MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Twins have postponed their game against the Kansas City Royals because of rain, prompting a doubleheader to finish the series.

The team made the announcement about an hour before the scheduled first pitch on Saturday afternoon, with the forecast predicting uninterrupted rain in the area for the rest of the day.

The Twins and Royals will play a straight doubleheader on Sunday, with one admission for fans. The makeup game will begin 30 minutes after the end of the regularly scheduled game at 1:10 p.m. local time.

Pitching has led to much uncertainty for both teams.

Minnesota will start Phil Hughes (4-2, 5.23 ERA) in the first game on Sunday. The team has announced rookie Adalberto Mejia (0-1, 5.79) will start the makeup game, but Mejia has not been added to the active roster yet.

The Twins have waited to make a roster move because of the weather and Mejia could be added as the 26th player for the doubleheader.

Minnesota also has to decide on a starter for Monday after the schedule was interrupted because of a postponement Wednesday, which was made up in a Thursday doubleheader.

This was Minnesota’s fifth postponement of the season, with three at home. One of those was at Kansas City on April 29, a game rescheduled for a doubleheader with the Royals on July 1.

Kansas City will start Ian Kennedy (0-3, 3.03) in the second game on Sunday, but Kennedy also hasn’t been added to the active roster. He’s been on the disabled list since May 5 with a right hamstring strain.

“He’s good to go, but we’ll wait,” Royals manager Ned Yost said Friday.

Yost also added that Friday’s starter, Nate Karns, would undergo more tests after leaving Friday’s game with stiffness in the top of his pitching arm.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Danny Duffy knew his stumbling Royals desperately needed a win, so the left-hander showed up at Kauffman Stadium on Thursday night and began telling jokes and getting people laughing.

Anything to loosen them up.

Turned out Duffy had the last laugh.

He tossed seven innings of three-hit ball, Mike Moustakas hit a three-run homer and the Royals beat the New York Yankees 5-1 to avoid a three-game sweep.

“We’ve been in a little bit of a rut,” said Duffy (3-3), who struck out a season-best 10 while walking two and earning his first win since April 14. “I just wanted to get positive vibes going.”

Duffy, who had been 0-3 with two no-decisions in his last five starts, was lifted after 108 pitches. Mike Minor handled the eighth and Kelvin Herrera surrendered a run in the ninth.

“Danny was just on the attack all night,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He kept his pitch count down and really gave us seven strong innings.”

The Royals scored twice in the second off Jordan Montgomery (2-3) before Moustakas deposited his pitch into the bullpen in right in the fifth inning to break the game open.

Montgomery surrendered four hits and three walks over five innings.

“I’m just a 24-year-old with eight starts in my big league career and I’m trying to learn,” he said. “I know the fans expect more from me and I expect more from myself. I’ve got to do better.”

The Royals jumped ahead in the second thanks in part to the Yankees’ inability to turn a double play. They had runners on first and second when Jorge Soler sent a grounder to third base. The Yankees got the force at second but couldn’t convert the relay, keeping the inning alive.

Whit Merrifield and Drew Butera followed with RBI singles for a 2-0 lead.

Montgomery proceeded to set down the next seven batters he faced before Merrifield’s leadoff single in the fifth. Butera grounded into a fielder’s choice, Alcides Escobar walked and Moustakas sent the first pitch he saw into the bullpen in right for a three-run homer.

Meanwhile, Duffy was dodging all sorts of trouble.

After retiring his first nine batters, six by strikeout, Jacoby Ellsbury reached base with a well-timed bunt. He was initially called out but replays showed first baseman Eric Hosmer pulled his foot off the bag, and the call was overturned with Ellsbury getting a hit.

Duffy walked Matt Holliday later in the inning before escaping the jam.

“When you see a slider, you can always see the spin, but on his slider I didn’t see,” Yankees second baseman Starlin Castro said. “He don’t make too many mistakes.”

The left-hander also put two runners aboard leading off the fifth, one on an error by Moustakas and the other with a walk. But a double play and strikeout ended that inning without a run.

