KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Byron Buxton tripled, doubled, drove in two runs and scored twice as the Minnesota Twins defeated the Kansas City Royals 7-6 on Thursday night.

After Salvador Perez’s pinch-hit RBI single with two outs in the ninth pulled the Royals within a run, Terrance Gore ran for him. With Paulo Orlando, who had four hits to match his career high, hitting, Brandon Kintzler picked Gore off first base.

Gore was initially called safe, but after a 1 minute, 15 second review, the call was reversed to end the game.

Buxton’s one-out double triggered a three-run ninth off Kelvin Herrera (2-6). Robbie Grossman, Miguel Sano and Max Kepler contributed run-scoring singles in the ninth.

The Twins won for the first time in 10 games this season at Kauffman Stadium.

Michael Tonkin (3-2) was the winner, while Kintzler logged his 16th save in 19 opportunities.

Royals left-hander Danny Duffy was pulled with one out in the seventh, allowing four runs and eight hits, including a solo homer to Kennys Vargas in the sixth.

The Twins’ three-run seventh included a two-run triple by Buxton, who scored on Jorge Polanco’s single.

Twins starter Kyle Gibson failed to hold the two-run lead through the bottom of the inning. Jarrod Dyson tripled home Drew Butera and scored on Whit Merrifield’s single to tie the score.

Orlando had two doubles, while Butera had three hits, equaling his career best, including a single to lead off the ninth.

DOZIER SITS

Twins 2B Brian Dozier, who is 1 for 30 after hitting his 42nd home run in his first at-bat on Sept. 22, did not start for the first time since May 24. “When you get tired you start trying to muscle the ball and he’s been a little more impatient the last couple of days,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “We’re down to 12 at-bats if he plays the next three games, roughly. Give up three to try to make the last 12 really good.” … Eduardo Escobar made his first start of the season at second base. He started four games there last season.

ONE MORE VICTORY

The Royals need one victory in their final three games to have a winning record for the fourth consecutive year. The last time the Royals accomplished that was 1975-1980, six straight winning seasons.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: 1B Joe Mauer, who is hitless in his past 15 at-bats, missed the three games against the Royals with a quad injury.

Royals: RHP Kris Medlen, who is on the 60-day DL with rotator cuff inflammation, said he is shut down until November when he will begin a throwing program. “Beyond frustrating,” Medlen described his season. He was 1/3 with a 7.77 ERA in six starts.

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Tyler Duffey has allowed 198 base runners (161 hits), 31 walks and six hit batters in 131 innings. He will make his final start Friday at the White Sox, who will counter with LHP Carlos Rodon.

Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura is 0-1 with 5.40 ERA in two starts this season against the Indians. Cleveland LHP Ryan Merritt will make his first big league start.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The World Series champions have failed to make the postseason for the fourth year in a row.

Kendrys Morales and Alex Gordon keyed an eighth-inning rally and Kansas City beat the Minnesota Twins 5-2 on Wednesday night, but the Royals were still knocked out of playoff contention.

The defending World Series champs were eliminated when Baltimore beat Toronto 3-2 earlier Wednesday.

“Obviously we’d like to be playing a lot more baseball, but the reality of it is we’re not,” said Eric Hosmer, who hit a two-run homer in the third.

Morales’ ground-rule double to right scored Jarrod Dyson, who had doubled and stole third. Gordon’s single scored Whit Merrifield and pinch-runner Billy Burns.

Dyson said he would not be watching postseason games.

“It’s kind of sad and tough to watch postseason when you’re not in it,” Dyson said.

The Twins, who have lost 10 of 11, have dropped 102 games, matching a club record for defeats. The 1982 Twins also lost 102.

“We’re trying to win games, but it’s becoming difficult,” Twins right-hander Ervin Santana said. “But, I think we just try to do too much and we forgot about the little things. It’s a game. You just have to prepare to be better for the next year.”

Taylor Rogers (3-1), the fourth of five Twins pitchers, took the loss after allowing three runs, three hits and two walks while retiring only one of the six batters he faced.

Joakim Soria (5-8) worked a scoreless eighth to pick up the victory. Wade Davis got his 27th save in 30 chances.

