ST. LOUIS (AP) — Miles Mikolas pitched a four-hitter for his first career shutout and Tyler O’Neill homered for the third straight game and drove in four runs, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 6-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.

Mikolas needed just 109 pitches to remain unbeaten and struck out a career-high nine. The Cardinals won for the third time in four games and beat the Royals for the fifth straight time.

Mikolas (6-0) retired 13 of the final 14 batters he faced. The only trouble he faced came after he allowed back-to-back singles to start the third, but got out of it with the help of a double play.

O’Neill’s three-run homer, his first career to the opposite field, capped a four-run third in which the Cardinals strung together five two-out hits. O’Neill’s double in the fifth scored Marcell Ozuna, giving the Cardinals a 5-0 lead.

Ozuna proceeded O’Neill’s blast with an RBI single, breaking a 0-for-22 slump. Ozuna reached three times and had a pair of hits.

Matt Carpenter homered in the seventh as part of a three-hit night. Carpenter is hitting .542 (13 for 24) in his last six games, including seven doubles, to raise his average to .210. It is the first time since April 7 that Carpenter’s average rose north of .200.

Royals starter Ian Kennedy (1-5) gave up five runs, all with two outs, in 5 2/3 innings. He has lost his last five decisions and hasn’t gotten a win since April 7.

The Royals have lost eight of their last nine.

TRAINING ROOM

Royals: RHP Justin Grimm (lower back stiffness) is on a rehab assignment at Triple-A Omaha.

Cardinals: SS Greg Garcia left the game in the sixth with lower back tightness and RHP Carlos Martinez (right lat strain) threw long toss for the first time.

UP NEXT

Cardinals RHP Luke Weaver (3-3, 4.37 ERA) will look to build on his strongest outing of the season when he takes the mound against the Royals and Jason Hammel (0-5, 6.28 ERA) in the second game of the three-game series. Weaver allowed one run in a season-high seven innings in a 6-2 loss to Philadelphia on Thursday. Hammel, winless in his last 13 starts, is seeking his first victory since Sept. 6, 2017.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The New York Yankees rightfully lamented a miserable week filled with rainouts, broken planes and a patchwork schedule that forced right-hander Sonny Gray to pitch on eight days’ rest.

Well, that last bit turned out to be a good thing.

Gray discovered a couple of tweaks in his delivery during his extended time off, and he transferred it to the mound on Sunday, going eight innings and helping the Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 10-1 to win an eighth consecutive series for the first time in 20 years.

“I’m pretty quick to the plate a lot of times. I just had to stay on top of the rubber and deliver a good pitch,” said Gray, who also credited catcher Austin Romine for helping him stay in rhythm.

“It was pitch, mound, sign, go,” Romine explained.

Sure sounds simple. It works pretty well, too, when you’re getting big production from the Yankees’ powerful lineup. Tyler Austin hit a pair of two-run homers, and Miguel Andujar and Romine went back-to-back in the ninth to New York win for the 14th time in 15 games against the AL Central.

Kansas City remains winless in six rubber games this season.

Gray (3-3) was coming off a tough start against Oakland in which he allowed five runs and a season-high nine hits in five innings. But there was nothing tough about facing the Royals’ popgun lineup, which didn’t manage its first hit until there were two down in the fifth.

Gray wound up allowing one run while striking out five and walking one.

Eric Skoglund (1-4) gave up six runs, eight hits and two walks in five innings in the latest lousy start by the Royals’ rotation. Kansas City’s 5.51 team ERA is by far the worst in the majors.

“I see really bright spots in a game like today and then I see where the lights go out,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He was moving the ball around very effectively, a good curveball and pitching aggressively and kind of struggled to do that in the fourth and the fifth.”

One night after the Yankees pounded five homers, including two from Gary Sanchez, it was the strong but inconsistent Austin that gave New York the lead and kept adding to it.

Skoglund had managed to avoid early trouble, nearly getting a triple play in the second inning, but walked Aaron Hicks to start the fourth. Austin turned on the first pitch he saw and sent it about 440 feet over the left-field wall — it actually went about 500 feet with the bounce.

New York tacked on two more runs, the first on Romine’s single later in the inning and the other on Hicks’ triple in the fifth, before Austin got into the act again.

This time, his two-run shot was a high fly ball that just cleared the centerfield wall.

It was the second two-homer game of the year for Austin, who also did it March 31 at Toronto. The four RBI matched a career high, which he also accomplished April 23 against Minnesota.