Duffy stranded a runner on third by striking out Aaron Hicks to end his night.

“You’re going to run into guys that have got good stuff and they’re on. On certain nights it’s going to be tough to put a lot up against them,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “We had a couple of chances, but weren’t able to get hits in those chances. Duffy did a really good job.”

STATS AND STREAKS

The Yankees were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position. … New York had scored at least seven runs in each of its last four games. … The Royals avoided their first home sweep by the Yankees since May 10-12, 2013. … Kansas City committed two errors for the first time this season.

A-ROD’S DEBUT

Alex Rodriguez made his color commentating debut as Fox Sports broadcast the game. The former Yankees slugger chatted before the game with Girardi, who spent time broadcasting before becoming a manager. “The biggest thing as a broadcaster is you have to tell the story through your eyes. Don’t try to be something you’re not,” Girardi said. “The way you understood the game is the way you can probably tell the story the best.”

UP NEXT

Yankees RHP Luis Severino will start Friday night’s series opener at Tampa Bay. The 23-year-old Severino has pitched well enough for the Yankees to win three of his last four starts.

Royals RHP Nate Karns takes the mound as Kansas City begins a 10-game trip in Minnesota, where they were swept to start the season. The Royals were also swept by the Twins in a rain-shortened two-game set at Kauffman Stadium. Karns had a career-high 12 strikeouts against Baltimore his last time out.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Aaron Hicks hit a three-run homer to cap a five-run fourth inning, the Yankees piled up 16 hits and New York rolled to an 11-7 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night.

Michael Pineda (4-2) allowed three runs and six hits with two walks over six-plus innings. The big right-hander was shaky throughout but good enough to win for only the second time in 16 road starts.

The Yankees teed off on Jason Vargas (5-2), who came into the game with a major league-leading 1.01 ERA. The left-hander allowed as many earned runs in the fourth as he had in his first seven starts combined, and was lifted after allowing six runs on seven hits and two walks in four innings.

Vargas had been unbeaten in his last 10 home starts.

Then again, maybe his abysmal night shouldn’t have been that much of a surprise. Vargas has never beaten the Yankees in nine starts and 10 outings, going 0-6 with a 7.15 ERA.

Starlin Castro had three hits and drove in a run. Brett Gardner and Didi Gregorius each had two hits and two RBI. In fact, the only Yankees without a hit by the fifth inning were Matt Holliday and Aaron Judge, and all Judge had done was draw a pair of walks and score both times.

Holliday and Judge promptly got their base hits in the sixth.

Salvador Perez hit a two-run homer and Whit Merrifield also went deep for Kansas City, which scored three times in the ninth to make the final score more respectable.

The Yankees entered the game leading the big leagues with a plus-59 run differential, and they added to it on a windy night at Kauffman Stadium. They pounded their 59th home run through their first 37 games, and scored seven or more runs for the fourth consecutive game.

They routed the Royals 7-1 in the series opener Tuesday night.

TWO FOR ONE

Yankees third baseman Chase Headley was charged with two errors on one play in the seventh inning. First, he bobbled a grounder that allowed Merrifield to reach first safely. Then, he threw widely of first base to allow the lead runner to go from second to third.

A-ROD ON TV

Alex Rodriguez makes his debut as a color commentator for the series finale on Thursday. A-Rod will join Kevin Burkhardt in calling the game on Fox Sports. Rodriguez has been active in TV since his retirement, doing pre- and post-game analysis for Fox Sports along with other projects.

“I get a chance to talk to him tomorrow pregame and talk about the team, so that will be kind of strange,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “That means I’m getting old.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals RHP Ian Kennedy played long toss before the game and should be ready to start Saturday. He has been out with a right hamstring injury. “Things are looking pretty good,” manager Ned Yost said.

UP NEXT

Yankees LHP Jordan Montgomery goes for his third career win in his seventh big league start on Thursday night. He was battered by Houston in his last start Friday night.

