The Kansas City Royals followed up an improbable comeback with an even more unlikely win.

Their rally against the White Sox on Sunday began in the fifth inning, when substitute catcher George Kottaras and light-hitting outfielder Jarrod Dyson cracked the first back-to-back homers for the offensively challenged Royals all season.

The win happened after the White Sox had pulled back ahead, and included a couple timely hits against their ace reliever and a pair of errors that resulted in a three-run eighth inning.

The result was a 7-6 victory that allowed the Royals to avoid a three-game sweep.

”It was huge. I mean, we were on a four-game skid,” said the Royals’ David Lough, who scored one of tying run. ”For us to pull out that victory later in the game shows our resiliency.”

The White Sox had pulled ahead on a two-run double by Gordon Beckham in the seventh inning, and then brought in Jesse Crain for the eighth. He hadn’t allowed a run in 29 straight innings, but gave up consecutive singles to Mike Moustakas and Lough to start the inning.

Crain (2-2) committed the first error when he couldn’t field a sacrifice bunt by Elliot Johnson, loading the bases with nobody out. Crain managed to strike out Kottaras and Dyson to breathe easier, but then walked Alex Gordon to get Kansas City within a run.

The more costly error came moments later, when Alcides Escobar slapped a grounder toward shortstop that Alexei Ramirez allowed into left field to bring in the go-ahead runs.

”We have a habit of coming from behind to win baseball games and today was more of the same,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. ”Any win like that, especially this time of the year, is huge.”

Luke Hochevar (1-1) struck out two in a scoreless innings of relief for Kansas City, while Greg Holland pitched a perfect ninth for his 16th save in 18 chances.

”It’s big anytime you get a win and especially coming from behind,” Hochever said. ”That’s always a big pick-me-up for the club.”

Adam Dunn homered and drove in four runs to lead the White Sox, who were trying for their first road sweep since last September.

”It’s a tough way to lose a game,” Crain said. ”We had a chance to sweep the series, which we needed. We just have to look forward to the next game.”

Royals starter James Shields and White Sox counterpart Dylan Axelrod both endured rough afternoons, though they surely saw an exciting show once they left the game.

Shields threw six straight balls to start the game and things never got a whole lot better, his leadoff walk to Alejandro De Aza and a single later in the first inning turning into two quick runs when Dunn rapped a single off the glove of Eric Hosmer at first base.

The Royals’ ace then plunked Alex Rios in the back in the third inning, and Dunn made Shields pay again for his erratic ways with his no-doubt, two-run shot to center field.

It was the 20th homer for the hot-hitting Dunn, who trails only the Orioles’ Chris Davis and Blue Jays’ Edwin Encarnacion for the most in the American League.

Shields wound up putting the leadoff batter on base in four of his five innings, and needed 97 pitches just to last that long. He departed without finishing six innings for the first time since last July 15 against Boston, a span of 30 consecutive starts.

The former All-Star hasn’t won in his last 10 outings.

”I guess I have to start another 29-game streak now,” he said. ”I’ve been pitching my butt off all season. I don’t really care (about wins) as long as we win the game.”

The Royals started moving in that direction in the bottom of the third inning on Gordon’s RBI single, and then pulled even against Axelrod during a three-run fifth inning.

The first two came on their back-to-back home runs – the 26th career homer for Kottaras, who was giving Salvador Perez the day off behind the plate, and just the third career shot for Dyson, who was making his first start since returning from the disabled list on Saturday.

”I put the barrel on the ball and it took off,” Dyson said.

Escobar kept the rally alive with a double, and Billy Butler’s two-out single through the left side of the infield tied the game 4-all and knocked Axelrod from the game.

Beckham’s double off Kelvin Herrera in the seventh inning pushed the White Sox back in front, but a bullpen – and a reliever – that has been stingy all month finally let them down.

”He’s semi-human,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. ”You know eventually there’s going to be a time or two when he’s going to give up a run or two. It’s just tough that it’s today.”

— Associated Press —

The Chicago White Sox had the right reliever on the mound with the game tied in the eighth inning Saturday, especially when some miscommunication in the outfield allowed the Royals to put a runner on third base with one out.

