Jeremy Guthrie won his career-best seventh straight decision, dating to last season, and Alcides Escobar had three hits and an RBI as the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 7-4 Tuesday night.

The Royals, who had not scored in the first two innings in their first seven games, sent nine to the plate in a five-run first. Mike Pelfrey (1-1) gave up hits to the first five batters he faced.

Joe Mauer, Josh Willingham and Eduardo Escobar – the first of his career – each hit solo homers to keep the Twins close.

Guthrie (2-0) improved to 7-0 in his past 13 starts dating to last Aug. 8. Guthrie, who has a 2.37 ERA during the stretch, allowed four runs on six hits, including the three home runs, in 6 2/3 innings.

Greg Holland picked up the save, but not before walking two and giving up a single to Escobar, his third hit, to load the bases. Holland struck out Mauer to end the game, logging his second save in three chances.

After Mauer gave the Twins a 1-0 lead in the first, Alex Gordon and Escobar got things started for the Royals with singles. Billy Butler doubled down the left-field line to score Gordon, Mike Moustakas singled home Escobar, and Salvador Perez doubled home Butler. Eric Hosmer’s groundout scored Moustakas, and Lorenzo Cain’s two-out single scored Perez.

Pelfrey, who made only three starts last season for the New York Mets before needing reconstructive elbow surgery on May 1, was chased after two innings, allowing six runs on eight hits. He went to Wichita Heights High School and Wichita State, about 200 miles from Kauffman Stadium.

Escobar drove in a run in the second to make it 5-2, but Gordon opened the Royals’ half of the second with a triple and scored on Alcides Escobar’s single.

After Willingham’s homer in the third, the Royals scored their final run on Jeff Francoeur’s double that scored Hosmer.

Eduardo Escobar went deep in the fifth to cap the scoring.

The Royals, who had a 12-game losing streak last April, have won three straight and five of six.

— Associated Press —

Royals fans waited almost all afternoon to see some offense. When their team finally built a rally, it came just in time to give Ervin Santana a much-deserved win.

Santana pitched eight strong innings, Alcides Escobar doubled home the go-ahead run and Kansas City beat the Minnesota Twins 3-1 on Monday in its home opener.

“Better later than never,” Santana said. “I know we are going to score runs.”

Santana (1-1), acquired from the Los Angeles Angels on Oct. 31 for minor league left-hander Brandon Sisk, gave up a run and eight singles. He struck out seven, walked one and hit a batter with a pitch.

Santana allowed only four hits after the first inning, when the Twins scored their lone run.

“He really had his big slider working and he had a good fastball, too,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “After the first inning he really settled down. His slider was phenomenal. He was able to throw it at the back foot of their big sluggers and keep them off balance. Giving us eight strong innings was big.”

Twins right-hander Kevin Correia (0-1) limited the Royals to five singles and no runs over the first seven innings before Lorenzo Cain doubled to right-center to open a three-run eighth. After Chris Getz’s sacrifice bunt moved Cain to third, Alex Gordon singled to tie the score.

Escobar’s double scored Gordon and knocked Correia out of the game. Jared Burton gave up a run-scoring single to Billy Butler, who tied a club record with seven RBIs on Sunday in Philadelphia.

“Correia did a good job getting us to hit on top of the ball and hitting ground balls,” Yost said. “In the eighth he got some pitches up and we were able to get some runs. These guys just keep plugging away. They have the confidence that they’re going to hit.”

Correia took the loss after giving up three runs and eight hits in 7 1-3 innings.

“I made a couple bad pitches,” he said. “I got behind on (Cain) and I didn’t want to walk him. I threw a middlish pitch that he got enough of to get it in the gap. The pitch to Gordon, I tried to throw a fastball and it ran back over the middle.”

The Royals, who had the best spring training record in the majors, won their first home opener since 2008 when they beat the New York Yankees 5-2.

“It means a lot,” Yost said. “Last year there was as much excitement, but we were down seven after three innings. We wanted to show our fans some exciting baseball. We wanted them to see in person what they have been reading about. We’re very happy to win the home opener in front of a sellout crowd.”

Aaron Crow worked the ninth to earn his first save of the season and the third of his career – two against the Twins. His previous save came July 21 against Minnesota. The Royals, who have come from behind to win three straight games, have three saves from three different pitchers this season.

Crow walked Chris Parmelee with one out, but coaxed Brian Dozier to bounce into a game-ending double play.

“The decision was easy,” Yost said. “(Greg) Holland and (Kelvin) Herrera were unavailable. It’s too early in the season for them to be pitching three days in a row. Aaron’s an All-Star. I don’t like to say it, but he’s one of the big four we’ve got out there, with Holland and Herrera and (Tim) Collins. I’ve got confidence in any one of those four closing the game.”

Joe Mauer scored on Ryan Doumit’s two-out single in the first for the only Minnesota run. It was the first time this season the Twins scored first after being outscored 9-1 in the first two innings during their first six games.