Royals LHP Danny Duffy tries to snap a five-start winless streak against his nemesis. Duffy is just 1-2 with a 7.29 ERA in seven appearances against New York.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — CC Sabathia’s eyes light up whenever he sees the outfield fountains at Kauffman Stadium.

His performance usually picks up, too.

The Yankees’ big left-hander carried a shutout into the seventh inning Tuesday night, getting a three-run homer from Gary Sanchez and a two-run shot from Chris Carter in support, and New York went on to rout the Kansas City Royals 7-1 in the opener of their three-game series.

Pitching on six days’ rest, Sabathia (3-2) struck out five and walked two over 6 2/3 innings to win for the first time since April 15. And the fact he got back on track in Kansas City should come as no surprise: He is 13-5 in 21 career starts there, matching the record for most wins by a visitor.

“I love pitching here,” Sabathia said, smiling. “It’s my favorite park.”

Sabathia was never in trouble until the seventh, when Alex Gordon’s infield single loaded the bases with two outs. Tyler Clippard came in and fanned Whit Merrifield to escape the jam, then handled the eighth before Jonathan Holder allowed a run in the ninth.

That preserved the solid effort by Sabathia, who had allowed 22 runs in his last four starts.

“He was pretty frustrated with the way things were going,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said, “not pitching the way he did earlier this season. So I think this was big.”

Sanchez drilled an 0-1 pitch from Jason Hammel (1-5) to center field with nobody out in the third, and Carter pounded a 1-1 pitch to almost the same place with two down in the fourth.

“I’ve got to do a better job of keeping the ball in the park,” Hammel said. “Both the guys that hit it out are strong boys. They’re mistake killers.”

Jacoby Ellsbury and Matt Holliday also drove in runs against the Royals’ bullpen, part of a 13-hit outburst that sent the Yankees to their ninth win in the last 11 meetings with Kansas City.

It was another dismal night for Hammel, who allowed seven runs over seven innings in his last start against Tampa Bay. The right-hander yielded five runs on nine hits and a walk in six innings this time, and has served up six home runs in his last four outings.

“It was two balls that left the yard that hurt me,” he said. “I’m trying to stay positive and just continue to work. I’ve got to find a way to do a better job of establishing a better tone early.”

Meanwhile, Sabathia was getting plenty of help from his defense.

Alcides Escobar twice lined out to third baseman Chase Headley, including a hot shot leading off the game. Carter made a couple of nifty plays at first base, and left fielder Brett Gardner threw out Jorge Soler in the fifth inning as he tried to stretch a single.

The Yankees’ dominant pitching and defense came after the Royals had won three one-run games in a sweep of Baltimore, capped by a season-best 14 hits in the finale on Sunday.

“We had guys hit the ball on the nose,” Royals manager Ned Yost said, “and not much to show for it.”

STATS AND STREAKS

Sanchez has hit all three of his homers on the road this season. … Carter has 13 career hits against Kansas City. Six of them are home runs. … The Royals were held to one run or fewer for the 13th time, most in the majors. … Gordon had his first multi-hit game since April 9.

SILENCE FOR STEVE

There was a moment of silence before the game for Steve Palermo, the umpire whose career ended when he was shot trying to break up a robbery in 1991. Palermo, who lived in the Kansas City area, died last weekend at age 67. He had been ill with cancer.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals RHP Ian Kennedy will throw a bullpen Wednesday and hopes to make his next start Saturday. Kennedy has been dealing with a strained right hamstring.

UP NEXT

Yankees RHP Michael Pineda tries to keep rolling when he gets the ball Wednesday night on five days’ rest. Pineda is 3-1 with a 2.63 ERA over his last six outings.

Royals LHP Jason Vargas makes his ninth career start against the Yankees, still searching for his first win. He is 5-1 with a 1.01 ERA this season, but 0-5 with a 6.53 ERA vs. New York.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Mike Moustakas came through with a big homer and thought of his late mother, just like he does every time he goes deep.

Moustakas homered and drove in four runs to help the Kansas City Royals rally from five runs down to beat the Baltimore Orioles 9-8 Sunday.

