KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Alex Gordon hit a grand slam, Dillon Gee pitched seven strong innings and the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 8-1 on Thursday night.

The Royals have won five straight and eight of nine to move above .500 for the first time since July 22. Royals starting pitchers have a 1.61 ERA in the five-game winning streak, allowing 23 hits and six earned runs in 33 2/3 innings, while striking out 27 and walking seven.

Gordon, who was hitting .199 with 16 RBI on Aug. 9, extended his hitting streak to a season-best nine games. Gordon has homered in three consecutive games.

Gee (5-6) picked up the Royals’ first victory from a No. 5 starter since May 31. The Royals are 9-21 is games started by the fifth starter.

Gee, who is 3-6 in 10 starts, gave up a home run to Brian Dozier on his third pitch. It was Dozier’s 14th career leadoff homer and his 27th for the season. He has homered in five straight games against the Royals.

That was the only run Gee would allow as he limited the Twins to four singles after the home run, walked one and struck out seven. Gee’s seven innings were a season high.

Twins right-hander Tyler Duffey (8-9) retired the first 10 hitters, but only one of the final seven batters he faced before being removed by manager Paul Molitor. After Cheslor Cuthbert’s single with out in the third, Duffey walked three and hit a batter with Gordon’s third career grand slam punctuating the inning. Duffy was replaced by Michael Tonkin after 3 2/3 innings, allowing five runs.

The Royals added three runs in the eighth with Kendrys Morales and Eric Hosmer both driving in a run. The other run scored on a throwing error by center fielder Eddie Rosario.

Cuthbert had three of the Royals’ seven hits.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: LHP Jason Vargas, who has not pitched this season after Tommy John surgery in July 2015, made his third rehab start Wednesday, giving up three runs and four hits, including two home runs, in 2 1/3 innings for Northwest Arkansas against Corpus Christi. He threw 42 pitches, 27 for strikes, while striking out one and walking none.

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Twins: RHP Jose Berrios yielded six runs, eight hits and a walk in two innings in his previous start, a 15-7 loss to Houston.

Royals: RHP Edinson Volquez is 2-0 with a 2.95 ERA in three 2016 starts against the Twins.

— Associated Press —

DETROIT (AP) — Eric Hosmer hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to give the Kansas City Royals a 4-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night and complete a three-game sweep.

Hosmer broke up Anibal Sanchez’s no-hit bid with a double in the seventh inning after spoiling his perfect game bid with a walk in the fifth.

Sanchez threw seven shutout innings after allowing eight runs in four innings in his previous start. He struck out six and walked two Wednesday.

In the ninth, Shane Greene (2-3) allowed a one-out single to Lorenzo Cain before Hosmer’s line drive into the right-field stands. Drew Butera added an RBI single later in the inning.

Matt Strahm (1-0) got the win with 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief, and Kelvin Herrera pitched the ninth for his sixth save.

— Associated Press —

DETROIT (AP) — Danny Duffy allowed one run in 7 2/3 innings and the Kansas City Royals hit four homers in a 6-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night.

Raul Mondesi, Alex Gordon and Eric Hosmer all homered off Justin Verlander (12-7), while Kendrys Morales went deep off Mark Lowe.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia homered for Detroit’s only run. The Tigers have lost seven of nine.

Duffy (10-1) allowed three hits and two walks, striking out five.

Verlander gave up five runs — three earned — four hits and a walk in seven-plus innings. He struck out six.

Verlander retired the first eight batters he faced, but Mondesi gave the Royals a 1-0 lead by driving a hanging slider just inside the right-field foul pole for his first career homer.

Kansas City’s second hit came in the fifth inning, when Gordon hit another slider into nearly the same spot as Mondesi. Gordon came into the game with a .205 career average against the Tigers ace.

Duffy only needed 41 pitches over the first four innings, but Saltalamacchia put the Tigers on the board with a fifth-inning homer into the shrubs above the centerfield fence.

Hosmer restored Kansas City’s two-run lead with a seventh-inning homer to center field that was estimated at 443 feet. It was the fifth hit of the game — four solo homers and a double by Detroit’s J.D. Martinez.

Victor Martinez got the game’s first single when Gordon missed a diving catch of his sinking liner to left in the seventh. J.D. Martinez hit into a force at second, but moved to third on a wild pitch and a fly ball.

Duffy, though, struck out James McCann to end the inning.

Detroit’s defense fell apart at the start of the eighth. Gordon hit a routine grounder to third, but ended up on second when Saltalamacchia missed Casey McGehee’s throw. Alcides Escobar singled to left with Gordon taking third, then moved to second when Justin Upton lobbed the ball into the infield.

