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Category: Professional

Missouri Western Board approves Chiefs contract for 2018

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ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Missouri Western State University Board of Governors formally approved a contract Tuesday with the Kansas City Chiefs to keep the NFL team’s training camp in St. Joseph this year.

According to a press release, the contract, which formalizes the agreement Missouri Western and the Chiefs announced in January, also includes an option for an additional one-year extension that would cover training camp in 2019.

“We are quite proud of our relationship with the Chiefs, and we’re pleased to welcome them back this summer, and we hope for many years to come,” said Dr. Robert Vartabedian, Missouri Western’s president.

Under the agreement, the Chiefs and Missouri Western agree to cost-reducing measures related to rental equipment and labor expenses. Other conditions of the 2015 contract amendment and the original 2009 contract remain in place.

“We are pleased that the Missouri Western Board of Governors approved the contract agreement that we reached early in 2018,” Chiefs President Mark Donovan said. “The entire Missouri Western community and the city of St. Joseph have fully embraced Chiefs training camp and have provided our team with tremendous facilities and service for almost a full decade. We are very excited for the upcoming season and know our fans are going to enjoy getting their first glimpse of the 2018 team on the campus of Missouri Western this summer.”

The Chiefs have held training camp on the campus of Missouri Western every year since 2010, when the club returned its training camp to the state of Missouri for the first time in 20 years. The 2018 version of Chiefs Training Camp will mark the ninth year at Missouri Western.

The Chiefs expect to announce this year’s training camp schedule next month.

Royals lose series opener against Minnesota 8-5

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Miguel Sano belted a two-run homer, Eddie Rosario hit a three-run double and the Minnesota Twins snapped a four-game skid with an 8-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.

Lance Lynn (3-4) pitched six effective innings to win his second consecutive start after a dreadful stretch in his first season with the Twins.

Sano extended his hitting streak against the Royals to 15 games. He is batting .373 with six home runs and 26 RBI in those 15 games.

The slugger drove a 1-1 pitch from Jakob Junis out to center field with Brian Dozier aboard in the fifth inning.

Rosario drilled a three-run double in the eighth off Burch Smith. Dozier’s sixth-inning single scored Mitch Garver, who added a two-run double in the ninth.

Lynn allowed two runs and six hits. He’s given up two runs and 11 hits over 12 2/3 innings in his past two outings.

The right-hander worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the second by striking out Alcides Escobar and retiring Ramon Torres on a grounder. The Royals went 4 for 19 with runners in scoring position and stranded 12 overall.

Fernando Rodney got four outs for his 11th save in 14 chances. He gave up a ninth-inning homer to Jorge Soler.

Jon Jay had four hits for Kansas City, including three doubles, to extend his hitting streak to 10 games.

Junis (5-4) permitted three runs on six hits and walked a career-high four. He struck out seven.

The Royals tied it at 2 in the fifth when Mike Moustakas’ double scored Jay and Whit Merrifield, who walked.

Kansas City got two runs in the eighth. Zach Duke’s throwing error on Jay’s bunt single allowed Escobar to score. Merrifield’s single knocked in Torres with the second run.

NOT SO SWEET AT HOME

The Royals have lost 19 of 26 at Kauffman Stadium.

ROSTER MOVES

Twins: Claimed INF Taylor Motter off waivers from Seattle. Motter has a .197 batting average in 132 games over three major league seasons with the Mariners and Rays. He will report to Triple-A Rochester.

Royals: RHP Scott Barlow was recalled from Triple-A Omaha, where he was 1-1 with a 3.94 ERA in seven games. LHP Eric Stout, who yielded two homers and three runs in one-third of an inning Sunday at Texas, was optioned to Omaha.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: RHP Ervin Santana (right middle finger surgery) will make his second minor league rehab start Tuesday for Class A Fort Myers. . 1B Joe Mauer (neck strain) has been taking batting practice and grounders at Target Field. “He hasn’t had any setbacks,” manager Paul Molitor said. “We don’t want to get too excited about the potential of him being ready sooner than later.” Mauer could be activated Thursday when the Twins return home.