“A day like today makes me miss my mom even more,” Moustakas said of his mother Connie, who passed way on Aug. 9, 2015. “Mother’s Day is special, but I miss my mom every day. It doesn’t take a day like today to miss her.

“Anytime I hit a home run, I think about my mom and always point up to her. In order to do that, is a pretty cool feeling. Today was no different, just a tie game and thinking about my mom pretty much all the time, so nothing really changes.”

Jorge Soler and Drew Butera also homered for the Royals. Soler’s 464-foot shot to center leading off the seventh was the longest by a Kansas City player this season.

The Royals have won four straight, matching a season high, and six of seven since moving Alcides Escobar to the leadoff spot.

Moustakas homered off Kevin Gausman with Butera and Escobar aboard in a five-run fourth when the Royals sent 11 men to the plate. Gausman was pulled after retiring only 10 of the 21 batters he faced, allowing five runs and nine hits with two walks.

“It’s frustrating,” Gausman said. “I think they started eliminating my curveball early in the game, when I get in those situations where I have to throw a strike, the hitters pretty much have a good idea what they’re going to get. And that’s the biggest thing. They didn’t really miss any pitches that were in the strike zone and even some pitches that were out of the strike zone, they went out there and got it.”

The Royals scored two runs, one unearned, in the fifth, which included Alex Gordon scoring from second on Manny Machado’s throwing error after Escobar’s bunt.

The Orioles jumped on Royals starter Chris Young for five runs in 3 2/3 innings. Young gave up home run to Chris Davis to leadoff the second and a two-run shot in a four-run fourth to Caleb Joseph to finish his day. Ryan Flaherty contributed a two-run double in the fourth.

“The ones that really hurt were the Flaherty and the Joseph, back-to-back,” Young said. “Sliders I didn’t execute. If I make a good pitch to Flaherty, I’d like to think I’d get an out there and keep me at 1-nothing at that point and this win is a lot easier. I didn’t execute and it cost us.”

In two starts this season and 13 starts last year, Young is 1-8 with an 8.74 ERA, allowing 55 runs on 80 hits, including 29 home runs, in 56 2/3 innings.

Davis reached base five times on his homer, RBI single and three walks.

Matt Strahm (1-2), the second of seven Royals pitchers, picked up the victory. Kelvin Herrera, pitching in three consecutive days, finished up for his eighth save in nine chances. After Joseph’s RBI double in the ninth, Herrera struck out Seth Smith and got Jonathan Schoop on a fly ball to strand runners at second and third to end the game.

Richard Bleier (0-1) took the loss as the Baltimore bullpen gave up four runs.

“For the most part our guys have done a tremendous job of holding it there and kind of stopping the bleeding,” Joseph said. “We just weren’t able to bandage it up today.”

The nine runs and 14 hits were season-highs for the Royals.

SORIA’S AMAZING CATCH

Joakim Soria came sprinting off the mound to catch Mark Trumbo’s foul pop up that catcher Butera lost in the sun. “He keeps telling me he wants to catch pop ups and I told him, here’s your chance,” Butera said. “I gave it to him. I thought it was a foul ball straight back and I didn’t see it. The next thing I see Jack running by and said, `Thank God, he’s athletic.”

ORIOLES RECALL BLEIR

The Orioles recalled Bleier from Triple-A Norfolk, where he had a 0.61 ERA, allowing one run in 14 2/3 innings with 15 strikeouts and no walks. Bleier had a 1.96 ERA in 23 relief appearances last season for the Yankees. The Orioles optioned LHP Vidal Nuno, who had a 6.75 ERA in nine bullpen outings, to the Tide.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Orioles: CF Adam Jones was not in the lineup for the first time this season. “He’s pretty banged up,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “He’s got a sore hip. He’s diving, different stuff.” With a day off Monday, this will give Jones two days to rest.

Royals: LF Alex Gordon, who left the game Friday with right groin tightness and sat out Saturday, was back in the Royals’ lineup. Gordon went 0 for 4, dropping his average to .153.

UP NEXT

Orioles: LHP Wade Miley will start the series opener Tuesday at Detroit after a day off Monday.