The Twins bunched four singles in the first inning, but managed just the one run after Doumit ended the inning by being thrown out scrambling to get back to second base after Justin Morneau stopped at third on Trevor Plouffe’s single.

— Associated Press —

Billy Butler hit a grand slam that was confirmed by video review and tied a Royals franchise record with seven RBIs, and Kansas City held on for a 9-8 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday.

Butler’s fifth-inning homer, the first slam of his career and the first ever allowed by Philadelphia left-hander Cole Hamels, put Kansas City ahead 6-4.

James Shields (1-1), acquired in an offseason trade with Tampa Bay, earned his first victory as a Royal. The right-hander gave up hits to five of the first six batters in a four-run first inning, but settled down to blank the Phillies for the next five innings on five hits while striking out eight and walking none.

Butler came through with the bases loaded again in the sixth, hitting a two-run single off Chad Durbin. With the hit, Butler became the 12th Royals player have seven RBIs.

Chris Getz opened the fifth with a double to right, Alex Gordon reached on an infield single and Alcides Escobar walked to load the bases and set up Butler.

Hamels (0-2) appeared visibly upset throughout the inning, perhaps disagreeing with some close balls and strikes calls by home-plate umpire Eric Cooper. His mood didn’t improve when Butler launched a 1-0 fastball just over the metal fence that tops the green padded wall in left field. The ball hit off a wall behind the field wall and bounced back into play.

The umpires originally ruled that the ball hit off the top of the wall before going to replay to confirm that it was a homer.

The Phillies looked on their way to the loss trailing 9-4 entering the ninth before rallying.

Jimmy Rollins hit a three-run homer to right off J.C. Gutierrez. Greg Holland relieved Gutierrez with one out in the ninth. He got Chase Utley to pop out to center before singles by Ryan Howard and Michael Young, who had four hits, put runners on first and second with two outs.

Kansas City manager Ned Yost then lifted Holland, who blew the save in Saturday’s 4-3 loss to Philadelphia, and replaced him with right-hander Kelvin Herrera to face pinch-hitter Laynce Nix.

Nix singled home Howard to pull Philadelphia to 9-8 and Young and Nix advanced to second and third on a wild pitch. But Herrera struck out Erik Kratz in a nine-pitch at-bat to earn his first save.

The Phillies struck out 14 times Sunday.

Hamels struggled for the second straight start, allowing eight runs on nine hits with four walks and two strikeouts in 5 2-3 innings. Hamels opened the season by giving up five runs on seven hits in five innings in Philadelphia’s 7-5 season-opening loss at Atlanta last Monday night. The three-time All-Star has a 10.97 ERA after two starts.

Hamels looked on his way to an easy sixth inning with two outs and Shields batting, but the Royals pitcher lined a single to right. Gordon followed with a double to right, moving Shields to third and prompting Phillies manager Charlie Manuel to lift his ace for Durbin. The right-handed reliever walked Escobar to load the bases before Butler laced a single to left-center to plate two.

Ben Revere had three hits for Philadelphia, and Gordon had three hits for Kansas City.

— Associated Press —

Pinch-hitter Kevin Frandsen hit a bases-clearing, three-run double with two outs in the ninth off closer Greg Holland to lift the Phillies to a 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night in front of the smallest crowd in Philadelphia in four years.

The Phillies had just two hits and trailed 3-1 to start the inning. Holland (0-1) walked Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Michael Young to load the bases. He then struck out Domonic Brown swinging and fanned John Mayberry Jr. looking.

But Frandsen ripped a first-pitch fastball to right-center to knock in all three runners. Young slid in safely well ahead of the throw and the dugout emptied as players mobbed Frandsen.

Royals starter Luis Mendoza threw six stellar innings, and the Royals’ bullpen went into the ninth with seven hitless innings in the series.

Antonio Bastardo (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the win. John Lannan was sharp in his Phillies debut. He allowed three runs and five hits, striking out five in seven innings.

Mendoza allowed one run and two hits, striking out seven.

The Phillies are 2-3 and were looking more like the team that went 81-81 last year after winning five straight NL East titles from 2007-11.

Then came the ninth-inning rally. There weren’t many fans left to witness it, however.

A crowd of 39,475 at Citizens Bank Park was the first under 40,000 since April 29, 2009, when 36,351 came out for a game against Washington. The Phillies led the majors in attendance each of the last two seasons.

Lannan was cruising along with a no-hitter until the fifth. He hit Lorenzo Cain with a pitch to start the inning and Jeff Francoeur followed with a double down the left field line. Miguel Tejada drove in a run with a groundout to second base and Elliot Johnson singled in a run for a 2-0 lead.

Making just their third-ever trip to Philadelphia, the Royals will try to win the rare interleague series Sunday afternoon. They last played here in 2004.

