KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Lorenzo Cain hit a three-run homer, Nori Aoki kept up his tear at the plate and the Kansas City Royals roughed up Chicago White Sox ace Chris Sale in a 6-2 victory Wednesday night that kept the pressure on Detroit in the AL Central.

The first-place Tigers led the Royals by 1 1/2 games at the start of the night.

Alcides Escobar also homered for a Royals offense that had been scuffling for weeks, and Aoki went 3 for 4 to finish with 11 hits in the series. Yordano Ventura (13-10) allowed three hits and two walks over seven innings, the lone run off him coming on a sacrifice fly.

Meanwhile, Sale (12-4) was cuffed for a season-high five earned runs on nine hits over five innings. It was arguably the three-time All-Star’s worst start since Aug. 23, 2013, when he gave up eight runs over seven innings in a loss to the Rangers.

The White Sox loaded the bases with nobody out in the third inning, and Adam Eaton staked them to a lead with his sacrifice fly. But Ventura calmly struck out the next two batters to get out of trouble, and then kept Chicago guessing with a blazing fastball all night.

It didn’t take Kansas City long to take the lead for good.

In the bottom of the third, Escobar and Aoki hit back-to-back singles before Cain sent a pitch over the left-field wall. The three-run homer was the first allowed by Sale on a 0-2 count in his career — 164 appearances and nearly 670 batters over parts of five seasons.

Escobar added his solo shot with two outs in the fourth. His third homer of the season and first since May 11 landed in almost the exact same spot as Cain’s home run.

Aoki doubled in the first inning, singled in the third and fourth and walked in the sixth, earning a standing ovation. His 11 hits against the White Sox broke the Royals record for a three-game series that had been shared by George Brett (1982) and Willie Wilson (1980).

It was also the first time a Kansas City player had three hits in three straight games since Mike Sweeney accomplished the feat from July 8-10, 2005, according to STATS.

TRAINER’S ROOM

White Sox: DH-1B Paul Konerko, out since breaking his left hand on Sept. 2, will likely return this weekend in Tampa Bay. “Give him a couple of at-bats and if he’s up for it he can probably DH one of those games and see how it feels,” manager Robin Ventura said.

Royals: INF Christian Colon (broken middle finger) was placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Sept. 7. There was no word on whether the Royals are adding another player to the roster.

UP NEXT

White Sox: LHP Jose Quintana (8-10, 3.30 ERA) starts Friday night’s opener in Tampa Bay.

Royals: LHP Jason Vargas (11-9, 3.41) tries to bounce back from a loss to Boston in the opener of a crucial three-game series against the Tigers on Friday night.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis both gave up runs for the first time in nearly three months as the Kansas City Royals’ dominant bullpen was touched up Tuesday night in a 7-5 loss to the Chicago White Sox.

Davis replaced Herrera with two on in the seventh inning and walked Jose Abreu to load the bases for Conor Gillaspie, who cleared them with a triple to right-center on a 2-2 pitch to give Chicago a 7-5 lead.

That ended Herrera’s scoreless streak at 30 2/3 innings, dating to June 24. Also snapped was Davis’ shutout streak of 31 2/3 innings, a club record for a reliever, with the first run charged to him since June 25.

The rare bullpen failure prevented Kansas City from gaining ground on AL Central leader Detroit, which lost at Minnesota. The Royals remained 1 1/2 games behind the Tigers, but still lead Seattle for the second wild-card spot.

Kansas City used nine pitchers, a club record for a nine-inning game, in a contest that lasted 4 hours, 16 minutes — the longest nine-inning game in Royals history.

Nori Aoki had his second straight four-hit game, including a sixth-inning single that put the Royals up 5-4, but this time the bullpen couldn’t hold it.

Adam Eaton had four hits, matching his career high, and scored two runs for Chicago.

Royals manager Ned Yost went to his bullpen early when starter Liam Hendriks was pulled after three-plus innings. He gave up four runs on seven hits and a walk.

