KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals extended their scoreless streak to a franchise-record 43 innings, getting shut out for a fourth straight game in a 12-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night.

The Royals haven’t scored since the second inning of a 3-2 loss to Colorado last Thursday. Kansas City was blanked three times over the weekend by Cleveland. The 1968 Chicago Cubs and 1906 Philadelphia Athletics hold the major league record at 48 scoreless innings, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The 1992 Cubs were the last team to be blanked in four straight games, and it hasn’t happened in the AL since the 1964 Washington Senators — nine years before the adoption of the designated hitter. No team has been shut out in five straight games since at least 1913, according to information gathered from baseball-reference.com.

The Royals were two games out of first place on July 28 after a nine-game winning streak. Since then, they have lost 19 of 29 and are 10 games behind AL Central-leading Cleveland and three games back of Minnesota for the final AL wild card.

Austin Pruitt (7-4) pitched six one-run innings for Tampa Bay, and Matt Andriese allowed one more hit while getting a three-inning save, his first this season.

Lucas Duda, Wilson Ramos and Logan Morrison went deep for Tampa Bay, with Duda getting his 25th and Morrison his 32nd of the season. Evan Longoria and Morrison hit back-to-back doubles after Duda’s shot in the third off Ian Kennedy (4-10).

— Associated Press —

CLEVELAND (AP) — A die-hard fan of mixed-martial arts, Indians catcher Yan Gomes wore a T-shirt following Sunday’s game with “Throat Punch” written on the front.

The clothing choice was fitting.

Cleveland blasted Kansas City with all it had.

Gomes hit a grand slam to highlight a nine-run second inning against two Royals rookie left-handers and the Indians completed a three-game shutout sweep over one of their AL Central rivals with a 12-0 win on Sunday.

The Indians thoroughly dominated the Royals over three days at Progressive Field, outscoring them 20-0 while posting three consecutive shutouts for the first time since 1956.

“It’s unbelievable, man,” Gomes said. “It’s definitely something. You start taking it in and it’s like, `All right, let’s keep it going.”

Carlos Carrasco (13-6) allowed six hits in seven innings as the Indians moved 17 games over .500 for the first time this season and opened a nine-game lead in the division over the Royals, who came to town thinking they could close the gap on the AL champions.

Instead, Kansas City is staggering home in the midst of the longest scoring drought — now at 34 innings — in team history.

“It’s over,” second baseman Whit Merrifield said. “There’s nothing we can do about it now. We all know we’re struggling. We know we haven’t scored a run in however long it’s been and guys are trying to take it upon themselves a little too much.”

Francisco Lindor hit a two-run homer in the second off Eric Skoglund (1-2) before Carlos Santana connected for a three-run shot against Onelki Garcia. Gomes capped Cleveland’s biggest inning this season with his drive off the reliever, who was promoted from the minors Saturday and made his first major league appearance since 2013.

Carrasco followed strong starts by Ryan Merritt and Mike Clevinger in shutting down the Royals. Of course, it helped that he took the mound in the third with a 12-run lead.

And while the Indians have bigger goals that winning their division, manager Terry Francona said it was good to open some distance over a dangerous team.

“We have a lot of respect for their pedigree,” he said. “They’ve been there and done it. I don’t think it’s wrong to have a healthy respect for who you’re playing, as long as you don’t back down. But we did a really good job this weekend. Now, we turn the page real quick because we got a nice road trip coming up.”

The Indians showed no mercy in the second when they teed off on Skoglund and Garcia. The Royals were in a bind after placing scheduled starter Danny Duffy on the disabled list Saturday with a sore elbow.

Already down 3-0, Skoglund gave up a leadoff single before Lindor hit his 24th homer. Austin Jackson followed with a double, and Skoglund yielded a one-out walk before being pulled. Garcia came on and Santana belted his second pitch off the left-field foul pole for his 20th homer.

The Indians loaded the bases on two singles and a walk before Gomes connected for his ninth homer and second career slam.

Cleveland didn’t waste any time getting to Skoglund, who hadn’t pitched for the Royals since June 9 and found himself in a quick 3-0 hole.

Lindor walked and Jackson singled before Jose Ramirez, who came in batting just .130 (3 for 23) on the homestand, pulled an RBI double down the left-field line. Edwin Encarnacion followed with an RBI groundout and Brandon Guyer drove in Cleveland’s third run with a two-out, run-scoring single.

ZEROED IN

Cleveland leads the majors with 15 shutouts, six of them coming against Kansas City. The Royals have been blanked a baseball-best 13 times.

SHORT STORY

Lindor’s 24 homers are the second-most in club history for a shortstop. The All-Star batted .360 during the homestand with four homers and seven RBI.

He also presented his teammates and coaching staff with bath robes.

“I don’t think I’ll ever wear it in public, but I did enjoy it,” Francona cracked.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: An MRI taken on Duffy showed no structural damage and nothing alarming. Manager Ned Yost said his status will be re-evaluated when the team returns home.