Jesse Crain calmly retired Salvador Perez on a popup and then struck out Lorenzo Cain to end the threat, his 29th straight scoreless appearance – and one that kept Chicago in the game.

”Luckily we had Jesse in there,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. ”You make a mistake and you have a guy in there who can still get you out of it.”

It wound up being a decisive moment when Alejandro De Aza drove in Jordan Danks with a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth, sending the White Sox to a 3-2 victory over Kansas City.

”I always have the feeling out there that I’m going to get through it no matter what,” said Crain, who hasn’t allowed a run since April 12. ”Just make the best pitch you can.”

Addison Reed handled a perfect ninth for his 21st save.

Mike Moustakas and Salvador Perez provided the only runs for the slumbering Royals, who have dropped four straight since climbing back to .500.

”The difference in the game was that we both had the same situation late – had the winning run on third base – and they executed and we didn’t,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

Crain (2-1) may have made the clutch pitches, but it took a bunch of critical at-bats for the White Sox to escape with their second straight win in the three-game series.

Dayan Viciedo led off the ninth with a single off Aaron Crow (3-3), and Jeff Keppinger drew a walk to reach base for the fourth time. Yost brought in closer Greg Holland, and he got pinch-hitter Gordon Beckham to fly out to center field.

That allowed Danks, who was pinch-running for Viciedo, to reach third base. De Aza laid off a couple of pitches out of the strike zone, and then ripped a fly ball to right field that was just deep enough to allow Danks to slide home ahead of the throw with the go-ahead run.

It was the 25th one-run game the White Sox have played this season.

”It seems like we’re always on the losing end of one-run games, so fundamentally to get a sac fly to get the winning run, it’s a good feeling,” Keppinger said. ”Hopefully we can build off it.”

The Royals struck first when Miguel Tejada, starting at second base for the ninth time in his 16-year career, hit a two-out single in the second inning. The 39-year-old then chugged all the way around on a double by Moustakas to give Kansas City the early lead.

It was the first RBI for Moustakas since May 23.

The White Sox threatened in the third when Keppinger singled and Tyler Flowers walked to start the inning. Alex Rios hit a ball down the right-field line that fell foul by just a couple of feet, and then he struck out looking to keep the White Sox off the scoreboard.

At least until the fourth.

Adam Dunn, who was hitting .186 coming into the game, walked leading off the inning. Paul Konerko followed with a single up the middle, and Conor Gillaspie’s slow roller up the middle was enough to drive in Dunn with the tying run.

Wade Davis nearly escaped the inning when he got Viciedo to ground into a double play, but Keppinger delivered a single to right that gave the White Sox a 2-1 lead.

Kansas City was poised for a big sixth inning, tying the game on a single by Perez and putting runners on first and second with one out. But reliever Matt Lindstrom entered the game and got Cain to ground into a double play on his first pitch to end the threat.

”It’s baseball, man. It’s a hard game,” Moustakas said. ”Sometimes you get the job done, sometimes you don’t get it done, and that’s just kind of how it turns out.”

White Sox starter Jose Quintana wound up going 5 1-3 innings, while Davis made it through seven innings on the warm afternoon. He also gave up two runs for the Royals.

”Tough loss,” Davis said, ”having a tie game in the ninth inning.”

— Associated Press —

Once the Chicago White Sox had put two runs on the board – it took them all of one inning – it was up to Hector Santiago to simply pour strikes into the zone.

The Kansas City Royals’ punchless offense couldn’t touch him.

Santiago wound up pitching a career-best eight innings, and long home runs by Dayan Viciedo and Alejandro De Aza turned Friday night’s game into a 9-1 rout by the White Sox.

”Getting ahead early and getting the lead, we just kept putting on and putting on,” said Santiago, who has taken over injured starter Gavin Floyd’s spot in the rotation.

”You want to go out every inning and show them you’re fighting,” he said. ”They score runs and you want to get them back in so they keep scoring.”

Viciedo’s three-run shot capped a five-run third inning, and De Aza’s two-run homer in the sixth put the game away. Tyler Flowers was the only member of the White Sox starting lineup without a hit against Jeremy Guthrie, reliever Bruce Chen and the Royals’ roughed-up bullpen.