Royals: LHP Eric Skoglund (Grade 1 UCL strain) was relieved after an MRI revealed he won’t need Tommy John surgery. “They said the UCL looks strong, it was just the fluid buildup,” Skoglund said. “It’s exciting news that nothing was going on with the UCL. Just kind of get strong now in that area and let that fluid get out and get back to work. I was freaking out when I was in Texas. It wasn’t a good feeling, especially when I found out it (surgery) was a possibility.”

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Kyle Gibson, a Missouri product, is 6-4 with a 3.46 ERA in 16 career starts against the Royals.

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy is coming off his best outing of the year, when he allowed one run in a season-high 7 2/3 innings to beat the Rangers.

— Associated Press —

Cardinals fall at Milwaukee Monday 8-3

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MILWAUKEE (AP) — With Jesus Aguilar hitting so well, Ryan Braun walked into manager Craig Counsell’s office with the unusual request of asking to be dropped lower in the Milwaukee batting order.

Counsell obliged, and the move paid immediate dividends.

Jonathan Villar and Christian Yelich homered, while Braun had three hits to lead the Brewers to an 8-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday.

“To this point in the season I’ve really been unlucky hitting third, so maybe you move to fifth and it changes the luck a little bit,” said Braun, who is batting .245 in 42 games.

Braun, dropped those two spots in the lineup, went 3 for 3 with a double, two singles and an intentional walk while scoring three times. It was the first time Braun batted lower than fourth in the lineup since Sept. 23, 2014 at Cincinnati, when he was batting fifth.

Aguilar took over at first base when Eric Thames went on the disabled list April 25 and is batting .315 with nine home runs and 30 RBI, hitting third while Braun was on the disabled list with a back injury. Braun returned from the DL on Thursday, and the stats prompted him to suggest to Counsell to leave the slugging Aguilar in the third spot.

“I didn’t know if he (Counsell) was going to be hesitant, or afraid to bring it up, like he might offend me or something,” Braun said. “So I went in there yesterday and said things are going so well, obviously Aggie’s swinging the bat so well, offensively the team’s in a good place, I think it makes a lot of sense to leave him there.”

Milwaukee starter Brent Suter (5-3) allowed three runs in five innings, but hit a two-run double in the fourth that gave Milwaukee a 4-0 lead. Milwaukee won for the 10th time in 12 games.

St. Louis starter Luke Weaver (3-5) lost his third consecutive start, allowing four runs on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts in four innings.

“You try to find the positives in any type of failure situation, and I feel like I’ve been strong, I’ve made some good pitches, though some statistics or whatever might not show up in a positive way,” Weaver said.

The Brewers were shut out 5-0 by the Mets on Thursday. Since then, they’ve scored 37 runs in four games, all victories.

Milwaukee broke open the game in the seventh inning. With two outs and Yelich on second, the Cardinals intentionally walked Braun to face Villar. The second baseman hit the second pitch from Brent Cecil into the Milwaukee bullpen for an 8-3 lead.

“We had a good offensive day today, a bunch of innings where we put pressure on (Weaver) and we came through in a couple of those situations,” Counsell said.

Yelich hit his sixth homer, singled, stole two bases and scored twice.

Yairo Munoz hit his first major-league homer in the fifth, a two-run shot, and Matt Carpenter hit his sixth, a solo shot, later in the inning to pull the Cardinals within 4-3.

IN THE CLUTCH

The Brewers scored all eight runs with two outs, going 4 for 11 with runners in scoring position. St. Louis was 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position. “The guys are working hard, going about their at-bats, and some days we score runs and some days we don’t,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: OF Dexter Fowler was not in the starting lineup for the second consecutive game after being hit in the right knee with a pitch from Pittsburgh’s Trevor Williams. RHP Alex Reyes, who struck out 44 in 23 innings while allowing no runs and seven hits in four minor-league rehab starts, will make his first start since 2016 on Wednesday in Milwaukee. Reyes underwent Tommy John surgery in February 2017.

Brewers: Suter took a line drive from Harrison Bader off his chest in the second inning, but recovered to make the throw to first for the out. “I’ve actually taken one off the head before,” he said. “I was kind of trying to make sure my face was protected and it hit my chest. It’s one of those scary moments in baseball.”

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Michael Wacha (5-1, 2.88 ERA) will be on the mound in the middle game of the series. He has held opponents to two runs or less in each of his last seven starts.

