BALTIMORE (AP) — The two newest members of the Baltimore Orioles did exactly what they were brought in to do: help the team win.

Baltimore fans can only hope Jeremy Hellickson and Tim Beckham do that consistently enough to carry the Orioles into the postseason.

Hellickson threw seven outstanding innings in his Baltimore debut, Beckham had two extra-base hits and two RBI and the Orioles beat the Kansas City Royals 6-0 Wednesday night to complete a three-game sweep.

The Orioles’ five-game winning streak is their longest since early May, and they now stand just 2 1/2 games behind Kansas City for the second AL wild-card slot.

Hellickson (1-0) was obtained Saturday from Philadelphia, the first of two significant trades by the Orioles to fortify the roster for a potential playoff run. The right-hander paid immediate returns, limiting Kansas City to five hits, issuing one walk and allowing only one runner to reach third base.

“I’ve been traded before, just not in season to a team that is playing as well as we are, that has a chance to make the playoffs,” Hellickson said. “It’s always good to throw a good one your first time out with a new team.”

After going 6-5 with the Phillies, Hellickson turned in his best performance of the season to earn his second win in 12 starts since May 19.

He received offensive backing from Beckham, acquired in a trade with Tampa Bay on Monday just before the non-waiver trade deadline expired.

“I’m happy to be here, happy they believe in me,” the shortstop said. “We got a great club here, man, great club, love the energy, love the team camaraderie. It’s going to be a fun ride.”

The Royals had won 10 of 11 before coming up flat at Camden Yards, scoring only three runs in 27 innings.

“We definitely didn’t hit the ball well in this series,” said Mike Moustakas, who came in with 30 home runs. “They pitched the ball great and we just didn’t have any offense going.”

The Royals showed their frustration in the ninth inning, when Moustakas was tossed after complaining about a third-strike call and manager Ned Yost was ejected for joining the argument.

“That pitch was nowhere close to being a strike,” Yost insisted.

Baltimore went up 3-0 in the second inning against Jason Vargas (13-5) when Beckham doubled in a run and Caleb Joseph followed with a two-out drive into the left-field seats.

After Hellickson retired the first two batters in the third, a sudden rain shower forced a 35-minute delay. When play resumed, Hellickson gave up a single and hit a batter before retiring Eric Hosmer on a fly ball.

It would be the only time until the sixth inning that Kansas City got a runner to second base.

In the sixth, Melky Cabrera drew a leadoff walk and went to third on a double by Hosmer. Hellickson then caught a popup by Salvador Perez, struck out Moustakas and retired Jorge Bonifacio on a weak grounder to first.

Baltimore made it 6-0 in the eighth when Chris Davis doubled in two runs and scored on a triple by Beckham .

HOUSE OF PAIN

Kansas City was swept in three games at Camden Yards last year, too, and has dropped seven straight in Baltimore since Aug. 26, 2015.

MUST BE THE SHOES

After being traded from Tampa Bay to Baltimore, Beckham had to be fitted for a uniform Tuesday. His shoes, however, were already taken care of.

“It’s funny. I don’t care how many times a guy gets moved, the shoe company will catch up with him,” manager Buck Showalter said. “There were about four or five boxes there, and I’m thinking, `Wow, that’s pretty quick.’ God forbid, you go out there in blue shoes on an orange and black team.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: CF Lorenzo Cain was excluded from the starting lineup after tweaking his hamstring running for a ball in the gap Tuesday night.

Orioles: INF Ryan Flaherty (shoulder) went 2 for 4 with a walk for Class A Frederick against Myrtle Beach on Wednesday.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Trevor Cahill makes his second start since being acquired in a July 23 trade with San Diego, facing Seattle at home Thursday night. He allowed five runs over four innings in his debut vs. Boston last Saturday.

Orioles: Chris Tillman (1-6, 7.65) helps open a four-game series against the visiting Detroit Tigers. He’s winless in 13 consecutive starts.