Royals left-hander Jason Vargas tossed five shutout innings, allowing four hits, striking out six and walking one. He threw 53 strikes in 87 pitches, leaving with a 2-0 lead in his third start since having Tommy John surgery in 2015. Vargas finishes with a 2.25 ERA, allowing three runs and eight hits while striking out 11 and walking three in 12 innings.

“It was nice to have a reward as far as having some success once I was able to step underneath the lights and really get out there for real,” Vargas said. “Going into the offseason, I was just hoping for health as far as being able to have the normal offseason. So to have a nice outing like this before is a nice comfortable feeling.”

Rookie Kevin McCarthy, however, did not hold the lead for long. McCarthy yielded a two-run two-out home run to Kennys Vargas in the sixth. After McCarthy walked the next two batters, Peter Moylan was summoned to face John Ryan Murphy, retiring him on a comebacker.

The Vargas homer snapped a Twins’ streak of 106 innings without more than one run. According to Elias, it is the longest such streak in the majors since the Philadelphia Phillies went 109 innings in 1942 without scoring multiple runs.

“We just kind of stagnated from there,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said.

Hosmer hit a two-run homer, his 25th, off Santana in the third. The Royals did not get another hit until Dyson’s one-out double in the eighth.

ATTENDANCE DECLINE

The Wednesday attendance of 23,437 pushed the Royals’ season total to 2,445,361 after 77 home dates. After 77 Kauffman Stadium dates last year, the Royals had pulled 2,564,750 through the turnstiles, a decline of 119,389.

ZERO AT KC

The Twins dropped to 0-9 at Kauffman Stadium. They have never finished a season winless at Kansas City.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: 1B Joe Mauer (hamstring injury) was not in the lineup, but Molitor said he was available to pinch hit.

Royals: OF Lorenzo Cain, who has played only one game in September because of left wrist inflammation, will not play again this season. “There is no need to push him,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Kyle Gibson, who went to the University of Missouri, will make his 11th career start against the Royals.

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy is 1-0 with a 1.93 ERA in three outings against the Twins this season.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Billy Burns’ sacrifice fly scored Raul Mondesi in the 11th inning as the Kansas City Royals defeated the Minnesota Twins 4-3 Tuesday night, staving off postseason elimination.

The defending World Series champions are five games behind Baltimore for the second AL wild card with five to play. The Orioles lost 5-1 at Toronto on Tuesday night.

Mondesi drew a walk to lead off the inning, stole second and moved to third on Jarrod Dyson’s sacrifice bunt. Whit Merrifield and Eric Hosmer were walked intentionally to load the bases before Burns hit a fly ball to center field that was deep enough to get Mondesi home.

Rookie Brooks Pounders (2-1), the eighth Royals pitcher, picked up the victory, getting the final two outs of the 11th inning.

The Twins used nine pitchers, matching a club record for an extra-inning game. Left-hander Tommy Milone (3-5) was charged with the loss.

Twins rookie starter Jose Berrios was pulled after 4 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on four hits. He has an 8.61 ERA in 13 starts.

Royals starter Ian Kennedy was removed after five innings and 106 pitches. He gave up three runs on five hits, while striking out five and walking three. He yielded a solo home run to Eduardo Escobar in a 10-pitch at-bat in the fourth inning.

Juan Centeno doubled home Escobar in the second inning for the first run. Max Kepler’s two-out fifth inning single scored Brian Dozier.

The Royals scored two in the fourth on Hosmer run-producing single, his 101st RBI, and Merrifield came home when Kendrys Morales grounded into a double play. Jarrod Dyson’s two-out single in the fifth scored Paulo Orlando to tie the score at 3.

Pinch runner Terrance Gore stole second and third, his 11th steal in 12 attempts, in the Kansas City eighth, but Merrifield bunted into an inning ending double play.

NEWMAN VISITS

NASCAR driver Ryan Newman, who is a friend of Royals manager Ned Yost, visited the team and was in uniform before the game.

SCHAFER BATS FIFTH

Twins LF Logan Schafer batted fifth for the first time this year and the seventh time in his career. He was 1-for-25 in his previous six starts as the No. 5 hitter. He went 1-for-4.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: RHP Dillon Gee has a blood clot in his lung and shoulder and won’t pitch again this year. Gee had shortness of breath after pitching 2 2/3 innings in relief Sunday at Detroit and was taken to the hospital when the blood clots were detected. He also had surgery in July 2012 while with the Mets for a blood clot in his shoulder.

