The Kansas City Royals announced Wednesday that they have acquired veteran infielder/outfielder Emilio Bonifacio from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for cash considerations or a Player to be Named.  In a corresponding roster move, the Royals have transferred infielder Miguel Tejada to the 60-day Disabled List.

Bonifacio, 28, was traded to the Blue Jays from the Miami Marlins this offseason.  He’s hitting .218 this year with 16 doubles, 3 homers and 12 stolen bases.   The sixth-year utility man has 122 stolen bases in his career in 156 attempts (78%), including a career-best 40 thefts in 2011.  He set career highs in nearly every offensive category in 2011 with the Marlins, batting .296 with 26 doubles, 7 triples, 5 homers and 78 runs scored.  A switch-hitter, Bonifacio has shown his versatility this season, playing all three outfield positions as well as second base and shortstop.

Emilio’s younger brother, Jorge, is an outfield prospect in the Royals’ organization, currently at Double-A with Northwest Arkansas.

Tejada, 39, was hitting .288 for KC this season with 16 doubles, 3 homers and 26 RBI.

— Royals Media Relations —

Marlins prodigy Jose Fernandez simply smiled when he was asked about leaving Tuesday night’s start against Kansas City in the seventh inning with the game still scoreless.

Best not to rankle the skipper by saying something amiss.

Besides, the young right-hander had a good seat to watch Christian Yelich single home the go-ahead run with one out in the 10th inning, giving the Marlins a 1-0 victory.

”I like to pitch and everybody knows it,” Fernandez said. ”I like to compete. I would have loved to stay out there pitching. I was feeling really strong today.”

Fernandez was matched by wily Royals veteran Bruce Chen, each of them allowing just three hits before they turned over the game to their bullpens.

It continued to extra innings before Kansas City reliever Kelvin Herrera (4-6) brushed the jersey of the Marlins’ Jake Marisnick with a pitch in the 10th. Marisnick stole second and then scored on Yelich’s single through the right side of the infield, his third hit of the game.

”Try to get a good pitch to hit and drive Jake in from second,” Yelich said. ”It was hard to score runs for both teams. I knew if we could push one in we’d have a good chance to win.”

Chad Qualls (3-1) earned the win, while Steve Cishek survived a single in the bottom half of the 10th for his 25th save. Cishek has converted 20 in a row, the third-best streak in the majors behind the Braves’ Craig Kimbrel and the Royals’ Greg Holland.

The Royals, who had won 17 of their last 20, were trying to wrap up their eighth consecutive series victory. They’ll try again in the finale on Wednesday afternoon.

”Bruce was phenomenal. Fernandez was everything we had heard he was and seen on video,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. ”It was just an old-fashioned pitching duel.”

Indeed, the game began as a matchup between a 36-year-old, soft-tossing junkballer who began the season in the bullpen and a 21-year-old, flame-throwing phenom who defected from Cuba.

Chen and Fernandez matched each other pitch-for-pitch most of the night.

The Royals left-hander allowed a leadoff single to Yelich but didn’t give up another hit until the fourth. His beguiling 84 mph fastball – the term ”fastball” applied loosely – helped Chen strike out six batters and deal with three walks over his seven innings.

Otherwise, the Marlins spent most of the night popping balls into shallow center field, trudging back to the dugout and wondering why someone who couldn’t throw harder than some Little League pitchers kept baffling them with his dizzying array of floating changeups.

He lowered his ERA to 0.94 since replacing Luis Mendoza in the Royals rotation.

”I think I got a couple hits off Bruce somewhere along the way,” said Marlins manager Mike Redmond, who retired as a player after the 2010 season. ”Hey, a testament to him, he’s still out there making pitches and he shut us down. I hadn’t seen him pitch for a long time, but he did a great job against us tonight, and he’s done a great job for them.”

The problem for the Royals? Fernandez has been even better for the Marlins.

He allowed a single in the first and another in the second, but then retired 13 straight before a leadoff walk in the seventh. The Royals managed to get runners on first and second with two outs before George Kottaras flied out to center to end the inning.