Brewers: RHP Zach Davies (2-4, 4.74) will make his second start since coming off the disabled list Thursday. He was the losing pitcher in the Cardinals’ 8-4 win on April 2 at Miller Park.

— Associated Press —

Royals hang on to win series finale at Texas 5-3

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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jason Hammel is starting to look more like the pitcher who won 15 games with the World Series champion Chicago Cubs two years ago. On Sunday, he was helped by a bullpen that had just enough to deliver the win.

Hammel struck out 10, Drew Butera and Salvador Perez homered, and the Kansas City Royals held on to beat the Texas Rangers 5-3.

Hammel pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings. He gave up four hits, including three doubles, and two walks.

“A tip of the cap to the bullpen for coming in and covering those innings,” Hammel said. “For a very aggressive team like that, you can get quick outs and get deep into a game if you can execute early.”

Perez and Butera each homered off Cole Hamels (3-5), who allowed five runs on eight hits and three walks in 6 1/3 innings with a season-low two strikeouts.

Hammel (2-5) left with runners on the corners and one out. Jurickson Profar grounded into an inning-ending double play on Tim Hill’s second pitch.

Kelvin Herrera, the last of five Royals relievers, pitched a scoreless ninth inning after allowing a leadoff single for his 11th save in 12 chances.

When Hammel held St. Louis to one run in seven innings to win last Wednesday, it ended a string of 13 winless starts for the 35-year-old. He went into Sunday’s game leading the American League in hits allowed with 71.

“His record doesn’t indicate the way he’s pitched,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “Days that he’s gotten beat, it’s been on two or three pitches. He’s been around the plate extremely consistently the last two.”

The Rangers’ runs came on seventh-inning homers by Joey Gallo, his 15th of the season with one on, and Robinson Chirinos, his seventh.

Texas went 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position, 0 for 7 during the first three innings. In the eighth inning, Jason Adam put runners on the corners with one out before striking out Gallo and getting Rougned Odor to pop to third.

“It’s about being able to calm yourself down, put together a quality at-bat,” Texas manager Jeff Banister said. “But today, Hammel, their guy, I thought made some quality pitches in those situations.”

SELF-INFLICTED TEXAS HEAT

Hamels didn’t allow more than two earned runs in any of his previous five starts. He blamed himself for not having adequate “mound presence” Sunday, not moving on and forgetting the previous batter.

“Haven’t had games like that in a while where you let the emotions get the best of you,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll probably have to issue some apologies for the language that I was probably using. I’ll probably deal with that with my father.”

HAPPY HOMECOMING

Royals rookie Hunter Dozier, who grew up about 45 miles north of Globe Life Park in Denton, Texas, had a two-out, two-run single in the first inning. The 2013 first-round draftee had his third straight multihit game and first multi-RBI game.

“This is a dream come true,” said Dozier, who’s playing first base with Lucas Duda on the disabled list. “It was cool I was able to make this trip, see the family and stay at home.”

SHORT HOPS

Jon Jay has hit in nine straight games and 18 of his last 19. … Nomar Mazara’s two-out walk in the bottom of the first was the first issued by Hammel in 62 consecutive batters. … Hamels’ 11 combined hits and walks were his most this season. … Shin-Soo Choo extended his on-base streak to 14 games.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: With LHP Eric Skoglund (left UCL sprain) placed on the 10-day disabled list Saturday, rookie RHP Brad Keller will make his first major league start Wednesday vs. Minnesota.

Rangers: LHP Matt Moore (right knee) will be activated off the 10-day DL and start Wednesday at Seattle.

UP NEXT

Royals RHP Jakob Junis (5-3) has 14 wins in his first 30 career appearances, tied for the most in franchise history with Rich Gale (1978) and Jose Rosado (1996-97).

Rangers RHP Doug Fister (1-4) has allowed 15 earned runs in his last four starts, raising his ERA from 2.88 to a season-high 4.22.

— Associated Press —

St. Louis rallies past Pittsburgh 6-4

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PITTSBURGH (AP) — Harrison Bader stepped to the plate with a chance to pull the St. Louis Cardinals even knowing the heat Pittsburgh closer Felipe Vazquez was going to send his way.