— Associated Press —

BALTIMORE (AP) — Maybe the Baltimore Orioles got this trade deadline thing right, after all.

Dylan Bundy allowed three hits over a career-high eight innings, newcomer Tim Beckham had two hits and scored twice and the resurgent Orioles beat the Kansas City Royals 7-2 Tuesday night for their fourth straight victory.

The winning streak began over the weekend and gained momentum late Monday after the front office decided to be buyers at the non-waiver trade deadline, obtaining Beckham from Tampa Bay for a minor league pitcher.

The acquisition of Beckham followed the trade for right-hander Jeremy Hellickson, who will start Wednesday night. Although the Orioles still have some distance to make up in the AL East and the wild-card race, they’re within two games of .500 (52-54) for the first time since July 3.

“A couple more days and I might start looking at the standings again,” manager Buck Showalter said. “So, we’ll see. So far so good. Until we take care of our business, it doesn’t matter where we are in the standings.”

If Baltimore is to make a serious move, it will need more pitching performances like the one it got from Bundy (10-8). The right-hander struck out five, walked one and retired the last 13 batters he faced.

Bundy did not pitch more than seven innings in any of his previous 34 major league starts. All three hits he allowed were singles — none after the third inning — and the only run he surrendered was unearned.

“Dylan was outstanding,” Showalter said. “That was fun to watch.”

Seth Smith drove in three runs and Manny Machado had three hits for the Orioles, who pulled within 3 1/2 games of the Royals for the final AL wild-card spot.

Kansas City will seek to avoid a three-game sweep on Wednesday. The Royals came to town having won 10 of 11, but they’ve only scored three runs in these two games at Camden Yards.

“We have to do a better job of getting pitches in the zone and capitalizing,” said Whit Merrifield, who had one of KC’s two RBI .

Ian Kennedy (4-7) gave up four runs and eight hits in four-plus innings. He was 4-0 in nine starts since June 5.

“The down-and-away fastball was not working and I had to go to something else and try to get outs,” Kennedy said. “What really hurt me was getting deep in counts.”

Making his debut with Baltimore on Tuesday after playing his first 238 major league games with the Rays, Beckham singled and scored in the fifth inning and doubled in the seventh before coming home on a single by Smith.

Baltimore took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, bunching together four straight hits — including an RBI single by Jonathan Schoop and a run-scoring double by rookie Trey Mancini .

After Kansas City scored in the third, Adam Jones made it 3-1 in the fourth with a two-out RBI single.

BUCK AND EARL

The victory was the 1,481st of Showalter’s career, pushing him into sole possession of 24th place on the all-time list ahead of former Orioles manager Earl Weaver.

CASH CONSIDERATIONS

Playing in his second game for KC since being traded from the White Sox, Melky Cabrera went 1 for 4. Chicago will send $2,663,934 to the Royals on Sept. 1, covering a little more than half the $5,081,967 remaining in Cabrera’s $15 million salary this year.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: INF Cheslor Cuthbert (left wrist sprain) resumed his rehabilitation assignment Tuesday, going 1 for 5 with a solo home run for Triple-A Omaha while playing the full game at third base. It was Cuthbert’s first action since July 25. In 10 games at Omaha, Cuthbert is hitting .211 with two homers and four RBI.

Orioles: An MRI on Mark Trumbo’s oblique strain provided “very positive news,” Showalter said, adding that the slugger might be ready to come off the DL after a 10-day stay.

UP NEXT

Royals: LHP Jason Vargas (13-4, 3.00 ERA), who has not lost in his last five road starts, pitches Wednesday night in the series finale.

Orioles: Hellickson makes his Orioles debut after being traded from Philadelphia. He’s 3-2 with a 5.01 ERA in nine career appearances at Camden Yards.

— Associated Press —

BALTIMORE (AP) — Rather than dismantle the Baltimore Orioles at the trade deadline, Dan Duquette worked diligently to improve the club.