That was plenty for Gray, who finally surrendered a run with two outs in the eighth. He retired his first 14 batters and only allowed two runners to reach second through the first seven innings.

“Success is a beautiful thing, especially when you’ve had some ups and downs,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Adversity is not a bad thing, especially when you’re Sonny Gray and you have the equipment to get out of it.”

SWEET LOU

The Royals wrapped their Legends Weekend celebration with Lou Piniella throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. Piniella has deep ties to both clubs, having played five seasons in Kansas City and his final 11 with New York. He also spent three seasons as the Yankees’ manager.

UP AND DOWN

Clint Frazier’s return to the major leagues was brief. He made his season debut Saturday, going 1 for 2 with a double and two walks. He did not play Sunday, then was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH

New York’s starting lineup Saturday was its first with every player under 29 since Sept. 26, 1970, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. “It’s been all year that we’ve gotten good production up and down the lineup,” Boone said. “We’ve had some young players step up and kind of come to age.”

HELLO, OLD FRIEND

Kansas City assigned RHP Michael Mariot to Double-A Northwest Arkansas. The eighth-round pick of the Royals in 2010 was signed Friday after getting released by San Diego earlier in the week.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Yankees: 1B Greg Bird (right ankle surgery) could be ready to rejoin the Yankees this week, though that could mean deciding between him and Austin for a roster spot. “The good thing,” Boone said, “is a lot of people have put themselves in a position to make it difficult.”

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy said he’s perfectly healthy despite another miserable outing Saturday, and even floated the idea of moving to the bullpen. Yost nixed that on Sunday. “That’s not happening. He’s a major league starter,” Yost said, “and yes, he’s going to make his next start.”

UP NEXT

The Yankees head to Texas for a three-game set beginning Monday night, when RHP Masahiro Tanaka (4-2, 4.73 ERA) will be on the mound. The Royals head across Missouri for three games with St. Louis with RHP Ian Kennedy (1-4, 4.98 ERA) starting the opener Monday night.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The worst night CC Sabathia has had during 18 years in the big leagues came Wednesday, when the Yankees’ big left-hander had to sleep in the team’s broken-down plane after a rainout in Washington.

Friday night wasn’t all that great, either.

Whit Merrifield had three hits, stole three bases and scored twice off Sabathia in the first four innings, Jakob Junis held down the Yankees’ potent offense, and Kansas City beat New York 5-2 on Friday night to open a three-game series between teams that had been headed radically different directions.

Salvador Perez homered and added three RBI for the Royals, who had lost five straight and seven of eight, yet managed to stop a team that had won 19 of its last 22 games.

The weather has wreaked havoc on the Yankees’ routine this week, and that breakdown of their plane — combined with other factors that forced players to sleep onboard or in the terminal Wednesday night — hardly left them feeling good about their trip to Kansas City.

“Sleeping on the plan was not good, but I feel good with the rest,” said Sabathia, who allowed two runs and four hits while walking four, along with two unearned runs after second baseman Gleyber Torres coughed up a routine ground ball in the third inning.

Still, Sabathia (2-1) called the night spent on the plane “the worst night I’ve had in the big leagues,” even if he was unwilling to use that or the Yankees’ scattershot schedule as an excuse.

“I’m sure people will take that as part of it,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, “but in 162 games you’re not going to be great every night. We were a little bit sloppy, but whether that was from having a couple of days off, I don’t know. I don’t think so.”

Junis (5-3) pitched into the sixth inning, allowing two runs on seven hits and a walk. But most of the hits he allowed were relatively benign base hits, rather than the towering, game-changing home runs that the Yankees had been hitting with regularity.

Kelvin Herrera capped a strong bullpen effort with a perfect ninth for his ninth save.

“(Sabathia’s) a good pitcher with good stuff. He’s deceptive and mixes his pitches up well,” Merrifield said. “We were fortunate enough to scratch across a couple and Jake did the rest.”

The Yankees’ best opportunity to mount a rally came in the sixth, when Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Hicks reached on base hits. Junis was lifted for reliever Tim Hill, who allowed Neil Walker’s run-scoring single and Miguel Andujar’s sacrifice fly before escaping.

“We just wanted to keep them off-balance with off-speed and not leave elevated over the plate,” Junis said, “because that’s where they do their damage. We didn’t want to miss up over the plate.”

The rest of the Royals’ bullpen never gave the Yankees a chance.

Kyle McCarthy breezed through the seventh, striking out a pair, and Brad Keller handled a scoreless eighth — getting a running catch from Jon Jay — to give Herrera a chance to close it out.