”It was a good first inning,” Chicago manager Robin Ventura said, ”and I think the approach all night, and against those two guys, having Guthrie and Chen in there at the same time, as tough as they’ve been on us, you’re exorcising some curse or something. It was good.”

It was easily Santiago’s best performance since going seven scoreless innings May 7 against the New York Mets. It also helped the scuffling White Sox get back on track after losing 17 of 22 and dropping a season-high 12 games below .500.

The left-hander gave up just three hits and a walk, and Eric Hosmer’s homer in the sixth represented the only run Santiago (3-5) has allowed to the Royals in 19 1-3 career innings.

”He got that early lead. He was pounding the strike zone and letting his defense do the work,” Hosmer said. ”He had a lot of run support and he was feeling confident. When you have that lead you can tell the hitter, ‘Here it is. Hit it.”’

On a warm, windy night at Kauffman Stadium, Guthrie (7-5) walked three of the first five batters he faced, and the bases-loaded free pass that he issued to Paul Konerko brought in the game’s first run. Conor Gillaspie added a sacrifice fly later in the first to make it 2-0.

The real trouble for Guthrie came in the third, when Alexei Ramirez led off with a single and Alex Rios doubled over the head of Alex Gordon in left field. Adam Dunn’s single drove in another run, and Gillaspie’s single knocked Guthrie from the game.

Viciedo greeted Chen with a three-run shot to give the White Sox a 7-0 lead.

”I just couldn’t find the strike zone,” Guthrie said. ”I created a mess in the first inning and gave up a bunch of base hits in the third.”

Guthrie wound up allowing six runs on five hits and three walks in 2 1-3 innings, his shortest start since going the same distance for the Orioles on July 7, 2009. It was his second straight shaky outing, too – he allowed five runs over seven innings Saturday night at Tampa Bay.

All the more puzzling is that Guthrie had been having success against the White Sox. Since joining the Royals last year, the right-hander had been 3-0 in six starts against their AL Central rivals, giving up just two earned runs in 44 2-3 innings.

Guthrie had given up that many Friday night before escaping the first inning.

”He just didn’t have it,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. ”It was one of those nights when he didn’t have much going for him.”

De Aza’s two-run homer in the sixth made it 9-0, the most runs that the Royals’ stingy pitching staff had allowed since an 11-6 loss to the New York Yankees on May 10. It was also the most runs the White Sox had scored since beating Toronto 10-6 on June 10.

”That’s how this team is, going back to last year,” Dunn said. ”But you could see it, a little sigh of relief. You get a couple hits and you get a little excitement on the bench.”

— Associated Press —

The Kansas City Royals announced Friday they have signed Indiana State left-hander Sean Manaea, whom they chose with the first pick in the competitive balance portion for the draft.

The Royals have scheduled a news conference for Friday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium that will include Manaea, Royals general manager Dayton Moore and Manaea’s adviser, Scott Boras.
Baseball America first reported that a deal was imminent.

Manaea (6 feet 5, 215 pounds) was considered a first-round talent but slipped to the Royals at No. 34 overall in part due to a hip injury that will require surgery. Royals team physician Dr. Vincent Key said earlier this month that Manaea should be ready by spring training next season.

Manaea, 21, was 5-4 with a 1.47 ERA in 13 starts for the Sycamores this past season.

— Associated Press —

Every fifth day, Indians manager Terry Francona knows he’ll get innings, maximum effort and nothing but smiles from his No. 1 starter.

And he usually gets something more important from Justin Masterson – a win.

”There’s an expectation,” Francona said. ”He’s earned that.”

Masterson managed to hang around for 6 1-3 innings and win for the sixth time at home, leading Cleveland to a 6-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night.

Masterson (9-5) sidestepped trouble in the first few innings without giving up any runs and improved to 6-1 with a 2.29 ERA in nine starts at Progressive Field. The affable right-hander struck out eight while allowing two runs and nine hits.

Only Detroit’s Max Scherzer has more wins in the AL than Masterson, who has been one of the few constants on a streaky Indians squad.

”On the day he pitches, we feel pretty good,” said Francona, who managed Masterson in Boston. ”He’s earned that, for us to feel that way. His consistency with his stuff this year has been tremendous and we always know about his willingness to compete. It’s fun to watch.