Appreciative of his confidence, the Orioles backed up his effort with a rousing 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.

Craig Gentry singled home the winning run in the ninth inning, and closer Zach Britton — who was rumored headed out of town hours earlier — got three outs to earn the win.

Baltimore started the day with a 50-54 record, but Duquette, the team’s executive vice president of baseball operations, believes the team can be a contender. He beat the non-waiver trade deadline by obtaining infielder Tim Beckham from Tampa Bay, three days after snagging right-hander Jeremy Hellickson from Philadelphia.

“We still have some hope that we can make the playoffs,” Duquette said, hours before the Orioles extended their modest winning streak to three games.

Caleb Joseph got Baltimore going in the ninth with a one-out single off Joakim Soria (4-3). Ruben Tejada singled with two outs before Gentry hit a grounder up the middle that sent Joseph home from second base without a throw.

“We feel good about ourselves,” Joseph said. “Maybe some of the fans have left, but we still believe in ourselves, 100 percent.”

By keeping Britton (1-0), who has converted an AL-record 57 straight saves, Duquette showed his faith in this team.

“I’ve played with Zach since `09, so even the thought of not playing with him is not fun,” Joseph said.

Knowing he was going to be sticking around with the only team he’s ever been a part of, Britton walked to the mound in the ninth with a clear head.

“You get some things off your mind that shouldn’t be there and just focus on pitching,” the lefty said.

It was the second loss in 12 games for the Royals, who managed only five hits off three Baltimore pitchers.

The first seven innings featured a pitching duel between Kansas City’s Danny Duffy and Ubaldo Jimenez, both of whom allowed one run and struck out six.

“I just grinded through that outing,” Duffy said. “I felt like I had really good stuff but I didn’t pitch very well. That was the least impressive seven-inning, one-run outing I’ve ever had.”

Jimenez came in with a 6.93 ERA, but on this night he was exceptionally sharp.

`If he’s not on, we get him,” manager Ned Yost said. “We couldn’t get him. Couldn’t do much against him.”

Kansas City used first-inning doubles by Lorenzo Cain and Eric Hosmer to jump to a 1-0 lead.

Jimenez settled down after that, and Baltimore pulled even in the fifth when Manny Machado doubled and scored on a two-out single by Jonathan Schoop .

Though quiet on the final day of the trade deadline, the Royals welcomed back Melky Cabrera, who made his 2017 debut with Kansas City after being acquired from the White Sox on Sunday.

Playing right field and batting third, Cabrera went 0 for 4.

HOLE IN ONE

Orioles first baseman Chris Davis was charged with an error when he failed to handle a throw in the ninth inning from Machado at third. Turns out, the ball went right through the faulty webbing of Davis’ glove. He immediately got a new glove.

HAPPY HOMECOMING

Cabrera said he’s “really happy” to return to the pennant-contending Royals, whom he played for in 2011. “What I love to do is play postseason baseball,” the 13-year veteran said through an interpreter. Yost said Cabrera, a switch-hitter, “brings a great personality to a locker room filed with great personalities. He’s going to mesh perfectly with our group.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: Yost is optimistic third-baseman Cheslor Cuthbert (wrist) can return to his rehab assignment sometime this week after fouling a ball off his foot.

Orioles: DH Mark Trumbo was placed on the 10-day disabled list with an oblique injury. He played in Baltimore’s first 103 games before sitting on Sunday. … SS J.J. Hardy (wrist) was transferred to the 60-day DL.

UP NEXT

Royals: Ian Kennedy (4-6, 4.43 ERA) seeks his fifth straight victory in the second game of the series Tuesday night.

Orioles: Dylan Bundy (9-8, 4.53 ERA) can match his win total of last season with a victory.

— Associated Press —

BOSTON (AP) — Knowing they’ve completely recovered from their rough first two months of the season, the Kansas City Royals are having a lot of fun.

