take the five in a row. That’s a much improved club over there. They’ve really got some nice young talented players.”

SVEUM BACK

Royals hitting coach Dale Sveum was back at Wrigley Field for the first time since he was fired as Cubs manager following the 2013 season. The ballpark, in the early stage of an overhaul, is looking different, with two large new video boards and new bleachers in the outfield. “It’s a little way from what you’re used to, but in the long run I think it’s going to be all right,” he said.

STINGY WITH HOMERS

Russell’s homer was the second allowed by Herrera this season after he went 105 1/3 innings without allowing one. Cleveland’s Lonnie Chisenhall connected against him on May 5.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: OF Alex Rios is expected to return to the Royals’ lineup Saturday after being sidelined by a broken left hand since April 13 when he was hit by a pitch from Minnesota’s J.R. Graham.

Cubs: The Cubs pushed RHP Jason Hammel’s start back a day to Sunday to give him some extra rest. Manager Joe Maddon said he is fine.

UP NEXT

RHP Yordano Ventura (3-4, 4.64) starts for Kansas City, with LHP Tsuyoshi Wada making his third start for Chicago since returning from a strained left groin.

— Associated Press —

NEW YORK (AP) — Alex Rodriguez checked off another age-old milestone in a comeback season that’s surpassing almost anyone’s expectations.

The three-time MVP hit a three-run homer to break Lou Gehrig’s American League record for RBI, and the New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 Wednesday to finish a three-game sweep.

“I haven’t played a lot of baseball in the last two years, but I feel like I’m in a good place. I’m happy. I’m having fun,” said the 39-year-old Rodriguez, who sat out last season while serving a drug suspension.

“I think for me in a weird way the time off was a blessing in disguise. I was able to get some rest, change my workout regimen a little bit. I just feel like I’m in a better place and more explosive than I’ve been.”

Michael Pineda (6-2) rebounded from consecutive losses and Brian McCann hit a solo shot for the Yankees, who outscored the AL champions 23-4 in their first home sweep of Kansas City since August 2007.

Coming into the series, New York had lost six in a row and 10 of 11.

“We responded well, especially after getting swept by Texas,” reliever Dellin Betances said.

Mike Moustakas homered early for Kansas City, but Chris Young (4-1) gave up both Yankees long balls. The slumping Royals have dropped four straight for the first time since Aug. 28-31, mustering only five runs during the slide.

“A lot of it was Pineda. Some of it was us right now. We’re not swinging the bats. We’ve cooled off a little bit,” manager Ned Yost said.

Betances allowed an unearned run in the eighth — he has not yielded an earned run all year. Andrew Miller worked a 1-2-3 ninth and is perfect in 14 save opportunities.

“Our pitchers really showed up in this series against an offense that was swinging the bat really well,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

Brett Gardner doubled to start the third, Chase Headley walked and Rodriguez pulled a line drive into the left-field corner that cleared the fence near the 318-foot sign.

Earlier this season, A-Rod passed Willie Mays (660) for fourth place on the career home run list. With No. 665 on Wednesday, he ended his season-worst homer drought at eight games and increased his career total to 1,995 RBI. The Yankees said that’s two more than Gehrig gets credit for from the Elias Sports Bureau, baseball’s official statistician.

Records get tricky when it comes to runs batted in, partly because RBI did not become an official stat until 1920. So while baseball-reference.com lists Gehrig with 1,995 RBI and Babe Ruth with 2,214, Elias puts Rodriguez ahead of both of them and behind only Barry Bonds (1,996) and Hank Aaron (2,297).

“You see the guys that he’s passing, and it’s really pretty amazing,” Girardi said. “It’s longevity, but it’s also being productive for an extremely long time.”

Rodriguez’s 11th homer of the season plus a single in the seventh left him 19 hits shy of 3,000.

“You see it all. You think about it. But right now, it’s about wins,” Rodriguez said. “We desperately needed these three wins against a great team. That’s a team over there that hopefully we’ll see in October.”

Rodriguez also pointed out he was “extremely grateful” to hear supportive comments last week from Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner, who said the slugger has been “a great asset.”

“It certainly made me feel a lot more welcome, and I wouldn’t be here breaking these records if he didn’t give me a chance playing on his team,” Rodriguez said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: OF Alex Rios (broken left hand) was scheduled to be the DH for nine innings Wednesday night in his third rehab game with Triple-A Omaha, Yost said.

Yankees: RHP Masahiro Tanaka (wrist tendinitis, forearm strain) threw 62 pitches over three innings in his second rehab start for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He gave up three runs and four hits, including a homer, while striking out four and walking two against Pawtucket.