In his past three outings, Hendriks has allowed 11 runs and 18 hits in 9 1/3 innings.

White Sox rookie right-hander Chris Bassitt also failed to make it out of the fourth. He threw 94 pitches in 3 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on six hits and four walks.

Eric Surkamp (2-0) got the win, and Zach Putnam worked a perfect ninth for his fifth save.

TRAINER’S ROOM

White Sox: DH-1B Paul Konerko, who has not played since breaking his left hand on Sept. 2, took extended batting practice. “When he’s fit to play he’ll get some time,” manager Robin Ventura said. “I don’t necessarily want him going out there not having swung a bat in two weeks. He’ll get an at-bat here or there to acclimate him.”

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy, who skipped two starts because of a sore shoulder, threw a four-inning simulated game. “There’s nothing wrong,” Duffy said. “I felt stronger than I did for about the past month.” He is slated to start Monday in Cleveland.

UP NEXT

White Sox: LHP Chris Sale, an AL Cy Young Award contender, starts the series finale. He has trouble with Royals DH Billy Butler, who has a .359 career average against him with three home runs, two doubles and 10 RBIs in 39 at-bats.

Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura has nine made consecutive quality starts, a club record for rookies.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jarrod Dyson loves to boast about what speedy base runners can do.

Dyson and Terrance Gore used their speed to score as pinch runners in the ninth inning as the Kansas City Royals rallied to beat the Chicago White Sox 4-3 on Monday night.

“He knows he’s got the ability to steal the tough base,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

Mike Moustakas doubled with one out in the ninth. Dyson ran for him and stole third and came around to score as Jake Petricka (1-5) threw a wild pitch.

After Nori Aoki doubled with two outs — for his fourth hit of the game — Gore, who was called up from the minors on Sept. 1 to primarily be a pinch runner, ran for him and scored from second on Lorenzo Cain’s infield single.

“I was definitely going to be safe,” Cain said. “I just put it in play and ran. They ended up bobbling the ball and Gore scored. I was definitely thinking he’d field it and hold on. (Cain is) fast. It’s a huge win for the boys.”

It was a bizarre ending to a game that the White Sox led 3-0 going into the seventh.

“It was strange,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “When you see a play like that you think that’s OK, you can give it to them and try to get the next guy, but then they get another one. That kid (Gore) is fast. Speed can do a lot of things.”

Wade Davis (9-2) worked a scoreless ninth to pick up the victory, extending his scoreless streak to 31 2/3 innings.

White Sox starter John Danks pitched six scoreless innings and allowed just two singles, both by Aoki, before departing after 103 pitches. He struck out six and walked four. Danks, who has a 1.73 ERA at Kauffman Stadium, has never lost to the Royals in 15 career starts.

The Royals scored all their runs off three White Sox relievers.

Royals right-hander James Shields, who had his career best 18 1/3 scoreless innings streak ended in the first, gave up three runs and 10 hits, while striking out six and walking none in seven innings.

“We had a lot of opportunities, but he came through,” Ventura said. “We never got the big hit to put it out of reach. He was tough.”

Avisail Garcia’s two-out single in the first scored Adam Eaton. Eaton, who had three hits, led off the White Sox third with a double and scored on a Shields’ wild pitch. Conor Gillaspie singled home Alexei Ramirez with the second run of the inning.

Eric Hosmer hit a double into shallow left off Javy Guerra to open the seventh and scored on Omar Infante’s single for the first Kansas City run.

Aoki led off the eighth with an infield single, advanced to second on Gillaspie’s throwing error, took third on a Zach Putnam’s wild pitch and scored on Alex Gordon’s single.

AOKI’S BIG NIGHT

Aoki’s four hits, two that did not leave the infield, matched his career high, last accomplished on Sept. 20, 2013, against St. Louis. He also walked, reaching base five times. Aoki, who swings left-handed, is hitting .360 against left-handed pitching. It was his fourth multi-hit game in his past eight games.