”I’ve got to try not to get caught up in how fond I am of him when he’s pitching because when he comes off I’m always smiling at him. It’s hard not to.”

Michael Brantley hit a pair of solo homers and drove in three runs for the up-and-down Indians, who moved within 3 1/2 games of first-place Detroit in the AL Central. Mike Aviles drove in two runs and Michael Bourn scored twice for Cleveland, which has won six of eight after dropping eight in a row.

Unable to get a hit for four innings off Luis Mendoza (2-4), Brantley homered in the fifth and the Indians added three runs in the sixth. Brantley connected again in the eighth.

The Royals won the series opener, but dropped the final two and made some critical mistakes that cost them.

”We feel we gave one away last night,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. ”Tonight was a different story. They just beat us.”

Masterson, as close to an ace as the Indians have in their rotation, is 5-0 in his last six starts at home and has won nine of his past 13 decisions in Cleveland.

”It’s nice,” he said. ”It’s probably because I get to hang out with my wife and daughter before the game. It just seems to work out. I don’t know what the science is behind it. My bad games have all come on the road.”

It wasn’t a certainty he would survive the first few innings as the Royals put two runners on in the first and second but failed to score. Kansas City stranded eight runners in the first five innings and Masterson got a big defensive play by first baseman Mark Reynolds to get out of a pickle in the fourth.

Masterson was lifted in the seventh, and although he was far from dominant, Indians fans gave him a warm ovation as he headed to the dugout.

”Masterson is our ace, no question about it,” Brantley said. ”When our ace throws, we’ve got to win those games. He threw great tonight and kept us in the ballgame and that’s all you can ask.”

The Indians, who have struggled to score lately, didn’t get their first hit off Mendoza until the fifth and then chased the right-hander during their three-run sixth.

With two on and none out, Aviles hit a ball to deep left that probably should have been caught by Alex Gordon, but the two-time Gold Glove winner dropped it, allowing Drew Stubbs to score and tie it at 2.

”It’s a ball that needs to be caught, especially in that situation,” Gordon said. ”It was towards the wall but it was off my glove and I should have caught it. No question. It would have been a big out and could have changed the inning around.”

Jason Kipnis followed with a well-timed bunt single to load the bases and Mendoza threw four straight balls to Carlos Santana, forcing in Bourn with the go-ahead run.

Tim Collins then came in and allowed Brantley’s sacrifice fly that made it 4-2, but after giving up a single, he kept the Royals within two by striking out pinch hitter Ryan Raburn and getting Lonnie Chisenhall on a groundout.

However, the Indians tacked on an insurance run in the seventh when Bourn doubled, stole third and scored on Aviles’ fly ball to right.

Cleveland also got solid relief work from Bryan Shaw, who pitched 1 2-3 scoreless innings.

Mendoza, who had just one win in his previous six starts, coasted through the first four innings, allowing only a two-out walk in the first. He was handling the Indians with ease and appeared in complete control.

The right-hander didn’t make a mistake until Brantley turned on his fastball leading off the fifth, lining a shot into the right-field seats to trim Kansas City’s lead to 2-1.

”The first five innings were about as good as you can get,” Yost said. ”He just kind of fell apart in the sixth after Stubbs got the hit.”

— Associated Press —

Once Vinnie Pestano stopped at third base, he had plenty of company.

Standing within a few feet were two Royals baserunners, two umpires, a Kansas City coach and several teammates screaming at him.

He had no idea being a temporary closer would be this difficult.

Pestano wiggled out of a jam in the ninth inning when Kansas City’s David Lough ran past his third-base coach and failed to score the tying run, giving the Indians a 4-3 win over the Royals on Tuesday night.

”I had every intention of going out there and making it a 1-2-3 inning,” Pestano said. ”But it didn’t happen that way. But at the end of the day no runs were scored and we got the ‘W.”’

Barely.

Michael Brantley’s sacrifice fly capped Cleveland’s three-run eighth inning and the Indians held on through a wild ninth to stun the Royals.