ROLLING ALONG

Carlos Beltran extended his hitting streak to 15 games.

SWISH!

Chris Mullin, the former St. John’s basketball star recently hired to coach his alma mater, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Wearing a No. 20 pinstriped Yankees jersey and a red St. John’s cap, the lefty fired wide from the mound, but reached the plate on a fly. He said it was his first visit to the new Yankee Stadium. “Everything I’ve been doing the last few months is kind of like being in a time machine,” he said. Mullin mentioned he played baseball as a kid but hated practicing. “It was the one sport I progressively got worse at,” he said.

UP NEXT

Royals: After a day off Thursday, the Royals play three interleague games against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. RHP Edinson Volquez, who is 7-0 vs. the Cubs, starts the series opener Friday against RHP Jake Arrieta.

Yankees: LHP CC Sabathia (2-6, 5.47 ERA) starts Thursday night at Oakland in the opener of a seven-game West Coast trip. Coming off a dreadful outing vs. Texas, Sabathia is 8-10 with a 4.66 ERA against his hometown team.

— Associated Press —

NEW YORK (AP) — Mark Teixeira failed to get in on the fun on Monday. He made up for it a night later.

Teixeira homered and drove in four runs, Adam Warren pitched two-hit ball into the seventh inning and the New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 5-1 Tuesday to send the AL champions to their first three-game skid this season.

Teixeira was the only Yankees’ starter without a hit during their 14-1 rout of Kansas City on Monday, which stopped a six-game losing streak. He had two important extra-base hits as New York won consecutive games for the first time since May 10-11.

“You want to back up a win like yesterday with another good performance,” Teixeira said. “Fourteen runs is nice, but if you lose the next night, you’re kind of back to where you started. Getting two in a row was big for us.”

Warren (3-3) was perfect until Mike Moustakas beat out a hit to second baseman Stephen Drew on the outfield grass in right-center with one out in the fourth. The only other hit he allowed was Paulo Orlando’s first major league homer in the sixth.

Lifted after 6 1/3 innings, Warren struck out five without walking a batter in the best of his 12 big league starts. He’s pitched at least 6 1/3 innings in each of his last three starts.

“I feel like I’m getting more comfortable in this role,” Warren said. “I feel like I’m starting to get on a roll a bit, and I’m starting to get more confidence out there and I feel like I can get deeper in games.”

Teixeira connected off Jason Vargas (3-2) for a two-run shot in the first — giving the Yankees 10 first-inning runs against Kansas City in the series — and doubled in two more in the fifth against Joe Blanton. The switch-hitter has more homers (14) than singles this year (13).

Teixeira advanced to third on the double when center fielder Lorenzo Cain bobbled the ball for an error and scored on Chase Headley’s sacrifice fly, caught by Gold Glover Alex Gordon with a tumbling catch on the sinking liner.

Cain made a leaping catch in front of the wall for the third out of the inning, and Teixeira stood in the dugout with his hand on his head and mouth agape, stunned.

Vargas was activated off the disabled list to make the start, taking the spot of Danny Duffy, who went on the DL Monday with biceps tendinitis. Vargas was on a 75-pitch limit and manager Ned Yost stuck to it, pulling the left-hander after four innings, one pitch over the set ceiling. He struck out six and gave up four hits in his first outing since May 5.

I thought coming back off the DL, he was pretty darn sharp,” Yost said. “Just one pitch, he tried to go down and away and it kind of ran back middle-middle to Teixeira. But six punch-outs in four innings, he threw the ball really well.”

Vargas has not beaten the Yankees in eight starts and nine appearances, dropping to 0-5.

Yankees reliever Dellin Betances extended his streak of not allowing a hit to 31 batters by striking out the side in the eighth. He’s walked two and yielded a sacrifice fly in the run.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Yankees: Ace Masahiro Tanaka (wrist tendinitis and forearm strain) is set for his second rehab start for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday. Manager Joe Girardi says, “You want to hear his stuff was sharp and he feels comfortable the next day.”

UP NEXT

Royals: Princeton graduate Chris Young, who turned 36 Monday, will take his 0.78 ERA, lowest among all pitchers with at least 30 innings, into his second start against the Yankees and Michael Pineda in less than two weeks. Young allowed a run and four hits in 5 2/3 innings against New York.

Yankees: Pineda has been hit hard in his two starts since striking out 16 against Baltimore on May 10. He allowed five runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings against the Royals in Kansas City.

