Joakim Soria was at his best when the Kansas City Royals needed it most on Saturday night.

Soria worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the 10th and Eric Hosmer doubled home the winning run in the bottom of the inning and the Royals rallied for a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Royals have won four straight to match their season-high winning streak.

The Rays loaded the bases in the 10th with none out, but failed to score.

Rookie Aaron Crow, the Royals’ representative at the All-Star game, began the inning by walking Evan Longoria and B.J. Upton. He was replaced by Soria, who gave up a single to Matt Joyce to load the bases.

Soria (5-3) got Casey Kotchman on a comebacker, forcing out Longoria at home. He struck out pinch hitter Sam Fuld and Elliot Johnson looking to end the 10th.

“You can’t say enough about Soria, the job he did,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “Bases loaded, nobody out and that’s why he’s so great. He doesn’t get flustered. He doesn’t panic. He just continues to make pitches and got us out of it and put us in a spot where we could win. This is probably as excited as I’ve been for a win all year.”

Mike Moustakas, who drove in the first three Kansas City runs, knew Soria was going to work out of the jam.

“When you’ve got a guy on the mound like that everyone on that field is confident.” Moustakas said. “We knew we were going into that dugout still tied. We knew we were going to have a chance to win that game in the bottom of the 10th because we had Jack out there. He does what he does. He’s arguably one of the best closers in the game. He shut it down. He held us there and Hosmer ended up with a big hit and we’re celebrating right now.”

Johnson struck out on three pitches to end the Rays 10th and strand three runners.

“All three (pitches) looked like hard four-seamers with a little baby cut to them,” Johnson said. “Soria looks like he’s throwing a lot harder than he really is. You look up on the scoreboard and see 92 and you think it was harder than that. He made three really good pitches to me. I’ve got to be ready to hit on those. They were way too close to take. I’ve got to take the bat off my shoulder and be ready to hit. I’ve got to do something. I’ve got to try to do something with that pitch and be ready to hit.”

Brandon Gomes (0-1) threw two pitches in the 10th and took the loss. Billy Butler singled to right to lead off the inning. Mike Aviles ran for Butler and scored on Hosmer’s double to left-center.

“I had a pretty good idea it was splitting (the outfielders),” Hosmer said. “With Mikey on first, I was just yelling for him to run, run, run, hoping he would score. I saw he got a good jump off the bat. This is definitely one of the bigger wins for us — to be down to the last out and the next inning first and second with Soria coming in and shutting them down.”

Alex Gordon’s two-out double in the bottom of the ninth scored Alcides Escobar to tie the score at 4-4.

Kyle Farnsworth, who pitched for the Royals the past two seasons, blew his fourth save in 23 attempts.

Desmond Jennings tripled, doubled, scored two runs and drove in a run for the Rays. Jennings, a highly touted prospect who was just recalled from Triple-A Durham, also, walked twice and stole a base.

Jennings led off the game with a triple and scored on Ben Zobrist’s one-out double off Royals left-hander Jeff Francis. The Rays could have added more in the first, but left the bases loaded on Kotchman’s ground out to end the inning.

Jeff Niemann left after six innings, holding the Royals to three runs, two earned, and seven hits, while striking out four and walking none. Niemann is 2-0 with a 1.32 ERA in four July starts.

Johnson tripled to lead off the second and scored on Jennings’ double.

Moustakas, who drove in the first three Kansas City runs, doubled home Butler, who had reached on an Longoria fielding error, and Hosmer, who had singled, to tie the score at 2-2 in the fourth. Moustakas’ sacrifice fly in the sixth scored Hosmer.

Zobrist and Longoria hit back-to-back doubles in the fifth to put the Rays back on top 3-2. With two out in the sixth, Jennings walked and scored on Johnny Damon’s double.

Francis, who is winless in his past seven starts, allowed three runs and nine hits in five innings, while striking out six and walking two.

— Associated Press —

While the Kansas City Royals’ offense was at its best, the momentum changed in the first inning when Luke Hochevar worked out of a big-time mess.

After allowing a run and facing a bases-loaded situation, Hochevar regrouped in the first and helped lead the Royals to a 10-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night. Melky Cabrera had three hits and drove in three runs and Billy Butler homered for the first time in six weeks to pace the offense.

