TORONTO (AP) — On the day they changed their batting coach, every hitter in the Kansas City Royals’ lineup banged out at least one hit.

None was bigger, however, than Omar Infante’s two-run single in the 10th inning.

Infante had two hits and three RBIs and the Royals overcame two home runs by Edwin Encarnacion to beat the Blue Jays 8-6 on Thursday night, snapping Toronto’s winning streak at nine games.

The Royals had 14 hits on the same day they shook up their staff, making Dale Sveum the hitting coach and Mike Jirschele their third base coach. Pedro Grifol, who took over as hitting coach last season, was reassigned as a catching instructor.

Manager Ned Yost saw an immediate improvement in Kansas City’s offense, which came in having scored the fewest runs in the AL.

“They sure looked a lot better tonight,” Yost said. “That’s kind of what you hope for. You get a different voice and it kind of snaps everybody back to reality a little bit.”

Facing Todd Redmond (0-4), Alcides Escobar singled to begin the 10th. Pedro Ciriaco was hit on the front of the helmet while squaring to bunt and Nori Aoki advanced the runners with a sacrifice before Infante lined a single just over the reach of leaping third baseman Brett Lawrie.

Wade Davis (4-1) worked two innings for the win and Greg Holland closed it out for his 15th save in 16 chances.

The Blue Jays were on the verge of victory in the ninth before the Royals tied it with an unearned run off Casey Janssen, who blew a save for the first time in nine chances.

“We were looking at two outs, nobody on in the ninth and darned if we didn’t make it work,” Yost said.

After Jose Bautista threw out Billy Butler at first base from right field for the second out, Alex Gordon singled to left and was replaced by pinch-runner Jarrod Dyson, who stole second and scored when Encarnacion couldn’t handle an errant, bouncing throw from shortstop Jose Reyes on Salvador Perez’s grounder.

“There’s no excuse,” Reyes said. “I should make a better throw there. That’s a routine ground ball, I got it perfect. I just didn’t have enough on the throw.”

Reyes batted with a runner on in the 10th but couldn’t atone for his gaffe, striking out looking to end it.

Perez hit a solo homer in the second for the Royals who snapped a four-game skid and avoided matching their longest losing streak of the season.

“We were facing a hot team that had swept their last three teams,” Dyson said. “I thought we did a great job to come over here and kind of break that up a little bit and get going.”

Encarnacion matched a major league record with his fifth multihomer game in a month. Albert Belle did it in September 1995 and Harmon Killebrew in May 1959.

“I don’t know where it goes down in history, but it’s pretty historic in my mind,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said.

The blasts were Encarnacion’s 15th and 16th in May, breaking Bautista’s team record for homers in a month. Bautista hit 14 in June, 2012.

“Encarnacion is probably the hottest hitter on the planet right now,” Yost said.

The major league record for home runs in May is 17, set by Barry Bonds in 2001. Encarnacion has two games remaining this month.

Encarnacion has 18 total homers, second in the majors to Baltimore’s Nelson Cruz, who entered play Thursday with 19.

Both of Encarnacion’s homers, which came in the fourth and sixth innings, were two-run shots into the second deck, and both came off Royals right-hander James Shields.

Bautista added a two-run shot in the first as the Blue Jays boosted their major league-leading total to 79. Toronto has hit at least one home run in 11 of the past 12 games.

Shields came in having won four straight decisions and was 6-1 with a 1.13 ERA in his past eight starts against Toronto, but couldn’t duplicate that success. He allowed six runs and eight hits in seven innings, including a season-worst three homers. Shields walked none and struck out six.

Toronto’s R.A. Dickey allowed five runs and a season-worst 10 hits in five innings. He walked one and struck out seven.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Houston Astros got a good glimpse of what could happen if Chris Carter and George Springer are hitting well at the same time.

Carter connected for two home runs, Springer set a rookie club record for homers in a month and the Astros beat the Kansas City Royals 9-3 Wednesday for their fifth straight win.

The Astros have been waiting for Carter to take off after he hit 29 home runs last year.

“This guy led our offense in home runs and RBIs last year. He had been hot and cold, but we all know when he’s hot, he can carry a ballclub because we’ve seen him do it,” Astros manager Bo Porter said.

“We definitely would love to get him going. That would be an added boost to our team,” he said.

Carter, who had been benched the previous three games with a .192 batting average, homered to lead off the fifth. He hit a three-run homer in sixth off reliever Louis Coleman for his fourth career multihomer game and his first this season.

“He sat for three days, worked extremely hard in the cage and watched a lot of video,” Porter said. “He came in today with a good game plan and understanding the things in which he’s worked on the last few days.”