WALKING FOR A CAUSE

Former naval officer and retired school teacher Richard Albero completed an approximately 1,150-mile walk in honor of his nephew Gary Albero, who died during the attacks of 9/11, and the Wounded Warrior Project, with a stomp on home plate before the game. Albero began his journey on March 2 at the Yankees’ spring training home in Tampa, Florida. He raised about $27,000 along the way and the Yankees chipped in another $25,000 Tuesday.

BALL TRICK

After Orlando homered a fan threw a ball back onto the field, but it was a batting practice ball. Still, Orlando was able to trade a batting glove, a bat and some signed balls for the real one once the game was over.

PLATE DISCIPLINE

Betances is just the second pitcher to strike out the side in order against Kansas City this season. Jered Weaver did it April 11.

— Associated Press —

NEW YORK (AP) — Brett Gardner got a little silly after hitting the Yankees’ third homer of the first inning, enthusiastically high-fiving his teammates as if he were trying to slap away the memory of a lost weekend of baseball.

A few big hits did the job just fine.

Gardner and Brian McCann each hit a three-run homer and Chase Headley also connected during an eight-run first, and New York romped past the AL Central-leading Kansas City Royals 14-1 Monday to end a six-game skid.

Stephen Drew added another three-run shot off Jeremy Guthrie (4-3) before New York made an out in the second.

“Overall, definitely a much-needed good feeling,” Gardner said.

Slade Heathcott hit his first major league homer in the seventh as the Yankees bounced back from a sweep by Texas. They won for just the second time in 12 games, beating the team that began the day with the best record in the majors.

“Is this real?” Heathcott said of what he was thinking as his ball headed toward the bleachers in right-center.

Guthrie entered 5-10 with a 4.92 ERA against the Yankees, mostly with Baltimore. And this time he was awful. He faced 16 batters and 13 reached, with 11 scoring.

Guthrie, who started Game 7 of the World Series last year, became only the eighth pitcher to give up four homers before getting four outs, according to research going back to 1914 by STATS.

The right-hander also became the third starter to give up at least 11 runs while recording three outs or less, STATS said.

“He didn’t have it,” manager Ned Yost said. “They were just on everything he threw.”

Nathan Eovaldi (4-1) pitched with runners on in all but two of his seven-plus innings. Working on five days’ rest, he allowed eight hits and a run.

The Yankees were outscored 30-15 in a demoralizing three-game series against Texas. Their loss Sunday night dropped them to .500 for the first time since they were 7-7.

They started afresh in a flash.

Gardner led off with a double on Guthrie’s second pitch. Headley sent the next offering deep into the right-field bleachers.

Alex Rodriguez singled and Mark Teixeira walked before McCann hit a liner to right that Paulo Orlando nearly caught with an impressive leap at the wall.

After two outs, Didi Gregorius was hit by a pitch and Heathcott singled. Gardner then connected for an 8-0 lead.

“It was nice because we’ve been through some tough losses, we’ve been through some ugly losses, and to be able to get that type of lead was really nice,” manager Joe Girardi said.

Drew hit his fifth homer in the second. Guthrie just held the new ball out as Yost walked to the mound to lift him.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy was placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 17, because of left biceps tendinitis. He will be eligible for reinstatement on June 1. … OF Alex Rios (broken hand) is set to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Omaha.

Yankees: OF Carlos Beltran was out of the starting lineup for the second straight day because of flu-like symptoms.

UP NEXT

Royals: LHP Jason Vargas (strained flexor muscle) will come off the DL and slide into Duffy’s slot for his first action since May 5. Vargas is 0-4 with a 6.75 ERA in eight games, seven starts, against New York. Vargas will be on a 75-pitch limit.

Yankees: Adam Warren is set to make his 12th career start and first against the Royals. His previous two starts were the longest of his career, seven and 6 1/3 innings. He lost both.

RARE ROOKIES

Jacob Lindgren made his big league debut for New York, coming in to relieve Eovaldi in the eighth. The left-hander is just the third player from last year’s draft to reach the majors.

Kansas City’s Brandon Finnegan is one of the three. He pitched a career-high three scoreless innings in relief of Guthrie after being recalled from Triple-A on Monday — he likely will be sent back to Omaha on Tuesday. White Sox lefty Carlos Rodon is the third player.

When Lindgren entered the game, he joined Hall of Fame football player Deion Sanders the only two Yankees to make their debuts within a year of being drafted.

“Maybe I should try playing football,” he said.

A LITTLE HELP

Guthrie popped into the dugout about 90 minutes before game time, jersey untucked, looking for New York’s lineup — with Beltran’s health a question, Girardi didn’t provide one until about two hours before the start — but none of his Royals coaches knew it yet. A Yankees beat writer was more than willing to help the starter out, reading it off his notebook.

— Associated Press —