“They load the bases and we got out of it,” Butler said. “In other games, we would not have got out of there with limited damage. That’s a good job by Hoch minimizing the damage and we came in and put some runs up and used that momentum shift for the rest of the game.”

Hochevar (6-8) allowed just one run in the first in what could have been a ruinous inning. He gave up a run on back-to-back doubles by Johnny Damon and Ben Zobrist to open the game and walked Casey Kotchman and Evan Longoria to load the bases with no outs. That prompted a visit to the mound from pitching coach Bob McClure.

Whatever was said appeared to work as Hochevar struck out Matt Joyce. B.J. Upton flied out to right fielder Jeff Francoeur, who threw out Zobrist at the plate for an inning-ending double play. Hochevar retired 11 straight batters after Zobrist’s double to pick up his first victory since June 26.

“I found myself in a jam in the first,” Hochevar said. “You’ve got to find a way to get it done and make quality pitches. I walked two guys in that inning, but then I was just bearing down and making pitches. I pop Upton up and Frenchy makes the catch and an outstanding throw. We’ve been doing that all season.”

That was the Royals’ 19th outfield assist on a runner out at the plate.

“I kind of hit a groove,” Hochevar said after the first. “I felt like I was commanding the ball on both sides of the plate. In the sixth, I fell behind two guys and made two mistakes. That’s what happens when you make mistakes when you’re behind in the count.”

Francoeur went 3 for 5 with an RBI and Eric Hosmer drove in a pair of runs with two hits as every Royals starter had at least one hit and Kansas City finished with 16 overall. The Royals have won three straight, one shy of their season-high longest winning streak.

The Royals scored three runs in the bottom of the first off Rays right-hander Wade Davis (7-7).

Alex Gordon and Cabrera led off the inning with doubles. After one out, Hosmer doubled home Cabrera. Mike Moustakas snapped an 0-for-22 skid with a run-producing single.

“Hoch did a great job on controlling that first inning,” Hosmer said. “It could have got ugly. He buried down and made some good pitches. We came out and had a big first inning. That’s all Hoch needed until that one inning. The bullpen took care of the rest.”

Butler hit his seventh home run in the third inning, his first since June 10 — a span of 116 at-bats. Butler added an RBI single in the Royals’ two-run seventh.

The Royals scored an unearned run in the fifth to hike their lead to 5-1. Francoeur doubled and scored when Moustakas hit a fly to right-center that Upton had in his glove, but right fielder Joyce ran into him and knocked the ball loose for an error.

Longoria and Joyce hit back-to-back home runs in the Rays’ three-run sixth, cutting the lead to 5-4, and chasing Hochevar. He allowed four runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings, walking two, hitting a batter and striking out two.

The Royals countered with three runs in the sixth, which included run-producing two-out singles by Cabrera, Francoeur and Hosmer.

“It was horrible,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “There was nothing we did good at all today. We let that one get away. That was not the Rays out there tonight. That was not us. We made too many mistakes.

“We came out good. Johnny and Ben hit doubles and all of a sudden we have the bases loaded and nobody out and we’ve got a run in, and all we get is one point. We’ve done that a lot. We have to do better than that. We didn’t do anything well tonight. Moving forward that can’t be a part of anything we do.”

Royals rookie Nate Adcock worked the ninth inning, the first time he has pitched since July 1.

— Associated Press —

Alex Gordon informed Kansas City Royals third base coach Eddie Rodriguez he was alert for a wild pitch with two outs in the 11th inning.

Gordon got what he was looking for.

Sergio Santos threw a wild pitch that allowed Gordon to score, giving the Kansas City Royals a 2-1 victory Wednesday night.

Billy Butler swung at a slider in the dirt that got away from catcher A.J. Pierzynski and Gordon raced home and scored with a headfirst slide to give the Royals their 10th win in the final at-bat.

“I told Eddie I knew they were going to pitch Billy tough with splitters and sliders,” Gordon said. “I told him if I get anything close to a wild pitch I’m going. Once I saw it get away from Pierzynski a little bit, I was off.”

Chris Sale (2-1) retired the first two batters before walking Gordon, who went to third on Mitch Maier’s single. Santos then replaced Sale.

The White Sox managed just five hits — four singles and Carlos Quentin’s home run — off starter Bruce Chen and relievers Joakim Soria and Aaron Crow.

“We win that game because of Chen and our bullpen keeps us in the game,” Gordon said. “They really won the game for us.”