Twins: 1B Joe Mauer, who is hitless in his past 15 at-bats, is still bothered by a sore quadriceps and not in the lineup.

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Ervin Santana is 5-9 with a 4.65 ERA in 20 career starts against the Royals. This is his fifth start this season against the Royals.

Royals: LHP Jason Vargas will make his third start after rehabbing from 2015 reconstructive elbow surgery.

— Associated Press —

DETROIT (AP) — The Kansas City Royals began the game by hitting for the cycle as a team, then Whit Merrifield nearly did it by himself.

Merrifield hit a triple as part of Kansas City’s four-run first inning, and he later added a single and a double in a 12-9 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday. The Royals hit four homers to drop the Tigers in the AL wild-card race — and avoided elimination themselves.

“I haven’t played in the playoffs, but that was as close to a playoff atmosphere as I’ve been a part of,” said Merrifield, a rookie who made his debut for the defending World Series champions in May. “(The Tigers are) fighting for a spot, and they’re going to give you your best shot, so you’re going to have to play all 27 outs.”

Kansas City started the game with a single by Billy Burns, a triple by Merrifield and a double by Kendrys Morales before Salvador Perez’s two-run homer made it 4-0. It was the first time the Royals’ first four hitters combined for a cycle since Sept. 30, 2006, also at Detroit.

Tigers starter Matt Boyd (6-5) lasted only one more hitter after Perez’s homer, giving up another hit before being pulled. The Tigers fell 1 1/2 games behind Baltimore for the second wild-card spot. The loss cut Cleveland’s magic number to clinch the AL Central to one — the Indians start a four-game series in Detroit on Monday night.

Boyd said he understood “100 percent” why he was taken out so quickly.

“I might have been able to work myself through it, but the margin of error is zero right now,” he said. “Every run is important right now and so is every game.”

The Royals led 7-0 after Cheslor Cuthbert and Raul Mondesi hit consecutive homers in the third.

Dillon Gee (8-9) got the win in relief, and Wade Davis pitched the ninth for his 26th save in 29 chances. Miguel Cabrera came up as the tying run but lined out to shallow left field to end it.

Plate umpire Dan Iassogna ejected Cameron Maybin from the Detroit dugout during that final at-bat.

Victor Martinez hit a grand slam for Detroit in the third to make it 7-4, and the Tigers loaded the bases again that inning, chasing starter Edinson Volquez in the process. But Andrew Romine’s bunt attempt with two outs was fielded easily by reliever Peter Moylan, and the force at home ended the inning.

Detroit tried several former starters in long relief — Anibal Sanchez, Shane Greene and Mike Pelfrey all pitched — in an attempt to keep the game close, but the Royals kept adding runs. Alex Gordon’s two-run homer in the sixth made it 11-5.

Kansas City let the Tigers creep back into it by the end. Justin Upton hit a solo homer in the seventh, and Detroit also scored two runs on wild pitches, the second of which made it 11-9 in the eighth.

The Royals held on, though, and there’s still a mathematical chance they can catch the Orioles.

Maybin had four hits for the Tigers.

VERSATILE

Merrifield played first base for the first time this season. He’s also played second, third, left field and right field.

“It’s always fun to switch up the angles for me, see the ball from a different perspective,” he said. “I got a couple balls. I didn’t get to pick one.”

MARATHONS

The 3-hour, 51-minute game was Detroit’s longest nine-inning contest of the season. The Tigers played 3:50 against the Royals on Saturday.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Tigers: RHP Jordan Zimmermann, who has been dropped from the rotation as he struggles to come back from neck problems, pitched for the first time since Sept. 10. He pitched the last three innings in relief, allowing one run and four hits.

UP NEXT

Royals: After an off day Monday, Kansas City starts RHP Ian Kennedy (11-10) against Minnesota RHP Jose Berrios (2-7) on Tuesday night.

Tigers: Detroit sends RHP Buck Farmer (0-0) to the mound Monday against Cleveland RHP Corey Kluber (18-9).

— Associated Press —