So Bader dug in and swung as Vazquez’s 99 mph fastball ran in on his hands. When it dropped for a single in the eighth inning, the game was tied. Moments later, Vazquez’s control abandoned him and the Cardinals were on their way to a 6-4 victory over the slumping Pirates on Sunday.

“Obviously, it was pretty firm,” Bader said. “It was just working inside the baseball and I got enough on it to just muscle it out there. That was a good one.”

The Cardinals won for just the fourth time in 19 games when trailing after seven innings by pouncing on Pittsburgh’s bullpen. Jedd Gyorko’s pinch-hit, two-run single off Edgar Santana in the seventh pulled St. Louis within one.

The Cardinals quickly loaded the bases off Michael Feliz (0-2) and the Pirates brought in Vazquez with one out in the eighth. Bader dumped the fourth pitch he saw from Vazquez just over the outstretched hands of second baseman Sean Rodriguez. Vazquez walked Yairo Munoz on four pitches to hand St. Louis the lead and the Cardinals added another run when Carson Kelly bounced into a fielder’s choice.

“It happens fast, but it just shows you that hitting is always contagious,” Bader said. “You just do your best to pass the baton to the next guy. It was a really good team win. I wouldn’t be in that situation if it wasn’t for the guys in the game previous, what they did to allow me to have success up there.”

Vazquez has blown three straight save opportunities for the Pirates, who have dropped seven of nine. Director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said afterward that Vazquez experienced left forearm discomfort after his final two pitches. Vazquez was not available postgame and will be re-evaluated Monday.

“We haven’t seen him in this lane before as far as being inconsistent with the command, especially the fastball,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said before Vazquez was examined by the training staff. “It’s been something that’s really been in a good place. We’ll keep hunting it and so will he.”

Sam Tuivailala (1-0) picked up the win with a scoreless seventh. Bud Norris worked a perfect ninth for his 11th save.

Matt Carpenter went 2 for 4 for St. Louis and is hitting .422 (19 of 45) since May 16.

Rookie Austin Meadows continued his torrid start for the Pirates, going 2 for 3 to boost his average to .455 since making his major league debut on May 16. Adam Frazier hit a two-run triple off Miles Mikolas in the fifth, but Pittsburgh’s relievers couldn’t hold a 4-1 advantage after 6 1/3 solid innings by Jameson Taillon.

Taillon was charged with three runs when Gyorko’s looping fly ball to left off Santana fell for a hit in the seventh. Taillon allowed just five hits and struck out five but remains winless since April 8 as the Pirates lost for the first time all season when leading after seven innings (23-1).

The Cardinals’ comeback helped Mikolas avoid his first major league loss in nearly four years. Relying heavily on impeccable control after spending two seasons in Japan, Mikolas has been one of the biggest surprises in the majors and came in off a four-hit shutout against Kansas City that served notice his hot start was hardly a fluke.

He had little trouble through the first four innings before a rare walk opened the door for the Pirates in the fifth. Elias Diaz led off with just the seventh walk issued by Mikolas this season. Jordy Mercer followed with a single before Frazier wore him down, fouling off six pitches before sending a shot over Tommy Pham in center field to drive in Mercer and Diaz. Meadows followed with a sacrifice fly.

Mikolas tied a season high by allowing four runs in six innings as his ERA ticked up to 2.54.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: Held OF Dexter Fowler out of the lineup a day after Fowler took a 91 mph pitch off the right knee from Pittsburgh’s Trevor Williams. … Bench coach Mike Shildt suffered a head contusion after getting hit by a foul ball off the bat of Pittsburgh’s Starling Marte while sitting in the dugout in the first inning. Shildt returned in the third inning after receiving treatment.

Pirates: Scratched C Francisco Cervelli due to flu-like symptoms. … The team will wait at least one more day before deciding whether Ivan Nova’s sprained left index finger is bad enough to put him on the disabled list. General manager Neal Huntington said left-hander Steven Brault or rookie right-hander Nick Kingham are the top options if Nova is out.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Head to Milwaukee to take on the first-place Brewers on Monday. Luke Weaver (3-4, 4.31 ERA) starts in the opener.

Pirates: Host the Chicago Cubs for three games starting Monday. Chad Kuhl (4-2, 4.20 ERA) starts the opener. Kuhl is 1-4 with an 8.23 ERA in seven career starts against the Cubs.