Alex Gordon’s two-run triple capped a four-run eighth inning, and the Royals rallied for a 5-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday, a day after their season-high, nine-game winning streak was snapped.

Alcides Escobar added a two-run single in the eighth and drove in three runs for the Royals, who lost in extra innings on Saturday after taking the series opener.

“The vibes good right now,” winning pitcher Jason Hammel said. “The vibes real good.”

The Royals ended May in last in the AL Central — eight games under .500. They’ve taken off and now trail first-place Cleveland by two games after the Indians lost 3-1 to the White Sox in Chicago.

A few cheers went up in the clubhouse when the White Sox won.

Rookie Rafael Devers hit a solo homer for Boston and starter Drew Pomeranz gave up one run on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings in his 100th career start.

Hammel (5-8) allowed three runs on seven hits to end a six-start winless streak. His last victory also came against the Red Sox, at home on June 19.

Kelvin Herrera got the final three outs for his 23rd save, getting Mookie Betts to fly out with the bases loaded.

Shortstop Xander Bogaerts booted Lorenzo Cain’s grounder for an error to open the eighth and Eric Hosmer had a hard single off the right hand and body of Matt Barnes (6-3). Salvador Perez then loaded the bases with a single.

“It opens the door, and then all of a sudden there’s life instead of the potential of an out, nobody on, against a team that is aggressive, playing with a lot of momentum,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said of the error.

Escobar followed with his game-tying single before Gordon greeted reliever Robby Scott with his hit that rolled into the left-center gap and bounced off the edge of the bullpen wall in right-center, making it 5-3.

“It’s been an up and down season. Early-on everybody was talking about getting rid of all these players and what not, and then we just kind of took it upon ourselves to play better,” Gordon said. “It’s been a heck of a year and we like where we’re at right now.”

Before the game, the Royals acquired outfielder Melky Cabrera from the Chicago White Sox for two minor league pitchers in a bid to bolster their offense.

Gordon entered the day hitting just .201 with five homers and 32 RBI.

The switch-hitting Cabrera is batting .288 with 13 homers and 56 RBI.

Boston moved ahead 2-0 in the second on consecutive RBI singles by Mitch Moreland and Christian Vazquez.

The Royals sliced it to 2-1 on Escobar’s double before Devers hit his second career homer, a drive that barely cleared the top of the Green Monster and bounced onto the field.

It was originally called “in play” and a double when he stopped, but overturned by the umpiring crew after a brief review.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Red Sox: Second baseman Dustin Pedroia missed his second straight with a sore left knee.

ANNIVERSARY

The Red Sox honored their 2007 World Series champion team on the field before the game.

Recently retired slugger David Ortiz was asked if the current club could use his bat for the stretch run.

“Not me, man. I’ve been doing nothing but slow cycle, bro,” he said, laughing. “I sit down and watch the game now and say, `Man, that’s hard.’ I view the game differently now.”

Former lefty reliever Hideki Okajima flew from Japan on Saturday to be a part of the event.

Mike Lowell, the 2007 Series MVP, threw out the ceremonial first pitch to former catcher Jason Varitek.

FUN UNDER THE SUN

Kansas City is 17-7 in its last 24 day games after opening losing 11 of its first 12.

NO EXCUSE

Barnes had a bandage on his right hand after, but credited the Royals.

“I didn’t think I made terrible pitches,” he said. “I didn’t think I was leaving the ball middle and I was getting hit. I thought that they kind of did what hitters are taught to do with pitches away.”

UP NEXT

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy (7-6, 3.56 ERA) is slated to start the opener of a three-game series in Baltimore on Monday.

Red Sox: RHP Doug Fister (0-5, 7.46) is in line to start Monday when Boston hosts AL Central-leading Cleveland in the first of three.

— Associated Press —

BOSTON (AP) — Rick Porcello stepped in for David Price, who is back on the disabled list.