UP NEXT

White Sox: RHP Chris Bassitt will make his fourth career appearance and third big league start Tuesday. Bassitt has allowed 14 hits, walked seven and hit two batters in 13 1/3 innings.

Royals: RHP Liam Hendriks, who retired only seven of the 15 batters he faced in a loss Thursday to Boston, will make another spot start Tuesday.

TRAINER’S ROOM

White Sox: DH-1B Paul Konerko (fractured left hand) took batting practice and could return to the lineup this week.

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy (sore shoulder) will miss another start. He is scheduled to throw a 50-pitch four-inning simulated game Tuesday. If he has no problems, he will start Monday at Cleveland. . DH-OF Josh Willingham (groin strain) said he is available to pinch hit. He has trouble running, but not swinging.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Boston slugger David Ortiz left the ballpark early due to what Red Sox manager John Farrell called a family emergency.

“He’s fine. He got called away from this game,” Farrell said. “There was a family emergency that he had to attend to and he jumped on a flight late this afternoon. He should catch up with us in Pittsburgh.”

Even without him, Boston was able to rally past Kansas City for an 8-4 victory on Sunday as Daniel Nava hit a grand slam and Xander Bogaerts added a three-run shot.

The loss continued the Royals slide. When asked if his club could afford to lose three of four to a last-place club, Kansas City manager Ned Yost succinctly replied, “No, no, no.”

Yost also abruptly ended his post-game media session with that answer.

The Royals, who blew a four-lead lead, fell 1 1-2 games behind Detroit, which beat Cleveland, in the AL Central. Kansas City is in the thick of the wild-card race.

The Red Sox chased Jason Vargas (11-9) with one out in the sixth after Mookie Betts and Bogaerts singled. Reliever Aaron Crow walked Yoenis Cespedes to load the bases and struck out Allen Craig.

Nava hit Crow’s next pitch into the Red Sox bullpen for his second career grand slam and a 7-4 lead.

“Do I think this is going to cause us to fade? No,” Vargas said. “But we need to play better ball that’s for sure because we’re running out of games.”

Bogaerts homered in the third and got three hits. He also had a sacrifice fly and drove in four runs, giving him 11 RBIs in his past 15 games.

Joe Kelly (3-2) gave up five consecutive hits and four runs in the second, but nothing else in six innings. The Royals loaded the bases in the ninth off Edward Mujica, but Lorenzo Cain struck out looking to end the game.

Eric Hosmer hit a three-run homer in the second, and Omar Infante’s grounder scored another run in the inning.

“You never expect to lose three out of four especially this late in the season when time is winding down,” Hosmer said. “It’s nothing this team hasn’t been through before. We can bounce back from this. There’s still time left.”

TRIPLE-A CHAMPS

Omaha, the Royals ‘Triple-A affiliate, won the Pacific Coast League championship Sunday with Aaron Brooks throwing a two-hit shutout against Reno. Pawtucket, the Red Sox ‘Triple-A farm club, beat Durham in a best-of-five series to take the International League championship. The two will meet Tuesday in Charlotte for the Triple-A championship.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Red Sox: INF-OF Brock Holt (concussion) remains sidelined and is having vision problems.

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy (sore shoulder) made 20 throws with no discomfort in a bullpen session. Manager Ned Yost said they would check on how Duffy feels Monday and make a decision on whether he will start Tuesday against the White Sox. … DH Josh Willingham (groin strain) has not played since Thursday.

UP NEXT

Red Sox: After an off-day Monday, the 10-game trip continues Tuesday with the first of three games at Pittsburgh, another playoff-contending club. Rookie right-hander Anthony Ranaudo will start the series opener.

Royals: Staff ace James Shields, who has a career-high 18 1/3 inning scoreless streak, will start the series opener against the visiting White Sox. Shields hasn’t done well against Chicago SS Alexei Ramirez, who has a .412 batting average with two home runs in 51 at-bats against him.

— Associated Press —