— Associated Press —

Royals lose to Texas in 10 innings on Choo’s walk-off HR

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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Bartolo Colon didn’t make history Saturday for the Texas Rangers, but his teammate Shin-Soo Choo did.

Choo became the top major league home run hitter born in Asia, connecting for a leadoff drive in the 10th inning that lifted the Rangers over the Kansas City Royals 4-3 on Saturday.

The South Korea native’s 176th career homer moved him past Hideki Matsui for the most by an Asian player.

“My dad told me when I was young, ‘Always first. You need to be first. In sports, people think about the first person,'” Choo said. “I remembered that.”

Choo hit a 3-1 pitch from Kevin McCarthy (3-2) the opposite way into the Royals bullpen for his eighth home run this year. It was his third career walk-off homer and first in five seasons with the Rangers.

“With a 3-1 count, I’m just looking for one pitch in one area, and try to swing hard,” Choo said.

Alex Claudio (3-2) got the win by working the 10th inning.

Colon, pitching two days after his 45th birthday, threw a season-high 102 pitches and gave up five hits in seven innings for Texas. He remained stuck on 242 career wins and will have to wait at least one more start to tie Juan Marichal for most wins by a native of the Dominican Republic.

In 97-degree heat, Colon allowed four hits during a three-run third. He gave up just two runners over the other six innings and struck out four.

“The most important thing is that we won,” Colon said through an interpreter. “If I didn’t win, that’s fine. I don’t think that much about [tying Marichal]. If it comes, it will come.”

The Royals did their only damage against Colon by getting to him early in counts in the third. After Hunter Dozier beat out an infield single, Alcides Escobar and Jon Jay each singled on the first pitch they saw, scoring one run.

Whit Merrifield then hit a 1-0 pitch into the left-field corner for a two-run double.

“[Colon’s] been around the league for a long time for a reason,” Merrifield said. “He doesn’t miss over the plate a whole lot, and when he does you’ve got to take advantage of it. We did a couple times.”

The Rangers tied it with runs in the third, fourth and sixth innings. Ronald Guzman, who had homered in his previous four starts, tied it with a two-out double off reliever Brad Keller.

Royals starter Ian Kennedy gave up five hits and two runs in five innings and hasn’t won since April 7, a stretch of nine consecutive starts.

CALLING THE SHOT

Joey Gallo had an RBI double and a key stolen base that led to the tying run, but his most impressive feat might have been calling Choo’s walk-off.

“Choo is one of the best hitters I’ve seen, the way he takes his at-bats every day,” Gallo said. “I went into the dugout and I said, ‘He’s going to hit a bomb.”’ I could just feel it with him because his swing has been so good lately.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: LHP Eric Skoglund, who started Friday night, was put on the disabled list with a left elbow sprain. He is likely to have an MRI on Monday. Kansas City called up LHP Eric Stout from Omaha for his second stint with the club this year. … Manager Ned Yost said Lucas Duda would remain on the disabled list, even though he’s eligible to come off, as he battles plantar fasciitis in his right foot.

Rangers: SS Elvis Andrus has started swinging a bat as he recovers from a fractured right elbow suffered on April 11. Andrus took dry swings Saturday and hopes to be taking batting practice by the end of next week. … LHP Matt Moore threw another bullpen session Saturday. He is on the disabled list with a sore right knee.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Jason Hammel (1-5, 5.70) takes the mound Sunday in the series finale. Hammel won for the first time in 2018 by holding the Cardinals to one run over seven innings Tuesday.

Rangers: LHP Cole Hamels (3-4, 3.38) starts Sunday for Texas. The lefty has won his last two starts, allowing just five hits in 13 innings against the Astros and Yankees.

— Associated Press —

Flaherty shines again, Cardinals topple Pirates 4-1

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PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jack Flaherty’s first win in the big leagues sent a message that the St. Louis Cardinals rookie wants to be a part of his team’s recalibrated rotation. His second victory was just as impressive for an entirely different reason.

The swing-and-miss stuff that overwhelmed Philadelphia last weekend gone, the 22-year-old instead worked six efficient innings to lift the Cardinals by the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1 on Saturday.