ROSTER MOVE

Yankees RHP David Hale chose free agency over accepting an outright assignment. Hale had a 3.60 ERA before he was designated for assignment Tuesday to create roster space for OF Clint Frazier.

MAHOMES SIGHTING

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes II, who is poised to become the starter this season, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Mahomes has become Kansas City’s top sports fan, attending Sporting KC games and last weekend wearing a Kansas City T-Bones jersey to a NASCAR race at Kansas Speedway.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Yankees: OF Estevan Florial, one of New York’s top prospects, will require surgery on a fractured hamate bone in his right wrist after leaving Thursday night’s game with Class-A Tampa. Boone said he had a similar injury in 2001 and missed about a month. … 1B Greg Bird (right ankle surgery) is “right around the corner” from rejoining the Yankees, Boone said. He’s been rehabbing at Double-A Trenton.

Royals: INF Cheslor Cuthbert remained sidelined with back spasms, though manager Ned Yost said he would be available as a defensive replacement. He was hurt in Monday’s game against the Rays.

UP NEXT

Royals LHP Danny Duffy (1-5, 6.51 ERA) tries to rebound Saturday night from a dismal start at Cleveland, when he allowed a career-high nine earned runs in 3 1/3 innings. The Yankees will counter with RHP Luis Severino (6-1), whose 2.14 ERA is fourth-best in the American League.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Joey Wendle singled in a run with two outs in the ninth inning to lift the Tampa Bay Rays over the Kansas City Royals 6-5 on Tuesday night.

Johnny Field and Jesus Sucre led off the inning with singles against Kelvin Herrera (1-1). Herrera retired the next two batters before Wendle laced a single to left.

Jonny Venters (1-0) got two outs for his first victory since Sept. 27, 2012 while with Atlanta against the Mets. The left-hander had been out since 2012 due to four major elbow surgeries, including three Tommy John operations, before returning to the majors this season.

Alex Colome worked a spotless ninth for his eighth save.

The Royals lost their fourth straight and sixth in seven.

C.J. Cron hammered Ian Kennedy’s first pitch to center for a two-run shot during the Rays’ three-run first. Cron has reached base in a career-high 21 consecutive games and singled in the second for his fifth multihit game in his last seven games.

The Rays batted around in the first, which also included Adeiny Hechavarria’s run-producing single scoring Matt Duffy, who had doubled. Kennedy struck out Sucre with the bases loaded to end the inning.

Left-hander Anthony Banda, who was making his Rays debut after being acquired in a February three-team trade from Arizona, threw only 52 pitches in five innings, allowing three runs and six hits. He became the eighth Rays’ starter in 40 games this season, equaling the number of starters they used in 2017.

Kennedy threw 34 of his 101 pitches in the first inning. He labored through six innings, yielding five runs on seven hits while striking out six. Span went down looking to end the sixth for Kennedy’s 1,500th strikeout.

Whit Merrifield drove in three runs for Kansas City. His seventh-inning two-out single off Sergio Romo scored Alex Gordon and Hunter Dozier. Merrifield’s fifth-inning single scored Dozier.

NOW BATTING FIFTH

Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar batted fifth for the first time in his nine-year career. He is the seventh player to bat fifth for the Royals this season.

ROSTER MOVES

The Rays optioned RHP Hunter Wood to Triple-A Durham, one day after he was recalled. The move was made to clear roster space for Banda.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rays: Duffy left in the fifth inning with right hamstring tightness. Right fielder Carlos Gomez was removed in the sixth with right groin tightness. … RHP Nathan Eovaldi threw a bullpen session Tuesday in St. Petersburg, Florida. “All went well,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. Eovaldi, who is on the disabled list with loose elbow fragments, will start a rehab game Friday for Durham. Cash said he would throw three innings and 50 pitches.

Royals: RF Jorge Soler was out with a displaced rib, which he hurt while making a leaping catch Monday. “It’s not serious,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “On a scale of 1-to-10, it’s not even a one, maybe a three-fourths.” He said Soler could return Wednesday. … Back spasms kept IF Cheslor Cuthbert out of the lineup. … RHP Justin Grimm threw 20 pitches in his first rehab appearance with Triple-A Omaha. He allowed a run on a hit and a walk and struck out one in 2/3 of an inning. He is on the disabled list with lower back stiffness.

UP NEXT

Rays: RHP Jake Faria, who has allowed one or no runs in four of last six starts, is the probable starter for the series finale.

Royals: RHP Jason Hammel will be making his first start since allowing nine runs on Friday at Cleveland.

— Associated Press —