Verlander walked Mondesi on his 112th and final pitch, loading the bases. Bruce Rondon came in from the bullpen and struck out Paolo Orlando, but Cheslor Cuthbert hit a blooper to shallow center that Ian Kinsler got under, but dropped.

Kinsler recovered in time to force Escobar at third, but Gordon scored to make to it 4-1. Lorenzo Cain doubled to give the Royals a four-run lead.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: Three pitchers with long-term injuries are scheduled to make rehab performances this week. Kris Medlen, out since May with a rotator cuff problem, started Tuesday night for Surprise in the Arizona League, while Jason Vargas (Tommy John surgery) is scheduled to start for Double-A Northwest Arizona on Wednesday. Mike Minor (shoulder) is supposed to pitch for Triple-A Omaha on Friday. Vargas and Minor have both missed the entire season.

Tigers: 1B Miguel Cabrera was out of the starting lineup Tuesday with a strained left biceps. The injury, sustained in Monday’s loss to the Royals, is not considered serious. Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said he expects Cabrera to miss no more than 2 or 3 games. … Jordan Zimmermann (neck) threw a 20-pitch bullpen session on Tuesday, and is scheduled to throw another on Thursday.

TIGERS TRADE

The Tigers announced shortly before the first pitch that they had traded utilityman Mike Aviles and minor-league catcher Kade Scivicque to Atlanta for infielder Erick Aybar. General manager Al Avila said the move was designed to give the Tigers more offense off the bench. Aybar is hitting .242 this season as opposed to Aviles’ .210.

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The teams finish their three-game series on Wednesday evening, with Kansas City’s Yordano Ventura (8-9, 4.60) facing Anibal Sanchez (6-12, 6.31). Sanchez has allowed 23 homers in 19 starts and only lasted four innings in his last outing.

— Associated Press —

DETROIT (AP) — Ian Kennedy pitched effectively into the seventh inning to win for the first since June 26 as the Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers 3-1 on Monday night.

The Tigers lost slugger Miguel Cabrera after four innings to a strained left biceps. Cabrera appeared to injure himself in a first-inning collision with Cheslor Cuthbert at first base, but batted twice before leaving the game.

Detroit said Cabrera is day to day.

Kennedy (7-9) ended an eight-start winless streak, allowing one run on five hits and a walk in 6 2/3 innings. Three relievers finished, with Kelvin Herrera pitching the ninth for his fifth save.

Daniel Norris (1-1) took the loss, allowing two runs — one earned — in 5 1/3 innings. He gave up six hits and walked four while striking out one. He also made the error that led to the unearned run.

Paulo Orlando started the game with a four-pitch walk, then went to third when Norris threw away Cuthbert’s infield single, leading to the collision with Cabrera as he reached for the ball. With one out, Eric Hosmer hit a line drive to deep left-center, and though Tyler Collins ran it down, Orlando scored easily on the sacrifice fly.

The Royals nearly expanded the lead in the fifth, putting runners on second and third with two outs, but second baseman Ian Kinsler made a diving stop of Kendrys Morales’ grounder to end the inning.

Kansas City added to the lead in the sixth. With one out, Alex Gordon doubled and went to third on Norris’ wild pitch. After a walk to Alcides Escobar put runners at the corners, Alex Wilson came in to pitch and Raul Mondesi laid down a safety squeeze.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who had replaced Cabrera at first base, fielded the bunt cleanly but hesitated before making a play, giving Mondesi an RBI single.

J.D. Martinez made it 2-1 with a solo homer in the seventh — his second in two days and the 101st of his career. Casey McGehee singled with two outs, bringing Peter Moylan out of the Royals’ bullpen.

James McCann hit an infield single, but pinch-hitter Mike Aviles popped out to end the inning.

The Royals added an insurance run in the ninth on Lorenzo Cain’s RBI single off Blaine Hardy.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: LHP Jason Vargas, out since July 2015 after Tommy John surgery, will begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Northwest Arkansas this week. Vargas is scheduled to pitch three innings Wednesday, but there is no timeline for a possible return to the majors.

Tigers: RHP Mike Pelfrey, sidelined since Aug. 1 with a back strain, will not be activated from the DL when he becomes eligible on Tuesday. He has only progressed as far as throwing on the side, but he’s planning on a tougher workout Friday. Once he can throw off a mound, Pelfrey is expected to make at least one rehab start before returning to the rotation.