Flaherty (2-1) fanned just four batters but didn’t allow a runner past second base after giving up a home run to Starling Marte in the bottom of the first, a stark contrast from his dazzling performance against the Phillies last Sunday when his 13 strikeouts tied a franchise rookie record.

No matter, it was just as effective.

“Strikeouts come, and I happened to have 13 last time,” Flaherty said. “I don’t try to force them. If you can take a groundout and gets quick outs, you take them.”

Marte turned on a slider and sent it 447 feet into a fence beyond the bullpens in center in his return from a stint on the disabled list with a right oblique injury. His signature pitch not as crisp as it was against Philadelphia, Flaherty instead kept the Pirates off balance with an effective mix that Pittsburgh couldn’t seem to figure out.

“It’s good to see a young pitcher who knows he might not have a certain pitch that day be able to adjust,” St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said. “He has a lot of weapons, too, and that helps.”

Bud Norris worked a perfect ninth for his 10th save. Matt Carpenter finished 2 for 5, including a blast off Trevor Williams (5-3) leading off the game that cleared the right-field seats. Jose Martinez added three hits for the Cardinals, who bounced back from their most lopsided loss of the season on Friday night to topple the Pirates for the first time in five tries this season.

Williams lasted just four innings and 65 pitches, his shortest start of the season. The right-hander gave up four runs on seven hits with three walks as the Pirates lost for the sixth time in their last eight games.

“We were going for the edges and stuff was leaking out over the plate,” Williams said. “It was inconsistency at the corners. It was one of those days where my stuff had to be on and unfortunately it wasn’t.”

Williams has been Pittsburgh’s most consistent starter during the opening two months of the season but struggled from the outset. He only retired the Cardinals in order once, giving up Carpenter’s long drive in the first, an RBI single to Martinez in the third and a sacrifice fly by Francisco Pena and a run-scoring single by Yairo Munoz in the fourth. His four innings of work marked his briefest outing since he pitched just three innings in a loss to St. Louis last August.

“He’s going to see them again in five days,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “That was enough. Try to hold them to four and go on. He’ll bounce back fine.”

MEADOWS STICKS

Pittsburgh rookie outfielder Austin Meadows earned a longer initial stay in the majors than anticipated after hitting .448 (13 for 29) with three home runs while filling in for Marte. The Pirates opted to send utility player Jose Osuna back to Triple-A Indianapolis instead of Meadows, who will serve as the fourth outfielder for the time being.

“I didn’t really know what was going to happen to be honest with you,” Meadows said. “I’m going to go out there and help the team win, play hard out there and show them what I can do. I’m just going to stick to that and we’ll see what happens down the road.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: OF Dexter Fowler left the game in the fourth inning after being hit in the right knee with a 91 mph fastball by Williams. The Cardinals said X-rays on the knee were negative. Fowler said the knee was sore and he will be re-evaluated on Sunday. … Matheny said RHP Alex Reyes (Tommy John surgery) will make his first major league appearance since 2016 on Wednesday when St. Louis plays Milwaukee. Reyes missed all of last season after having reconstructive elbow surgery in February 2017.

Pirates: RHP Ivan Nova is dealing with a sprained left index finger and could be placed on the disabled list. Nova, who is 0-4 with a 7.61 ERA in May, is scheduled to start on Tuesday against the Chicago Cubs. Nick Kingham will likely start in Nova’s place if Nova is unavailable.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Miles Mikolas (6-0, 2.24 ERA) starts the series finale on Sunday. Mikolas threw his first career shutout in a 6-0 victory over Kansas City in his last start.

Pirates: Jameson Taillon (2-4, 4.56) will look for his first win since April 9 on Sunday. Taillon is 0-4 with a 5.83 ERA in his last eight starts.

— Associated Press —

Royals three-game win streak ends with 8-4 loss at Texas

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ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Ronald Guzman homered in his fourth straight start and drove in three runs, leading the Texas Rangers over the Kansas City Royals 8-4 on Friday night.

The rookie first baseman finished 2 for 4, including his sixth home run of the season. Guzman started three games against the New York Yankees earlier this week and homered in each, but struck out as a pinch-hitter against the Royals on Thursday night.

Nomar Mazara also had a homer and three RBI for Texas, which has won three of the first five games of a seven-game homestand.