Crow (3-2) worked two scoreless innings, allowing one hit, for the victory.

The Royals threatened in the 10th with runners on second and third and two outs, but rookie Mike Moustakas, who is in an 0-for-22 slump, popped up to second baseman Gordon Beckham to end the inning.

White Sox starter John Danks yielded five singles in seven scoreless innings and left with a 1-0 lead that the bullpen failed to hold. Danks walked one, struck out six and did not allow a Royals player to reach third base.

Danks was making his first start since June 25 when he left in the second inning against Washington with a strained right oblique and went on the disabled list. After starting the season 0-8 with a 5.25 earned run average, Danks is 3-0 with a 0.88 ERA in his past five starts.

Royals left-hander Bruce Chen held the White Sox hitless for the first four innings before Quentin led off the fifth with his 19th home run. Quentin hit a 1-0 pitch just a few feet inside the foul pole. Quentin was hit by a pitch from Chen in the second inning. He has been hit by 20 pitches, tops in the American League.

That would be the only run Chen would allow in eight innings. He yielded three singles besides Quentin’s home run, walked two, struck out four and hit three batters.

“Bruce was phenomenal,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He was in and out, changing speeds. Quentin hit a good pitch. He golfed it out.”

The Royals tied the score in the eighth off relievers Matt Thornton and Jesse Crain. Gordon led off the inning with a single, advanced to third on Butler’s single to center and scored on Jeff Francoeur’s double to center with one out. After Eric Hosmer was walked intentionally to load the bases, Crain struck out Brayan Pena. Sale was brought in to face Moustakas, who grounded out to Paul Konerko to end the inning.

The Royals have won two straight, but still have the worst record (40-58) in the American League.

“We’re too good of a team to be 20 games below .500,” Francoeur said.

The White Sox scored only three runs in 20 innings in losing the final two games to the Royals.

“This team is one day we’re good, three days we’re bad,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. “We don’t have any energy in the dugout. … We’re going to Cleveland and the way we’re going there, good luck. We’re wasting our money. That’s all I have to say. That’s the ballclub we have all year long.”

Juan Pierre’s bunt single in the White Sox sixth extended his hitting streak to 12 games, matching his season high.

— Associated Press —

Danny Duffy sat in the Kansas City Royals clubhouse before Tuesday night’s game against the Chicago White Sox and listened to manager Ned Yost challenge his struggling ballclub.

The gist of Yost’s speech was that being 20 games under .500 was simply unacceptable. Small errors were leading to big innings, and the young Royals hadn’t been able to atone for them. Yost needed someone to step up and put together the kind of performance that could give the entire team a significant lift.

Duffy took that talk to heart.

The 22-year-old left-hander went seven stellar innings in his return from Triple-A Omaha, keeping Kansas City in the game long enough for Matt Treanor to deliver a go-ahead two-run single in the sixth inning. The Royals went on to defeat Chicago 4-2 and end a frustrating three-game slide.

“I was really affected by what he said,” said Duffy, who was sent to Omaha during the All-Star break to pitch on regular rest. “We’re playing for more than just this team. We’re playing for the fans.”

Melky Cabrera homered and Alcides Escobar drove in the other run for Kansas City, which came into the game batting .196 while scoring eight total runs during its skid. But with Duffy (2-4) outpitching former Cy Young winner Jake Peavy (4-4), that meager offensive output proved to be just enough.

“He pitched a fantastic game right from the get-go. He was after it all night long,” Yost said. “He did a great job of changing speed, utilizing his curveball effectively and did a nice job of keeping them off-balance.”

Duffy hit the first batter he faced, walked the second on four pitches and allowed both to score. But he settled down after that shaky start and mowed through a lineup that White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen stacked with right-handed hitters for the express purpose of facing the left-handed rookie.

Duffy needed 64 pitches to get through the first three innings — and 30 total over the next four. He allowed five hits and two walks while striking out six, matching the longest start of his blossoming big league career.

“This kid threw strikes. He was good,” Guillen said. “He threw the ball very well. He threw more strikes after the first inning and got more confidence. He’s got a good arm.”

Greg Holland pitched a perfect eighth inning for Kansas City, and Joakim Soria worked around a single in the ninth for his 10th consecutive save and 17th of the season.

Peavy wound up taking the loss in what was still an encouraging performance.

