The Cleveland Indians were rewarded nicely for making it out of a harrowing ninth inning: They gained ground in the AL wild-card chase.

Chris Perez retired Alex Gordon on a fly ball with the bases loaded to end the game and preserve Cleveland’s 4-3 win over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.

The Indians, who won despite having only five hits, moved a half-game closer to idle Tampa Bay, 1 1/2 games back for the second wild-card spot. The Royals dropped to four games behind the Rays.

Ubaldo Jimenez struck out 10 in seven innings and Asdrubal Cabrera, Yan Gomes and Carlos Santana each hit solo homers, as Cleveland built a 4-1 lead. It appeared as if the Indians were safe but Alex Gordon hit a two-run homer in the eighth off Cody Allen and Perez needed 27 pitches to get through the ninth.

Even Indians manager Terry Francona, who led Boston to two World Series titles, admitted he was on edge.

”I had a stomachache,” he said. ”That’s about as nail baiting as you can get.”

Jimenez (11-9) wasn’t sure he wanted to watch.

”I was praying a little,” he said.

Francona has stressed to his players to take their season one game at a time and not worry about the previous day or the following one. With 19 games remaining and the Indians in the middle of the chase for the postseason, they have obviously listened.

”You try to be one run better,” he said. ”Tonight, I feel like we were a tenth of a run better.”

A crowd of only 9,794 attended the game, despite the matchup of two contenders. Several hundred dogs were also in attendance with a ”Puppypalooza” promotion. The Indians were 14th in the league in attendance entering Monday, but Francona was diplomatic when asked about the small crowds.

”Everybody would love to play in front of a packed house, but my view of it is we have a responsibility to play as well as we can and hope that the people that come enjoy it and are proud of us,” he said. ”I think that’s the best we can do. That’s how I feel.”

Salvador Perez led off the ninth with a single and Mike Moustakas walked on four pitches. Pinch-hitter David Lough’s sacrifice moved the runners to second and third. Carlos Pena, another pinch hitter, struck out looking on a full-count pitch. George Kottaras, the third straight pinch hitter, battled back from an 0-2 count and walked to load the bases.

Gordon flied out to center fielder Michael Bourn and Chris Perez recorded his 23rd save.

”I liked the matchups with Pena, Kottaras and Alex (Gordon),” Royals manager Ned Yost said. ”We just couldn’t get it done.”

Royals starter Ervin Santana (8-9) made three mistakes, but they cost him the game. Cabrera homered in the second and Gomes hit his in the fifth. Santana led off the seventh with a line drive down the right field line that landed in the seats. First base umpire Dana DeMuth ruled the ball foul, bringing Francona out of the dugout.

The umpires huddled briefly and left the field to view a replay, which clearly showed the ball hit the foul pole. The umps returned to the field, DeMuth gave the home run signal and Santana rounded the bases.

The Indians also got a boost from rookie infielder Jose Ramirez, who got his first major league hit and used his speed to score a run in his first start since being called up from Double-A Akron on Sept. 1.

Francona said before the game he started Ramirez because he thought the rookie could do something to help the team score. Ramirez made his manager look good in the third when he started the inning with a single, moved to third on a groundout and scored on Hosmer’s throwing error.

Ramirez’s throwing error led to Kansas City’s run in the sixth and he was picked off first in the eighth.

”He was all over the ballpark tonight,” Francona said.

— Associated Press —

Bruce Chen put a stop to a bad string of starts for the Kansas City Royals.

Chen picked up the Royals’ beleaguered rotation with seven solid innings, pitching Kansas City past the Detroit Tigers 5-2 Sunday.

Chen (7-2), who moved into the rotation on July 12 after 19 relief appearances, limited the AL Central leaders to five hits and two runs. He earned the first victory for a Royals starter on their seven-game homestand.

”I was pounding the strike zone, mixing in all my pitches, throwing different angles,” Chen said.

Eric Hosmer had three hits, including a three-run homer in the fifth inning.

The Royals stayed close in the wild-card chase, taking the final two games of the series after losing 16-2 Friday.

”After that game, it was a bad feeling,” Hosmer said. ”They just flat out beat us that day. Just to forget it as a team and bounce back like that shows a lot about the character on the team and pitching staff.”

The Kansas City starters had an 8.00 ERA in the first six games of the homestand, allowing 24 runs on 41 hits and 16 walks in 27 innings. The other four starters had a 9.43 ERA in that span and had failed to make it beyond 4 1-3 innings in four starts.

Hosmer homered off Doug Fister after Alex Gordon and Emilio Bonifacio singled with two outs.

Fister (12-8) allowed five runs on eight hits in 6 1-3 innings.

Chen kept the Tigers hitters off-balance all afternoon.

”We hit a lot of lazy fly balls,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. ”The credit goes to Chen. He changes speeds and got us out in front a lot. You know what you’re going to get with him. He changed speeds and got us out in front and mixed his pitches. He was very effective.”