Mike Minor (4-3) gave up home runs to Mike Moustakas and Jorge Soler, but earned the victory that ended Kansas City’s season-best three-game winning streak. Minor allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings. Keone Kela retired Salvador Perez on a flyout with the bases loaded for his 11th save in as many opportunities.

Royals lefty Eric Skoglund (1-5) allowed three home runs, all to left-handed batters. Shin-Soo Choo hit a solo homer in the first inning, Guzman gave the Rangers their first lead with a two-run shot in the fourth and Mazara added his 12th of the season in the fifth.

Moustakas had given the Royals a 2-0 lead in the top of the first with his 11th home run, a liner to right field.

Choo brought Texas within a run in the bottom of the inning with a line-drive homer into the corner of the right-center field bullpen.

The Rangers tied it in the third when Delino DeShields led off with a triple and scored as Mazara beat a double-play relay to first base on what would have been the third out.

Soler’s two-out solo homer in the top of the fourth restored Kansas City’s lead at 3-2.

With two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Guzman hit a two-run homer, a towering fly ball into the right-field seats, to put Texas ahead for the first time at 4-3.

Mazara added a two-run homer in the fifth for a 6-3 lead. His opposite-field fly ball bounced off the top of the wall just inside the left-field foul pole.

Ramon Torres doubled home the Royals’ fourth run in the seventh.

Texas added two runs in the eighth on Guzman’s triple and a squeeze bunt by DeShields.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: OF Alex Gordon missed his second straight game because of a sore hip and stiff neck. Manager Ned Yost said Gordon is day-to-day.

Rangers: Manager Jeff Banister said LHP Matt Moore, on the disabled list with a sore right knee, was OK after throwing in the bullpen Thursday. He’s scheduled to throw again Saturday and will be evaluated Sunday.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Ian Kennedy (1-5, 5.30) will start Saturday’s game at Texas.

Rangers: RHP Bartolo Colon (2-2, 3.51) will oppose KC two days after his 45th birthday. It will be his second attempt to tie Juan Marichal with 243 career wins, the most by a Dominican pitcher.

— Associated Press —

St. Louis drops series opener at Pittsburgh 8-1

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PITTSBURGH (AP) — Joe Musgrove’s first game with the Pittsburgh Pirates couldn’t have gone much better.

On the mound. Or, at the plate.

Musgrove came off the disabled list to pitch seven scoreless innings while also getting his first career hit and scoring the winning run as Pittsburgh beat the St. Louis Cardinals 8-1 on Friday night.

“It was a really exciting night for me,” Musgrove said. “Everything went well.”

The right-hander singled to lead off the sixth inning, when the Pirates scored three times off John Gant to break a scoreless tie. Musgrove came home on Josh Harrison’s double to center before Josh Bell hit a sacrifice fly and Corey Dickerson capped the inning with an RBI triple off Brett Cecil.

Musgrove (1-0) allowed five hits and struck out seven. He did not walk a batter while throwing just 67 pitches. Musgrove was activated before the game after being sidelined all season with a strained right shoulder. He was one of four players acquired from the Houston Astros in a January trade for right-hander Gerrit Cole.

“He relentlessly pounded the strike zone,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. “If he didn’t get a strike on the first pitch, he got (one) on the second pitch.”

Musgrove had never faced the Cardinals and St. Louis manager Mike Matheny came away impressed.

“It didn’t look like he was missing a lot,” Matheny said. “Ball was jumping, had movement on it and put it where he wanted to.”

Gant (1-2) allowed just two singles through the first five innings before Musgrove led off the sixth with his single. Gant ended up being charged with three runs in 5 1/3 innings while giving up four hits with seven strikeouts and no walks.

“The sixth, a couple things go on, but up until that point, what was there not to like?” Matheny said.

Francisco Cervelli broke the game open with a three-run double in the seventh inning that pushed Pittsburgh’s lead to 6-0. The Pirates won for just the second time in seven games, but improved to 12-5 inside the NL Central and 4-0 against St. Louis.

Tommy Pham accounted for the Cardinals’ run with an eighth-inning homer, his ninth, off Michael Feliz that snapped an 0-for-16 skid. St. Louis lost its third straight game.