Royals: RHP Jason Hammel, who allowed a career-matching 13 hits in his previous start, draws the starting assignment Tuesday against the Yankees.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Nate Karns won a spring training competition to earn the fifth slot in the Kansas City rotation. In his last three starts, he has been dominant.

Karns struck out a career-high 12 in five innings, Eric Hosmer reached base four times and the Royals beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-3 on Saturday night.

Karns is the first in franchise history to strike out 12 in five innings. The last pitcher to accomplish that was Jake Arrieta of the Chicago Cubs on June 5, 2016.

“That’s pretty cool, but as a starter I’d like to go deeper in games,” Karns said. “The strikeouts are great, but I really want to go deep as I can and help the ballclub win, but having 12 in five is something special, but it’s really too short of a game.”

In his past three starts, Karns has allowed four runs and 11 hits in 17 1/3 innings while striking out 29.

Baltimore’s Chris Davis homered off Seth Maness (1-0) to tie it 3-3 in the sixth, but Brandon Moss went deep off Alec Asher (1-2) to put Kansas City back ahead later that inning. Moss has homered in consecutive games.

“The story the last two nights, for me, is we just haven’t scored any runs,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “I’ll just give their pitcher credit, but we’re capable of better, too.”

Hosmer had two hits and walked twice. The Royals scored three runs in 4 1/3 innings off Chris Tillman.

“As the game wore on, I felt like I tried to do too much,” Tillman said. “I kind of got out of my delivery and started falling behind guys and staying behind them, as opposed to making my pitch early on and getting in a count that favors pitchers.”

Karns has 48 strikeouts in 40 1/3 innings this season, but has also allowed eight home runs, including a pair to Francisco Pena on Saturday. Pena homered in the third and fifth innings, the second and third homers of his career.

Sacrifice flies by Lorenzo Cain and Jorge Bonifacio in the fifth gave the Royals a 3-2 lead.

Maness was making his Royals’ debut and his first big league appearance since Aug. 13 because of elbow surgery.

Mike Minor pitched two perfect innings for Kansas City and has allowed one run in 14 2/3 innings in his past eight appearances. Kelvin Herrera worked a perfect ninth for his seventh save in eight chances.

Hosmer doubled to start the second and scored on Salvador Perez’s single. Hosmer is hitting .422 in his past 17 games to raise his average to .299.

THE DARK SIDE

Showalter thought the baseballs were too dark Friday. Before each game, balls are rubbed with a New Jersey mud from a Delaware River tributary to take the shine off.

“That’s something they’re working on,” Showalter said. “Each night the balls are a different color. Can you imagine if you had other sports that did that? You’ve got to see the ball, right? It depends on how much the guys who are rubbing the balls up want to make them that night. Doesn’t that seem a little strange to you? I find it a little strange that we play with a different ball in the minor leagues than we do in the big leagues.”

NINE FOR NINE

2B Whit Merrifield became the ninth Royal to bat ninth this season. Raul Mondesi started 12 games batting ninth before being optioned April 21 to Triple-A Omaha. Backup C Drew Butera has batted last seven times. None of the others have more than four starts hitting ninth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Orioles: C Welington Castillo (right shoulder tendinitis) began his minor league rehab assignment at Double-A Bowie, serving as designated hitter for a doubleheader. He went 1 for 4, was hit by a pitch and walked. He is scheduled to catch Sunday and join the Orioles on Tuesday in Detroit.

Royals: LF Alex Gordon, who left in the seventh inning Friday with right groin tightness, was not in the lineup. Manager Ned Yost said if Gordon is not close to 100 percent Sunday, he would sit him again, and with the day off Monday, that would give him three days to recuperate.

UP NEXT

Orioles: RHP Kevin Gausman starts the series finale. He is coming off perhaps his best start of the season, holding the Nationals to five hits and two runs over seven innings with eight strikeouts and one walk.

Royals: RHP Chris Young will make his second start of the year. He is 1-8 in his past 14 starts.

— Associated Press —