The two-time All-Star had allowed 14 earned runs in 16 1/3 innings over his last three starts, two of them losses and one against Kansas City. Peavy had said he’s been slow to bounce back after surgery about a year ago to repair a torn muscle under his right shoulder, but his command seemed to return against a struggling Royals lineup that has failed to score more than four runs each of its last seven games.

“Everything was a little bit more crisp,” Peavy said. “I didn’t have great stuff, but I had plenty enough stuff to compete. There’s a lot more positive out of this start than there has been the previous three.”

Carlos Quentin and Alex Rios hit consecutive RBI singles in the first to stake Peavy to a 2-0 lead. His only blemish until the sixth inning came when Royals rookie Eric Hosmer singled in the second, Treanor hit a double and Escobar grounded out to drive home a run.

Peavy set the Royals down in order in the fourth and fifth before finally cracking.

Billy Butler singled with one out in the sixth and Jeff Francoeur doubled into the left-field corner to put runners on second and third. After a visit to the mound, Peavy intentionally walked Hosmer to load the bases for Treanor, who came through with a single up the middle to give Kansas City a 3-2 lead.

“It’s never a compliment when they walk someone to get to you,” Treanor said. “I just tried to stay centered mentally and see if I could get a pitch to hit, didn’t try to do too much and put it over the second baseman’s head.”

Cabrera’s two-out homer in the seventh gave the bullpen a bit of breathing room.

While the game turned into a defensive pitcher’s duel, it was a far from a flawless performance. Both teams committed an error and there were numerous baserunning blunders.

The most laughable came in the third inning, when Kansas City’s Alex Gordon got caught between second base and third. He tried to retreat to second and nearly ran into Cabrera, who had been on first and was trying to advance. The White Sox finally tracked down Gordon for the rare 2-4-5-6 caught stealing.

“That play was a mess all the way around,” Yost said.

— Associated Press —

Mark Buerhle lasted seven innings in another impressive start, and the Chicago White Sox capitalized on an error by young shortstop Alcides Escobar to beat the Kansas City Royals 5-2 on a steamy Monday night.

Buehrle (7-5) hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in his last 14 starts going back to April 22, though his modest record doesn’t indicate how well he’s been pitching.

The veteran left-hander, in the final year of a four-year, $56 million contract, allowed five hits while winning for the first time since June 9. Buehrle struck out three and walked one while throwing 111 pitches in 95-degree temperatures. The heat index at Kauffman Stadium was 102 at first pitch.

Buehrle turned it over to Jesse Crain, who worked a perfect eighth inning. Matt Thornton retired the first two batters of the ninth before Sergio Santos wrapped up the win.

Kyle Davies (1-9) pitched about as well as he has all season for Kansas City and still got saddled with his eighth consecutive loss. The hot topic of local talk radio, Davies hasn’t won since beating the Minnesota Twins on April 13 and is 0-3 since going on the disabled list with inflammation in his right rotator cuff.

The beleaguered Royals starter set a career high with nine strikeouts in only 5 1/3 innings on Monday night. But Davies was pulled after 106 pitches when the 24-year-old Escobar threw the ball away while trying to start a double play on a routine grounder with the game tied in the sixth inning.

The ball zipped past second baseman Chris Getz and finally was corralled by first baseman Eric Hosmer, but not before Gordon Beckham and A.J. Pierzynski were standing on second and third.

Mark Teahan followed with a chopping groundout to first base that allowed Pierzynski to score the go-ahead run, and Juan Pierre followed with an RBI double that gave Chicago a 4-2 lead.

Beckham tacked on another run with an RBI groundout in the eighth.

The White Sox (47-49), coming off a 4-3 loss at Detroit on Sunday in which they blew a 3-0 lead, climbed back within two games of .500. Not bad for a club that started the season 11-22.

Kansas City (38-58), meanwhile, dropped a season-worst 20 games below the break-even mark.

Davies gave the Royals a chance, at one point getting seven straight outs with strikeouts. But he also allowed a leadoff triple to Pierre that turned into a run on Alexei Ramirez’s sacrifice fly, and another run in the third when Ramirez singled and came home on Paul Konerko’s double.

The only spot of trouble Buehrle ran into came in the fifth inning, when Melky Cabrera and Billy Butler drove in the Royals’ only runs. Chicago answered with a little help from some balky defense, dooming the Royals to another frustrating defeat in a summer full of them.

— Associated Press —