Indians: OF Lonnie Chisenhall went 0 for 3 and played left at Double-A Akron as he nears a return from a calf injury. … OF Abraham Almonte (strained hamstring) is scheduled to play Monday at Triple-A Columbus. … RHP Danny Salazar will throw off flat ground Monday as he recovers from a stiff elbow that landed him on the disabled list.

UP NEXT

Royals: Ian Kennedy, who hasn’t beaten Tampa Bay since his major league debut for the Yankees in 2007, starts the opener of a three-game series. The right-hander is 0-4 against the Rays over the past 10 seasons.

Indians: Corey Kluber can help his Cy Young candidacy on the Yankee Stadium stage as Cleveland opens an 11-game road trip in the Bronx.

— Associated Press —

CLEVELAND (AP) — Ryan Merritt didn’t look like a rookie Friday night.

Merritt pitched a career-high 6 2/3 innings and the Cleveland Indians recorded their AL-leading 13th shutout with a 4-0 win over the Kansas City Royals.

“He’s not breaking the radar gun, but when he’s pitching like that he’s so fun to watch,” Indians manager Terry Francona said.

Merritt (1-0) was called up from Triple-A Columbus before the game to take the injured Danny Salazar’s spot in the rotation. The 25-year-old left-hander scattered seven hits for his second career win, both coming against Kansas City.

Merritt is beginning his fifth stint with the Indians this season.

“Going up and down is better than not coming up,” he said. “I appreciate the opportunity. I want to be that guy they can call upon when they need to.”

Three relievers finished the eight-hitter for the AL Central leaders, who stayed 5 1/2 games ahead of second-place Minnesota.

Kansas City left-hander Jason Vargas (14-8) allowed four runs in five innings. He has dropped four of his five August starts.

Francisco Lindor hit a two-run drive in the fifth for his 23rd homer of the season. Cleveland also scored twice in the second on Giovanny Urshela’s double and Austin Jackson’s single.

Merritt retired the first two hitters in the seventh in his third major league start of the season, but was pulled after walking Cheslor Cuthbert and giving up a single to Alex Gordon. Joe Smith then retired Whit Merrifield on a line drive to right.

Merritt made four regular-season appearances last season and is best remembered for his performance in Game 5 of the AL Championship Series against Toronto. He pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings in the win that put the Indians in the World Series.

Merritt’s performance bailed out Cleveland’s injury-ravaged rotation. Fans were so appreciative that they helped fill the registry for his wedding that took place in the offseason.

Lindor’s home run came on a 3-0 pitch and landed in the left-field bleachers.

“I wasn’t trying to get something over,” Vargas said. “I had a good idea he was swinging, I was trying to throw a fastball up. I just threw it on the inner half and belt high.”

Third-place Kansas City fell to seven games out in the division. Catcher Salvador Perez, who was out for two weeks with a right intercostal strain, was checked by a team trainer after a fourth-inning single but remained in the game.

BRIGHT SPOT

Gordon, batting .198 going into the game, was 3 for 3 with a double.

“It was good,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. “I had a gut feeling Gordy would be the guy, and he ended up getting three hits.”

WARDROBE MALFUNCTION

Smith was wearing the pants Indians players use for their pregame workouts during the game. Francona kidded him about it when removing him in the eighth.

“I told (pitching coach) Mickey Callaway, `I want him to get this out so bad because I want to go out there and tell him that he looks so dumb.’ I couldn’t wait,” Francona said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: 3B Mike Moustakas didn’t start for the second straight game because of a sore knee.

Indians: RHP Josh Tomlin (strained left hamstring) made his first rehab start, allowing five runs — three earned — in 3 2/3 innings at Single-A Mahoning Valley. … 1B Carlos Santana returned after missing three games because of back tightness.

UP NEXT

Kansas City right-hander Jason Hammel (6-9, 4.73 ERA) defeated the Indians on Sunday, allowing three runs in six innings. He has won all three starts against Cleveland this season. Right-hander Mike Clevinger (6-5, 3.97 ERA) will start against the Royals for the third time this season. He has a win and a no-decision against Kansas City.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Colorado manager Bud Black expressed faith in Greg Holland before the game, saying he did not intend to remove his struggling closer from that role.

Holland was summoned to protect a one-run lead Thursday and he worked a flawless ninth for his 36th save as the Rockies beat the Kansas City Royals 3-2.

Holland allowed Eric Hosmer’s game-ending, three-run homer in the ninth inning Wednesday night and was 0-4 with three blown saves in his previous six appearances.

“You have games in a row where your command is not where you expect it to be,” Holland said. “I guess there is sometimes a little bit of `What are we going to get today?’ But, I cleaned a few things up. Today, the ball was going towards my target like I’m used to seeing.

“When you get the line out from the first batter it makes it a lot easier, when you get that first hitter out.”

Pat Valaika hit a two-run homer off Mike Minor with two outs in the eighth inning to give the Rockies a lead.

“I faced him the night before, so I knew he liked his slider on the hands a little bit, so kind of in the back of my mind,” Valaika said. “That’s where he threw it and I didn’t miss it.”