The Phillies beat Kansas City to win the 1980 World Series and claim the franchise’s first of two championships. They clinched the title with a victory in Game 6 at old Veterans Stadium.

Lannan retired the first nine batters he faced before Alex Gordon reached on second baseman Utley’s fielding error in the fourth. Lannan spent his first six seasons with Washington. He was signed as a free agent by the Phillies not for his performance against them. Lannan was 3-13 with a 5.53 ERA against the Phillies. He entered the game 39-39 with a 3.80 ERA against the rest of the majors.

The Phillies cut it to 2-1 when Ben Revere lined an RBI single off third baseman Tejada’s glove with two outs in the bottom half.

Francoeur led off the seventh with a double to right-center and Tejada followed with a double down the right-field line to make it 3-1.

— Associated Press —

Once the Kansas City Royals started hitting, they piled it on.

Alex Gordon and Chris Getz each hit a bases-loaded triple and the Royals rallied to beat Philadelphia 13-4 Friday, spoiling the Phillies’ home opener.

The interleague matchup was a rare one between teams that first met in the 1980 World Series – the Royals’ only other visit to Philadelphia came in 2004.

After getting a total of 17 hits in their first three games against the Chicago White Sox, the Royals had 19 against the Phillies. Eric Hosmer was 4 for 5 with three RBIs, and the Royals overcame a 4-0 deficit to surge past Kyle Kendrick and the Phillies.

”We’ve been struggling with the bats,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. ”It was a matter of time until we broke out.”

Breakout is an understatement. The Royals got 17 hits and 13 runs in the last five innings.

”They put us in a hole, but the offense stepped up,” Hosmer said. ”Gordon got the big hit and the offense took a load off our shoulders after that.”

Domonic Brown and Erik Kratz hit solo homers for the Phillies, who are off to a 1-3 start.

Bruce Chen (1-0) struck out two in a perfect fifth in relief of Wade Davis to earn the win. Davis allowed four runs and nine hits in four innings in his first start for Kansas City.

Four Royals relievers combined to toss five hitless innings.

”Our bullpen was fantastic, all of them,” Yost said.

Kendrick (0-1) gave up five runs and eight hits in 5 2-3 innings. He cruised through the first four innings, giving up only two hits.

”It’s disappointing,” Kendrick said. ”They got some hits. I’m not worried at all. It got away from us.”

Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt and George Brett, rivals when the Phillies beat the Royals to win their first championship 33 years ago, threw out the first pitches.

Schmidt was the MVP of the ’80 Series. He capped it off by leaping on pitcher Tug McGraw after the lefty threw strike three past Willie Wilson to clinch Game 6 and set off a wild celebration at old Veterans Stadium.

Looking to return to the postseason after their streak of five straight NL East titles ended last year when they finished 81-81, the Phillies will need better pitching. Cole Hamels and Roy Halladay were roughed up by Atlanta in the first two games, and Kendrick unraveled after four strong innings.

Hosmer hit a two-run single with two outs in the fifth to cut the deficit to 4-2.

The Royals also rallied with two outs in the sixth. Getz hit a double to put runners at second and third. Pinch-hitter Billy Butler was intentionally walked to load the bases. Jeremy Horst replaced Kendrick and Gordon greeted him with a bases-clearing triple to right-center that put the Royals ahead 5-4.

”We knew we didn’t swing the bats great in Chicago,” Gordon said. ”We just kind of moved on. We never lost confidence in our offense. We came in here confident.”

Getz hit his bases-clearing triple off Chad Durbin in the seventh. Brown helped him out with an ill-advised diving attempt on the liner to left. The ball fell in and rolled all the way to the warning track.

Alcides Escobar hit a solo homer off Raul Valdes to make it 10-4 in the eighth.

A sellout crowd of 45,307 at Citizens Bank Park hoped to enjoy a victory on a comfortable, 64-degree late afternoon. The pregame festivities included a mini-parade that led players into the ballpark from the street behind the stands in left-center field.

With their furry green mascot, the Phillie Phanatic, first in line, the players and coaches walked in, mingled with the crowd and high-fived fans lined up along the red carpet in the outfield.

Then the hitters gave them something to cheer at the start.

Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard lined consecutive one-out singles in the first for a 1-0 lead.

Brown hit a towering drive out to right in the second. One out later, Kratz lined one out to left for a 3-0 lead. Kendrick followed with a liner off the wall in left, barely missing his first career homer by about 2 feet.

Kendrick slowly jogged to first, admiring his drive and held up for a long single much to the amusement of Howard and his fellow starting pitchers who pointed and laughed from the dugout.

Utley doubled to left-center in the third, stole third and scored on Howard’s line-drive single to right.

Davis, acquired from Tampa Bay along with James Shields, made his first start since 2011. He made 54 relief appearances for the Rays last year after 58 starts from 2010-11.

— Associated Press —