EJECTION

The Tigers, already short-handed after Cabrera’s injury, lost Collins in the bottom of the eighth when he was ejected by plate umpire Dan Iassogna for arguing a called third strike. Andrew Romine replaced Collins in center field for the ninth inning.

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The teams continue their three-game series Tuesday, with aces Danny Duffy (9-1, 2.82 ERA) and Justin Verlander (12-6, 3.42) squaring off. Verlander is 22-8 with a 3.21 ERA in 40 career starts against the Royals, giving him the most wins against Kansas City of any active pitcher.

— Associated Press —

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — With Paulo Orlando a double shy of the cycle, Kansas City manager Ned Yost said the Royals were hoping their best hitter could get one more at-bat in the ninth inning against Minnesota.

Orlando got his chance, but settled for a single.

The Royals were plenty satisfied, though, as Orlando hit a three-run homer, triple and scored three times three runs scored on Sunday in an 11-4 win over the Twins.

“We were pushing for that at-bat so that he could get that opportunity. Just another lousy single,” Yost kidded.

What a difference a couple of weeks and a lineup change can make.

Orlando and Lorenzo Cain each matched career highs with four hits and drove in three runs as the Royals won their first road series since late June.

Edinson Volquez (9-10) threw six solid innings to snap his five-game winless streak. He gave up two earned runs and five hits in his first win since July 9, and his first road win since May 24.

Two weeks ago, the Royals closed July with their 10th loss in 12 games. Since then, they’ve won eight of 13; their starting pitchers earned five of them.

“I think everybody’s pitching good right now and that’s what we need,” Volquez said.

Orlando, promoted to the leadoff spot last week, has been the other factor. He’s hitting .368 (39 for 106) since the All-Star break and homered off starter Hector Santiago (10-7) in the fourth, capping a six-run inning.

“It’s just amazing his consistency,” Yost said. “I mean it just seems like he gets two or three hits every night.”

“If at the end of spring training you’d have told me in the middle of August Paulo Orlando would be up here doing what he’s doing, I’d have a hard time believing it,” Yost said. “But after seeing it all summer long, it’s just been phenomenal the year he’s put together.”

Chris Young pitched three scoreless innings for his first save.

Brian Dozier hit his 26th home run for Minnesota and Joe Mauer had a pair of hits, including an RBI single in the fifth that pulled the Twins to 7-4.

Kansas City took advantage of three errors in the sixth, two by third baseman Jorge Polanco, to pull away. Minnesota finished its seven-game homestand 2-5.

“We had a lot of misplays around the field today, so you don’t want to point any fingers,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “Not a good game, not a good homestand.”

Polanco’s second misplay loaded the bases for Cain, who singled off reliever Michael Tonkin to drive in a pair of runs. Two batters later, left fielder Robbie Grossman failed to come up with Kendrys Morales’ flyball, resulting in two more runs.

“We did a good job of swinging the bat today, that was huge,” Cain said. “Of course they made a lot of errors as well, but at the same time guys stepped up in clutch situations and we definitely needed it.”

Santiago remained winless with Minnesota since being acquired from the Los Angeles Angels in a four-player trade on Aug. 1. He’s allowed 15 earned runs in 14 1/3 innings in his first three starts for Minnesota.

FEELING SUPPORTED

The 11 runs were the Royals’ most in support of Volquez this year. Entering the game, the Royals had backed Volquez with two or fewer runs in 13 of his last 19 starts — including zero runs in six of those starts. “Like I always said, we’ve got a pretty good team. We can score many runs, so it’s not a surprise for me,” he said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: OF Miguel Sano was scheduled for an MRI Monday for his sore right elbow. Molitor and Sano called the move precautionary, although it’s the same elbow that required Tommy John surgery and caused the Twins slugger to miss the 2014 season. Sano tweaked the elbow during warmups last weekend in Tampa Bay and the pain hasn’t gone away. “It bothers me in the sense of the pain, but I’m not worried about anything being severe,” Sano said through a translator, adding that it doesn’t bother him while swinging.

UP NEXT

Royals: Open a three-game series in Detroit on Monday when Ian Kennedy (6-9) tries for his first-career win against the Tigers. He’s 0-3 lifetime against Detroit with a 4.34 ERA and is 3-6 on the road this season.

Twins: Off Monday before Ervin Santana (5-9) takes the mound to start a two-game interleague set in Atlanta. Santana has won two straight. He threw a complete game against the Braves on July 26, but the Twins still lost 2-0.

— Associated Press —