Greg Holland allowed Prince Fielder’s double with two out in the ninth, but collected his 40th save in 43 chances. Joakim Soria, Jeff Montgomery and Dan Quisenberry are the only other Royals relievers to earn 40 saves in a season.

Jose Iglesias, who had not played since leaving the game Wednesday with shin splints, homered in the third inning after Alex Avila had singled, giving the Tigers a 2-0 lead.

”Chen pitched how he always pitches,” Avila said. ”You can look back at any game he’s pitched and it’s always the same. He mixes a lot of pitches, works in and out, changes speeds, and never gives in.

”After he gets you out, you go back to the dugout saying, ‘Man, how did I get out?”’

Iglesias hit his second home run since the Tigers acquired him in a July 30 trade with Boston.

”After that pitch, Chen was locked in the entire day,” Hosmer said. ”We knew if could get a lead and hand it off to the bullpen, we’d be in a good spot.”

The Royals got a run in the fourth when Billy Butler grounded a single.

Jarrod Dyson led off the Royals’ seventh with a triple into the left-field corner and scored when Gordon dunked a fly ball into shallow right over a drawn-in Tigers infield for a single.

Chen pitched out of trouble in the sixth. Austin Jackson led off with a double and Miguel Cabrera came up – he had five career home runs off Chen in 36 at-bats.

This time Cabrera hit a comebacker and Chen threw out Jackson at third. Chen fell behind 3-0 to Fielder, who then looked at the next three pitches – all strikes.

”It was a huge play with Miguel,” Chen said. ”We have a two-run lead and the first pitch, he hits a groundball to me.”

— Associated Press —

Salvador Perez is on a power surge and the Kansas City Royals keeping hanging on in the wild-card race.

Perez hit a two-run homer off Justin Verlander and the Royals beat the Detroit Tigers 4-3 on Saturday night.

Perez drove a two-out pitch over the left-field wall to put the Royals ahead 4-2. He is hitting .347 with seven home runs and 20 RBIs in his past 21 games.

”Soon as I hit it, I knew the ball was gone,” Perez said. ”I hit it pretty good.”

Verlander (12-11) is 0-3 with three no-decisions in six starts since an Aug. 6 victory at Cleveland.

The Tigers have dropped his past six starts and are 13-17 in his 30 starts this season.

”I think he did a great job,” Tigers catcher Brayan Pena said. ”The pitch to Perez it was a pitch down. He struck out a lot of guys and he kept the ball down. It was just one pitch that hurt us.”

The Royals have won all five games Verlander has started against them this season. Verlander allowed four runs and eight hits in seven innings, while walking one and striking out seven.

”You can say what you want, but Verlander is tough as nails,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. ”He’s as good as they come. And we’ve done very well against him. They’ve all been nip-and-tuck, one-run games for the most part, but we’ve come out on top and that’s all that matters.”

Wade Davis (7-10), the second of five Kansas City pitchers, picked up the victory on his 28th birthday, entering with the bases loaded and allowing just one runner to score when he walked Miguel Cabrera with the bases loaded after being down in the count 0-2.

”I’m comfortable in that situation, keeping a low heart rate,” Davis said. ”I’ve faced him (Cabrera) a lot. I knew what he was trying to do. I wasn’t going to give in and give him something to whack off the wall or over it. That was just a walk, but hey it paid off.”

Greg Holland worked a perfect ninth for his 39th save in 42 chances.

Cabrera, who leads the American League with 133 RBIs, also singled home another run in the seventh.

Royals left-hander Danny Duffy failed to pitch deep into the game in back-to-back starts. Duffy, who walked four in 3 2-3 innings in his previous start, walked five Tigers in 4 1-3 innings.

”I didn’t have my best command, but the stuff was there,” Duffy said. ”As long as we’re shaking hands after the game, that’s good with me.”

Duffy walked two in the first inning and that led to a run when Price Fielder’s single scored Austin Jackson, who led off the game with a four-pitch walk.

”Duffy was a little wild, which we were hoping for, but we just couldn’t come up with a big hit,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.

Duffy allowed a Nick Castellanos infield single in the fifth, and with one out, walked Roman Santiago and Jackson on eight pitches to load the bases. Davis replaced Duffy and walked Cabrera to score Castellanos.

”It took Duffy about five hitters to find his slot,” Yost said. ”Once he found it, he was pretty good from the second, third and fourth and started to lose it in the fifth. That’s when we brought Wade in and man what a great job he did.

”Danny did a great job of keeping us in the game. Your pitch count can get up, but you can’t let the game get away from you. Every time Danny has gotten big pitch counts or struggled with command, his stuff is so good, it keeps us in the game.”

Emilio Bonifacio’s bunt single in the third scored Alcides Escobar with the first Kansas City run.