“I always say this: It’s good from a coaching standpoint you put in effort with a guy and the next time he gets in the lineup you see it pay off. That’s good for the player to see the immediate results of the work which he’s putting in” he said.

Springer homered off Danny Duffy (2-5) in the first for his ninth home run in May. Glenn Davis held the Astros’ rookie record with eight home runs in September 1985. Springer also walked twice and was hit by a pitch.

“Our offense is better,” Carter said. “It’s been coming around really good. George has six home runs in six games. I’m happy for him. I think we have something going here.”

The Astros, with the worst record in the AL, won three times in Kansas City for their first sweep of the season. Houston’s winning streak is its longest since a six-game string that ended last June 3.

The Royals have lost four in a row.

“It’s just a bad series, unfortunately, it happened at home,” Royals designated hitter Billy Butler said. “It’s a tough go right now.”

Carlos Corporan had three hits with a walk. He drove in a run as the Astros outscored the Royals 21-5 in the series.

Jarred Cosart (4-4) gave up one earned run and four hits in five innings, but was pulled when his pitch count reached 95.

“I chose a good day to go five and the offense scored nine runs,” Cosart said. “I didn’t have my best stuff. The offense came out scoring early. I felt pretty good out there. I had a couple of innings with high pitch counts. We have a five-game winning streak going. We’ve got momentum. We’re going back home to our own ballpark.”

Duffy allowed six runs on seven hits and five walks in four-plus innings. The first four Royals pitchers combined to walk 10, which was a season high.

“He just didn’t have anything going for him today,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “His fastball was down to 88-92 (mph) and we kept checking and asking if he was OK. He was fine, but he was going through a little dead arm. He was throwing hard, but it just wasn’t coming out. We had to kind of ride it. We didn’t have any bullpen help.”

Brett Hayes singled in the Kansas City fifth to snap an 0-for-27 skid to begin the season. He homered in the seventh, the Royals’ first home run in nine games.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Watching from the bullpen as journeyman Collin McHugh carved up the Kansas City lineup, Astros reliever Tony Sipp only wished he had a bucket of popcorn and a soda.

“It’s like watching a good movie,” Sipp said, “and you don’t want to mess up the ending.”

After McHugh held the light-hitting Royals at bay over seven innings, Sipp and Chad Qualls provided an appropriate ending. They worked the final two innings without allowing a hit in a 3-0 victory Tuesday night that gave Houston its first four-game winning streak since September.

The Astros own the worst record in the AL, but have won four in a row on the road for the first time since taking six straight away from Minute Maid Park last May 29-June 3.

“I mean, I think we’re playing hard,” said McHugh, who is already on his third big league team in three seasons. “We’re coming to play every day, and we’re putting together a few games here.”

Houston rookie George Springer’s homer streak ended at four games. He hit two flyballs to the warning track and finished 1 for 4. Matt Dominguez hit an RBI single in the fourth, and the Astros tacked on two more runs against Tim Collins in the eighth.

“That’s what you call an extremely well-played baseball game,” Houston manager Bo Porter said.

McHugh (3-3) scattered five hits while striking out nine without issuing a walk to earn his first win in five starts. He stranded a runner at third base in the second inning and runners at second and third in the fifth, but otherwise cruised through the Kansas City lineup.

The only run Jeremy Guthrie (2-4) allowed came when Dominguez followed up a pair of one-out walks to Dexter Fowler and Jason Castro with a single in the fourth inning.

Guthrie left after allowing seven hits and three walks in six innings. The right-hander dodged plenty of trouble, inducing double-play grounders in the third and fifth, but still got stuck with his fourth straight loss. His last win came April 9 against Tampa Bay.

During a nine-start winless streak, Guthrie has allowed just one run on three occasions.

The Royals lost for the sixth time in their last eight games, and their pop-gun offense has had a lot to do with the futility. Kansas City has been held to three or fewer runs in four of its last five games, including the 9-2 pounding that Houston dished out on Monday night.

Royals manager Ned Yost’s frustration boiled over in the sixth inning. He went out to check on Guthrie with the bases loaded and two outs, and was returning to the dugout after their discussion when plate umpire Kerwin Danley met him near the mound.

After saying something to Danley, Yost was immediately ejected.

“I got frustrated on some calls I thought Jeremy should have got. It’s mostly my fault,” said Yost, who was tossed for the second time this season.

Meanwhile, McHugh continued to slice up the Royals’ batting order. He struck out designated hitter Billy Butler twice, silenced Eric Hosmer’s bat and retired the last eight hitters he faced.