Kansas City’s offense wasn’t fazed by the switch.

Salvador Perez and Mike Moustakas homered as the Royals extended their winning streak to a season-high nine with a 4-2 win over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night.

Perez homered over the Green Monster in the second and Moustakas made it 4-0 in the fourth. He hit his 30th homer in his 92nd game, the fastest to reach the mark in team history, and he is six homers shy of the Kansas City season record set by Steve Balboni in 1985.

“It was a big win for us against a great club over there,” Moustakas said. “It’s always nice to hit homers, but when they help you go ahead or add some runs against a great team, it definitely makes it a little better.”

Jorge Bonifacio had singled leading off, and Eric Hosmer beat the shift with a single to left that put runners at the corners.

Porcello (4-14), who had been scheduled to pitch Saturday, leads the major leagues in losses. He allowed four runs and six hits in seven innings.

“The one to Moustakas is really the one that’s going to make it hard to sleep tonight,” Porcello said. “He was fouling off some pitches off — just trying to drive a fastball in right there and if I miss for a ball so be it. I didn’t have a problem putting him on and ran right back into his barrel.”

Price started the season on the DL and didn’t make his first start until May 29. The 31-year-old left-hander, winner of the 2012 AL Cy Young Award, is 5-3 with a 3.82 ERA.

“I do not know if he’ll miss the season,” Red Sox President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombroski. “I’m not anticipating that at this time.”

Porcello said that he “knew pretty early” after his July 23 start at the Los Angeles Angels that it was possible he would be moved up.

“It was early enough for me to prepare and be fine,” he said.

Boston has lost five of six and nine of 14, dropping out of the AL East lead for the first time since June 29 and falling a half-game behind the New York Yankees.

Jason Vargas (13-4) gave up one run and five hits in six innings. Vargas, who had been winless in three starts since June 30, is one shy of his career high for wins, set in 2012 with Seattle.

Kelvin Herrera pitched a one-hit ninth for his 22nd save in 25 chances, getting rookie Rafael Devers to hit into a game-ending forceout after Andrew Benintendi’s two-out single.

Kansas City, which has rebounded from a 7-16 start, is 15-8 in July and on its longest winning streak since nine consecutive victories from last Aug. 14-23. The Royals have outscored opponents 67-27 during the streak and outhomered them 20-2.

Three days after his big league debut, Devers went 1 for 2 in his first home game for the Red Sox. He doubled down the right-field line in the fifth and scored on Mookie Betts’ single, and at 20 years, 277 days became the youngest Boston player with a hit at Fenway Park since Mike Garman in 1969.

Chris Young tripled off Mike Minor leading off the seventh and scored on Sandy Leon’s groundout.

CLUTCH

Ten of Perez’s 21 homers have put the Royals ahead.

LATER, DAD

The Royals dealt RHP Luke Farrell, the son of the Red Sox manager, to the Los Angeles Dodgers for cash considerations. Farrell made his major league debut on July 1, allowing five runs over 2 2/3 innings against the Twins.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: Perez returned to the lineup after leaving Tuesday’s game and sitting out Wednesday with soreness on his right side. … The Royals recalled OF Terrance Gore from Triple-A Omaha. Gore has split time between Double- and Triple-A this season, hitting .231 with 17 steals. … OFs Paulo Orlando and Cheslor Cuthbert will remain on rehab assignment after both suffering setbacks.

Red Sox: LHP Robby Scott was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket to take Price’s roster spot.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Trevor Cahill (4-3, 3.69 for San Diego) is to make his first start for the Royal on Saturday following his acquisition from the Padres. Cahill is 0-2 with a 7.79 ERA at Fenway Park.

Red Sox: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (4-3, 3.89) is 1-0 with a 2.38 ERA in four home starts this season but is 0-2 in three starts since beating Seattle on May 26.

— Associated Press —