”That’s part of my game – bunting,” Bonifacio said. ”I had that in mind soon as Escobar got to third.”

Escobar’s single in the fifth scored Jarrod Dyson, who walked and stole second.

When Pena threw out Bonifacio stealing second in the first inning, it ended the Tigers streak at 24 without catching a runner attempting to steal. Bonifacio had been perfect in his first 13 stolen attempts in 23 games since joining the Royals.

— Associated Press —

Mike Moustakas hit two balls that had chances to go deep.

The first one was just foul down the right-field line, but the second was fair as Moustakas homered to lead off the 13th inning, lifting the Kansas City Royals to a 7-6 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Thursday.

Moustakas homered to right on an 0-2 pitch from Chance Ruffin (0-1), who had not pitched in the majors since 2011.

”I knew it was going to get out, but I knew it was going to be foul soon as I hit it,” Moustakas said of the first shot. ”I got a little too out in front of it.

”The second one I knew was going to stay fair. I hit it pretty good. I kept my hands in pretty good. It was pretty special with the race we’re in right now.”

The Royals entered the game 5 1/2 back in the wild-card standings.

”Soon as Moose hit the first one, I was hoping it would stay fair,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. ”When it didn’t, I turned to Hos (Eric Hosmer) and said, ‘Why is fate tempting us, teasing us like this. Why?

”Normally when somebody hits a long foul ball homer and they’ve got two strikes on them that’s it. I can’t remember one time I’ve ever seen a guy back it up and hit one fair. So when he hit it fair, it was wow, pretty special.”

Ruffin retired the first five batters he faced, striking out three.

”I was trying to get the fastball down and in,” Ruffin said. ”He turned on it pretty good. The one he hit out was supposed to be in. I left it in the middle.”

Louis Coleman (3-0), the eighth Royals pitcher, retired the only batter he faced in the top of the 13th.

Kansas City led 6-5 in the ninth inning before Raul Ibanez homered off Greg Holland into the Mariners’ bullpen with two outs to tie the score. It was Holland’s first blown save since May 6 to end his streak of 31 consecutive saves.

”He throws 100 (mph) and he has a really good slider,” Ibanez said. ”I was trying to swing easy, thinking base hit, a single. He threw a slider and I got it in the air to right field. Sometimes if a guy is not throwing too hard you might look to do some damage, but when a guy is throwing that hard you can’t try to do too much.”

The Royals play their next 12 games against the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians, the two teams in front of them in the AL Central.

”Every game is crucial and extremely important,” Yost said. ”We’ve seen our players do this the majority of the year. They don’t believe if we’re down by five we’re out of it or we’re going to lose the game.”

Billy Butler went 5 for 5, matching his career high in hits for the Royals, while Emilo Bonifacio went 4 for 6 for his first four-hit game since July 4, 2009.

”It’s not easy to come back from a five-run deficit,” Butler said. ”That shows the resiliency of this team. Every game at this point is a must win.”

The teams combined to use 44 players, including 14 pitchers.

The Mariners threatened in the 11th when Dustin Ackley singled and Nick Franklin walked. Kelvin Herrera, the sixth Royals pitcher, replaced Tim Collins and struck out Franklin Gutierrez and Mike Zunino to end the inning.

Butler drove in the tying run with his fourth single in a three-run seventh. Justin Maxwell’s sacrifice fly scored Butler to put the Royals up 6-5.

Royals catcher Salvador Perez went 3 for 3 with a double and RBI, but left in the fifth with dizziness. He took a foul shot from Dustin Ackley off his mask in the top of the fifth.

Mariners left-hander Joe Saunders was staked to a 5-0 lead, but could not make it through the fifth inning.

Saunders gave up a two-run homer to Alex Gordon and an RBI single to Salvador Perez in the fifth. When Justin Maxwell walked to load the bases, Saunders was replaced by Brandon Maurer, who struck out pinch-hitter Carlos Pena on three pitches to end the inning.

Saunders allowed three runs and 11 hits and a walk in 4 2-3 innings. In his past six starts, he is 1-3, allowing 50 hits, including six home runs, in 31 2-3 innings.

Maurer, however, gave up four consecutive hits to start Kansas City’s three-run seventh.

Justin Smoak hit a two-run homer in the Mariners’ three-run first. It was Smoak’s third home run in 13 at-bats off Royals right-hander Jeremy Guthrie. Kendrys Morales singled home Abraham Almonte, who had doubled, with the first Seattle run.

Hosmer’s fielding error in the third allowed Kyle Seager to score another run. The Mariners made it 5-0 in the fourth on Brad Miller’s sacrifice fly.

Guthrie was pulled after six innings, allowing five runs and seven hits and two walks. He is 1-3 with a 5.11 ERA in his past six starts, yielding 53 hits and 21 earned runs in 37 innings.

— Associated Press —