Valaika snapped an 0-for-12 slide, driving a full-count breaking ball from Minor (5-6) to left after Gerardo Parra singled.

“It was a terrible pitch,” Minor said. “I just hung it. It didn’t have good break on it, no spin, not much depth to it.”

Adam Ottavino (2-3) struck out two in a perfect seventh.

The Rockies snapped a four-game losing streak with just their fifth victory in 17 games.

Rookie Jake Junis limited the Rockies to one run and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings. He matched his career high with seven strikeouts and walked one. The right-hander is 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA in three August starts, walking one and striking out 16 in 19 1/3 innings.

“Junis was fantastic,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He had a really good slider, a lot of swings and misses on his slider. He spotted his fastball extremely well. Junis was very impressive.”

Whit Merrifield and Brandon Moss led off the Royals’ first and second innings with home runs. It was Merrifield’s third career leadoff home run, all this season, and his eighth hit in 15 at-bats. Moss hit his 17th home run, 14 with the bases empty.

Rockies starter German Marquez allowed two runs and eight hits in six innings.

Raimel Tapia singled in Parra in the sixth for Colorado’s first run.

Royals reliever Peter Moylan got three outs on seven pitches. He got DJ LaMahieu to roll into a double play to end the seventh, and retired Nolan Arenado, who singled in his first two at-bats, on a comebacker to start the eighth.

“This is a tough loss,” Yost said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rockies: LHP Tyler Anderson (left knee inflammation) is scheduled to throw another simulated game this weekend in Atlanta. Black said if “he comes out of that fine” Anderson would go out on a rehab assignment. “He could conceivably start a game” in September, Black said.

Royals: 3B Mike Moustakas has a sore knee and was not in the lineup, but flied out as pinch hitter to end the game. Yost said Moustakas heard his knee pop on his final at-bat. “It’s not anything we’re concerned about,” Yost said. “We’re going to just give him a day off. We might DH him a day or two, depending on how he feels tomorrow.”

UP NEXT

Rockies: RHP Chad Bettis will make his third start since returning from battling testicular cancer in the series opener at Atlanta on Friday night.

Royals: LHP Jason Vargas, who is 2-4 with a 7.15 ERA in eight starts since July 1, will start Friday night at Cleveland. He was 12-3 with an American League-leading 2.22 ERA at the end of June.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Eric Hosmer hit a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning off former Kansas City teammate Greg Holland, lifting the Royals over the Colorado Rockies 6-4 on Wednesday night.

Hosmer’s 21st home run of the season was the first game-ending shot of his career.

Holland (2-5) fell to 0-4 with one save in four opportunities in his past six games, allowing 10 hits, three home runs and 12 runs over five innings. The former Royals closer issued a leadoff walk in the ninth, gave up a two-out single to Melky Cabrera and then was tagged by Hosmer on a 1-1 pitch.

Brandon Maurer (2-1) pitched the ninth.

Charlie Blackmon and Nolan Arenado homered for the Rockies in a matchup of playoff contenders.

Blackmon hit his career-high 30th. He became the first National League leadoff man to reach 30 home runs since Hanley Ramirez of the Marlins in 2008.

Arenado, who has homered in back-to-back games, hit his 29th in the first. He leads the majors with 108 RBI and 74 extra-base hits.

Arenado has a major league leading .430 batting average in the first inning.

Rockies rookie Antonio Senzatela allowed nine hits but just two runs in five innings.

Ian Kennedy failed to make it out of the fifth for Kansas City, yielding three runs on seven hits, including two home runs. In his past two starts, he has surrendered eight runs on 13 hits, including four home runs, in 7 1/3 innings.

Kennedy is 0-6 with a 5.97 ERA in 12 home starts this season. He has a franchise record of 16 winless starts since beating the Minnesota Twins on Aug. 20, 2016.

Whit Merrifield had four hits for the Royals, matching his career high.

PEREZ WON’T DH

Royals C Salvador Perez has been the DH 13 games this season, but he won’t be used in that role again this season. He strained his right intercostal swinging on Aug. 4 and missed 15 games. “When you’re catching, you’re staying loose and you’re staying mobile,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “When you’re DHing, you have an at-bat and then sit. It’s probably something we won’t entertain.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rockies: IF-OF Ian Desmond (right calf strain) will begin a rehab assignment Thursday with Triple-A Albuquerque. If he has no setbacks, Desmond could be activated Sunday. . LHP Tyler Anderson (left knee inflammation) threw a 45-to-50 pitch three inning simulated game. He will throw another simulated game before going out on a rehab assignment. “This is more about, I think, the knee strength moving forward,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “His arm has felt pretty good all year.

Royals: RHP Kelvin Herrera will circumvent a trip to the disabled list after being removed in the ninth inning Tuesday with forearm tightness. The Royals do not expect their closer will miss much time, if any.

UP NEXT

Rockies: RHP German Marquez is 2-0 with a 2.00 ERA in three starts against American League clubs.

Royals: RHP Jake Junis has a 4.79 ERA in his eight major league starts.

— Associated Press —