It was the fourth time the Royals have been shut out this season.

“You don’t lose confidence, but you’re definitely frustrated,” Hosmer said. “We definitely should be putting up a better fight. As an offense as a whole, we should be putting up a better performance than that. We’re not getting the job done.”

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — George Springer homered in his fourth straight game and went 4 for 4 with three RBIs and scored five runs in the Houston Astros’ 9-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.

The Astros have won three straight, matching their longest winning streak this season, and snapped a six-game losing streak to the Royals.

Springer led off the eighth with a home run off Louis Coleman, his fifth homer in four games. He is the first Houston rookie to homer in four straight games.

Springer also had two doubles and became the first Astro to score five runs in a game since Cody Ransom on Sept. 24, 2007 against St. Louis.

Scott Feldman (3-2) held the Royals to two runs and eight hits over six innings.

Royals rookie right-hander Yordano Ventura (2-5) left in the third inning with discomfort in his elbow.

— Associated Press —

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — With all the power they possess in the middle of their lineup, the Los Angeles Angels don’t usually need home runs from Chris Iannetta.

Yet that’s what they got in a three-game series with the Kansas City Royals.

The veteran catcher hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning Sunday to lift the Angels to a 4-3 victory. He also connected Friday night for their first run in a win.

Iannetta’s latest go-ahead drive sailed into the lower seats in the left-field corner.

”I didn’t know if it was going to go out or not. I was just hoping it would stay fair. I’m glad it did,” he said.

Reliever Tim Collins (0-3) retired the first batter in the eighth before Iannetta hit his fifth homer of the season.
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”I just missed. I was trying to go away,” Collins said. ”You can’t miss your spots in those situations. That’s what I did, and that’s what happens.”

Michael Kohn (2-1) pitched a scoreless inning. Ernesto Frieri got three outs for his sixth save, retiring Alcides Escobar on a popup with a runner on third.

Garrett Richards, trying to preserve some arms in the Angels’ bullpen following Saturday night’s 13-inning 7-4 loss, pitched seven innings and allowed three runs on five hits. He struck out seven and walked two.

”I was prepared to go back out for the eighth, with the bullpen being taxed from last night,” Richards said. ”But I always try to go deep in game because I know that if I do, I’m doing my job. I’m going as hard as I can for as long as I can.”

Royals starter Jason Vargas was charged with a run and three hits over 6 1-3 innings in his return to Angel Stadium, and was lifted after 109 pitches with a 3-0 lead.

Kelvin Herrera took over with a runner at first and gave up a single by No. 9 hitter Collin Cowgill on his first pitch. Mike Trout hit an RBI double with one out, Albert Pujols was hit by an 0-2 pitch and David Freese had a tying, two-run single.

Pujols tried to score the go-ahead run from second on C.J. Cron’s sharp single, but Lorenzo Cain – starting in right field for the first time this season after 28 starts in center – threw him out at the plate.

Vargas struck out six and tied a career high with five walks. This was the sixth time in 165 big league starts that the 31-year-old left-hander has walked as many as five batters, and the first time since July 20, 2011, with Seattle.

”I think he was being extra careful with Pujols and Trout – and Howie Kendrick’s also tough,” manager Ned Yost said. ”That’s a powerful lineup over there. So either he was going to make his pitch, or he wasn’t going to make a mistake to those guys and let them drive it out of the ballpark.”

Vargas walked his first batter in the second, third and fourth innings after giving up a leadoff single in the first, but the Angels couldn’t capitalize. He walked his first two batters in the third before retiring Pujols on a double-play grounder to shortstop and striking out Freese.

”It was just one of those games where I had to battle through some innings,” Vargas said. ”I was just missing and wasn’t able to get ahead on some of those guys, but I was fortunate to get back into some counts later in the inning and ended up getting out of it.”

The Royals, who scored first in all three games of the series, took a 3-0 lead in the second. Pedro Ciriaco hit a bloop double that scored Jimmy Paredes, who singled and advanced on Richards’ first balk in 291 1-3 career innings to that point.

Jarrod Dyson reached on a fielding error by Gold Glove shortstop Erick Aybar, and Eric Hosmer followed with a sacrifice fly before Alex Gordon capped the rally with an RBI single.

Richards retired his next 11 batters, striking out the side on 11 pitches in the fifth.

”Other than the third inning, it was good,” Richards said.

Vargas was 9-8 with a 4.02 ERA in 24 starts with the Angels last season after four years with Seattle. He signed a four-year, $32 million contract with Kansas City on Nov. 21.

— Associated Press —