It was the most trouble that Fernandez was in all night.

”He throws everything for strikes,” Kottaras said. ”He’s got all those plus pitches to work with. He was attacking the zone. We were falling behind. He had us at his mercy for a while.”

Fernandez didn’t pick up the win, of course. He had to watch from the bench after Redmond pulled him from the game. But he still managed his sixth straight start without a defeat.

”It’s a baseball game,” he said, smiling again. ”We won.”

— Associated Press —

Wade Davis came off the family emergency leave list and pitched six solid innings, Billy Butler homered and the Kansas City Royals beat the Miami Marlins 6-2 on Monday night.

The Royals won for the 17th time in 20 games, while the Marlins are 1-8 in their past nine.

Davis had not pitched since Aug. 2, returning to Florida to be with his family after the death of his stepbrother on Aug. 3.

Davis (6-9) allowed two runs and six hits while striking out three and walking two.

Marlins starter Tom Koehler (3-8) held the Royals hitless until two out in the fourth, when they pieced together four straight hits.

— Associated Press —

James Shields picked up his first home win in more than three months and the Kansas City Royals have won seven consecutive series for the first time in 22 years.

Shields pitched seven strong innings, Alex Gordon homered and the Kansas City Royals beat the Boston Red Sox 4-3 on Sunday.

The Royals improved to 18-5 since the All-Star break, winning every series. The last time they won seven straight series was 1991.

”It’s huge,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. ”You can’t understate it. The fact of the matter is that’s nice, but it doesn’t mean anything tomorrow.

” It’s big, but you’ve got to keep plugging. I wouldn’t classify it as a statement (series) win. But it’s still the team with the best record came in and we won three out of four. We’re playing great baseball right now. We just have to maintain our focus on that.”

Shields (7-8), who had not won at Kauffman Stadium since an April 30 victory over Tampa Bay, limited the Red Sox to three runs and seven hits over seven innings. He struck out five and walked three.

”I feel like ever since the All-Star break, we’ve been making a statement,” Shields said. ”We’re here to stay and compete. Our bullpen has been phenomenal. Our defense has been great. We’re getting some good timely hitting.”

Gordon hit a 2-2 pitch from John Lackey (7-10) out to right in the third inning for his third homer in five games.

”He went through a little down period about a week ago, but the last week he’s been really swinging the bat really, really well,” Yost said. ”The thing about Alex is when he gets hot, he can carry you for a while.”

Lackey, who is 0-4 in his past five starts, walked David Lough and Eric Hosmer to lead off the first. Gordon’s two-out single scored Lough to tie it at 1.

Shane Victorino scored Boston’s first run when he doubled in the first, stole third and came home on catcher Salvador Perez’s errant pickoff throw.

The Royals scored two runs in the third, with Jarrod Dyson and Lough delivering RBI singles. Dyson’s hit drove home Mike Moustakas, who doubled to start the inning. Dyson stole second and scored on Lough’s flare to shallow right.

After a rocky start, Lackey lasted seven innings, giving up four runs and seven hits and two walks, while striking out five.

”It was a grind early,” Lackey said. ”I wasn’t feeling really great. I had a couple of 3-2 counts and didn’t make my pitch. I was lucky to get the ground ball for the double play in the first and then I found my groove and started to make my pitches.”

”For me to walk two in one inning let alone to lead off the game is hard to believe. I didn’t execute and I lost the game.”

Ryan Lavarnway’s two-out single in the sixth scored Daniel Nava and Stephen Drew, trimming the Kansas City lead to 4-3. Drew went 2 for 4 and is hitting .422 in his season-high, 12-game hitting streak.

Nava is convinced the Royals are a playoff contender.

”Of course,” Nava said. ”Everyone realizes with their offense and pitching it’s just a matter of time before they click.”

Royals relievers Tim Collins, Aaron Crow and Greg Holland, who earned his 32nd save in 34 opportunities, worked two scoreless innings to protect the one-run lead. The bullpen has allowed one run in 20 innings on this homestand.

— Associated Press —