Austin Meadows and Jordy Mercer hit back-to-back triples for the Pirates in the bottom of the eighth and Harrison singled in a run. Meadows is 13 for 29 (.448) with three home runs, five runs scored and five RBs in his first six career games.

“It’s been a lot of fun, playing with a great group of guys and having some things go my way so far,” Meadows said. “I really couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Harrison, Bell, Dickerson, Meadows and Mercer each had two of Pittsburgh’s 12 hits.

St. Louis’ Marcell Ozuna and Jedd Gyorko had two hits apiece. Ozuna returned to the lineup after being scratched from Wednesday’s loss to Kansas City when he overslept and arrived late to the ballpark.

KONTOS GETS DFA’D

Pirates right-handed reliever George Kontos was designated for assignment to clear a roster spot for Musgrove. Kontos was removed from his role as the primary setup man for closer Felipe Vazquez last week. In 21 games, he was 2/3 with one save and a 5.03 ERA.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Cardinals: LHP Tyler Lyons (mid-back strain) is expected to be activated from the DL on Saturday. … RHP Alex Reyes (Tommy John surgery) is scheduled to be activated next week after pitching seven scoreless innings and striking out 13 for Triple-A Memphis on Thursday in a rehab start.

Pirates: CF Starling Marte (strained right oblique) went through a full workout before the game and could be activated Saturday. … Cervelli (bruised right hand) returned after missing Thursday’s loss at Cincinnati.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Rookie RHP Jack Flaherty (1-1, 2.31 ERA) earned his first major league win Sunday when he had 13 strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings against visiting Philadelphia.

Pirates: RHP Trevor Williams (5-2, 3.05) has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 13 of his last 15 home starts, dating to June 27.

— Associated Press —

Duffy stymies Rangers as Royals win third straight 8-2

Posted on

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Danny Duffy took a shutout into the eighth inning, Salvador Perez threw out a baserunner on a ball that hit Shin-Soo Choo in the face, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Texas Rangers 8-2 on Thursday night for their season-best third straight victory.

Perez had four RBI on a pair of two-run singles with two outs, first in the fifth and then the seventh innings. But the catcher’s caught stealing in the first inning was more memorable.

Duffy’s pitch in the dirt bounced off Perez and then hit Choo in the face, sending the left-handed hitter staggering out of the box. Perez scrambled to get the ball from in front of home plate, then threw out Delino DeShields trying to take second on the play. Choo remained in the game and drew a walk in the plate appearance.

Duffy (2-6) allowed a run and four hits, struck out five and walked two in 7 2/3 innings in his longest outing of the season. The veteran left-hander entered the game with a 6.88 ERA this season and had allowed at least five earned runs in five of his previous 10 starts.

After DeShields led off Texas’ first inning with a single to right field, Duffy didn’t allow another hit until Choo singled in the seventh. Rougned Odor broke up the shutout bid with a two-out single in the eighth, ending Duffy’s night.

Rangers right-hander Austin Bibens-Dirkx (0-1) gave up six runs, four earned, on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings. He made his season debut for Texas after his contract was purchased from Triple-A Round Rock earlier in the day.

Ramon Torres had two hits and three runs in his first appearance of the season. He was a late lineup replacement for Alex Gordon, who had a sore hip and a stiff neck.

The Royals scored two unearned runs in the second inning after having no one on with two outs. Torres, who was recalled from Triple-A Omaha last Saturday, followed Ryan Goins’ single to center that rolled past DeShields’ glove. Goins and Torres both scored on the three-base error.

Bibens-Dirkx filled the rotation spot left vacant when left-hander Matt Moore went on the 10-day disabled list Saturday with a sore right knee.

SHORT HOPS

To make room for Bibens-Dirkx on Texas’ 40-man roster, left-hander Brandon Mann was optioned to Round Rock. Mann appeared in three games, making his major league debut on May 13, after pitching 15 years in the minors and Japan.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: Gordon was injured making a diving catch during Wednesday’s win at St. Louis.

UP NEXT

Royals LHP Eric Skoglund (1-4) has lost three straight. He allowed six earned runs in five innings Sunday in the New York Yankees’ 10-1 win.

Rangers LHP Mike Minor (3-3), who spent last season as a Royals reliever, has also lost three straight. He gave up 14 earned runs in 15 1/3 innings in the three games.

— Associated Press —

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