Held to one run and three hits over seven innings by Ervin Santana, the Indians finally strung something together in the eighth off Kelvin Herrera (3-5) and Tim Collins. Michael Bourn and Jason Kipnis delivered RBI hits before Brantley drove in Mike Aviles with the go-ahead run.

Cody Allen (2-0), whose throwing error in the eighth helped the Royals take a 3-1 lead, got the win. Pestano, who is filling as Cleveland’s closer while Chris Perez is on the disabled list, gave up three singles and a walk in the ninth but held on for his second save.

”Never a doubt,” he joked.

The Royals lost for just the third time in 14 games and missed a chance to move over .500 for the first time since May 18.

They probably should have tied it in the ninth when Alcides Escobar singled to right with one out and runners at first and second. But Lough ran past third-base coach Eddie Rodriguez’s stop sign, and got caught in a rundown between home and third.

Lough got back to the bag safely, but Mike Moustakas was also there and was tagged out. It appeared Lough would have scored easily as right fielder Drew Stubbs’ throw was off target.

”I take full responsibility,” said Lough, who is from nearby Akron and had several family members and friend at the game. ”It’s 100 percent my fault.”

Lough nearly made another mistake as he briefly took his hand off the bag and almost got doubled off by Pestano, who got involved in the rundown and tagged Moustakas out. Pestano said the Indians don’t necessarily work on situations where two runners are on the same base.

”Luckily, I had about seven guys shouting at me about what to do so I just chose the thing that I heard twice,” he said with a laugh.

What was he hearing?

”Run it back, run it back,”’ he said. ”’Don’t throw it, don’t throw it. Tag him, tag him, it’s his base.’ I had to process a lot of information.”

Indians manager Terry Francona said he has one basis rule in those situations.

”Tag everybody in sight,” he said. ”Umpire, everybody and hope somebody gets off the bag. It’s confusing. That’s why you tag everybody. They (umpires) can figure it out.”

Pestano settled down after the crazy play and got Eric Hosmer on a groundout with the bases loaded as the Indians got their 10th come-from-behind win.

The Indians did next to nothing against Santana, but they pounced on Kansas City’s bullpen in the eighth.

Ryan Raburn drew a leadoff walk from Herrera, moved up on a groundout and scored when Bourn slapped a single inside the left-field line.

Aviles followed with a single and Kipnis, who stranded seven runners in a 2-1 loss on Monday night, delivered an RBI double off Collins to tie it. The Royals walked Carlos Santana intentionally to load the bases and Brantley hit a fly ball to right, easily scoring Aviles.

Before the comeback, the Indians were in danger of falling another game behind Kansas City in the AL Central.

”I won’t say we needed it, but we wanted it,” Bourn said. ”They took second place over us yesterday and we came back today. Not only that, we want to win those close games like that. Those close games matter.”

Santana deserved a better outcome. The right-hander made it look easy against an Indians lineup that was in a deep offensive funk.

Santana, who pitched the only no-hitter in Progressive Field history in 2011 for the Angels, didn’t allow a runner to reach second base until the sixth and had Cleveland’s hitters guessing most of the night.

”He was spectacular,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

Ubaldo Jimenez’s wildness helped the Royals take a 2-0 lead in the third without benefit of a hit.

He walked No. 9 hitter Escobar and Alex Gordon to start the inning and then uncorked a wild pitch, advancing the runners to second and third. Hosmer followed with an RBI groundout, and with Salvador Perez batting, Jimenez bounced another pitch in the dirt that got away from Santana, scoring Gordon.

The Indians came in leading the AL with 38 wild pitches, 29 of them with Santana behind the plate.

Before the game, manager Terry Francona defended Santana’s ability to block pitches. On Monday night, the Royals scored the go-ahead run in the eighth on a wild pitch from Bryan Shaw that Santana let go through his legs.

Unable to get anything going for the first five innings against Santana, the Indians closed to 2-1 in the sixth on Aviles’ two-out RBI single.

But the Indians gave back an unearned run in the eighth.

Hosmer led off with a comebacker to Allen, who fielded the ball cleanly but fired it past first baseman Mark Reynolds. The ball rolled down the track along the first-base line, and Hosmer hustled into third with a headfirst dive. Perez followed with an RBI single to make it 3-1.

— Associated Press —