Bruce Chen tossed six strong innings, Greg Holland pitched out of a ninth-inning jam, and the Kansas City Royals held on to beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-2 on Tuesday night.

The loss snapped the Orioles’ season-best, five-game winning streak.

Holland, who logged his 25th save in 27 chances, gave up a leadoff single in the ninth to Nick Markakis and a run-producing triple to Adam Jones with none out.

Holland preserved the victory by striking out Chris Davis, and retiring J.J. Hardy and Henry Urrutia on grounders.

Chen (4-0), who was making just his second start after replacing Luis Mendoza in the rotation, limited the Orioles to three hits and one run, retiring the final 10 batters he faced. The Orioles had bashed 45 hits in their previous three games before Chen and three Kansas City relievers shut them down.

Chen, the Royals’ 2012 opening day starter, was relegated to the bullpen to start the season after Mendoza earned the final rotation spot in spring training. In two starts, Chen has yielded one run and four hits in 12 innings.

Manny Machado homered with two outs in the third for the only run Chen permitted.

The Royals went 2 for 15 with runners in scoring position, stranding 12 runners, including nine at second and third base.

They loaded the bases with none out in the first, but scored only one run when Billy Butler grounded into a double play.

In the second, Chris Getz’s one-out single scored David Lough.

Mike Moutakas’ double into the right-field corner in the third scored Lorenzo Cain, who singled to lead off the inning. The Royals had runners at second and third with none out, but failed to pad their lead.

Jason Hammel (7-7) took the loss, giving up 10 hits in six innings for the second straight start. After starting the season 7-2, Hammel is 0-5 with a 5.47 ERA in eight starts since his last victory on May 27 at Washington.

— Associated Press —

The Baltimore Orioles got production from throughout their lineup, while Scott Feldman shut down the Kansas City Royals offense.

 

Chris Davis and J.J. Hardy each drove in three runs and the Orioles defeated the Kansas City Royals 9-2 on Monday night to extend their winning streak to a season-high five games.

 

Davis, who leads the majors with 97 RBIs, drove in a pair of runs with a sixth-inning double and another with a sacrifice fly in the first inning.

 

“I think it’s huge anytime you swing the bats well at the beginning of the game,” Davis said. “It puts some pressure on the opposing pitcher and gives you more opportunities.

 

“The way we’re swinging the bats we know that if one guy doesn’t do it, the next will do it. We’re getting on base, running the bases well and we’re taking advantage of every opportunity.”

 

Hardy homered, his 17th of the season, in the four-run sixth with Davis aboard. He picked up another RBI in the third when Davis scored on his ground out.

 

“Getting a lot of base runners and getting some timely hits, it’s a good combination,” Hardy said.

 

“We had a lot of opportunities to score more, too. We got a lot of guys on-base early, with hits and walks, Nate (McLouth) leading it off sets the tone. And he’s stolen 25 bases, too. That puts pressure on the pitcher to be quicker to the plate which helps the hitters and it puts pressure on the defense.”

 

The Orioles’ 18-hit attack matched their season high and included seven players with multi-hit games, including three each by rookie Henry Urrutia, Nick Markakis and Hardy. McLouth reached base five times — two hits and three walks.

 

“Henry had some great at-bats,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “J.J. had the homer. Nate was on base all night. Chris settled back in pretty good. It was good offense all night.”

 

Feldman (2-1), who was acquired in a July 2 trade from the Chicago Cubs, was the beneficiary of the offense, picking up the victory.

 

“It’s a great way to open the second half, clicking on all cylinders,” Feldman said. “The offense has been great. The defense has gotten the job done and now the pitching is getting it going.”

 

Feldman limited the Royals to five singles and two runs over eight innings.

 

“I was just throwing strikes,” Feldman said. “I kind of got away from it in the fourth inning and walked some guys, then we got back to it, and let the defense do the work behind me.”

 

Royals manager Ned Yost summed up the defeat in four words: “It was a clunker.”

 

Wade Davis (4-9) took the loss, giving up four runs, two unearned, in 2 2/3 innings and seven hits and three walks before being replaced by Luis Mendoza.

 

Davis has lost his past four starts with a 10.91 ERA in that span, giving up 21 runs and 24 hits and 12 walks. Davis has only one win in his past 11 starts.

 

“I’m just inconsistent,” Davis said. “I’ve got to get deep in games. I fell behind in the count too much, a leadoff walk.”

 

Rookie David Lough drove in one Kansas City run and scored the other. His single in the fourth scored Salvador Perez. Lough scored in the third on Alcides Escobar’s sacrifice fly.

 

Mike Moustakas committed a fielding error in the first inning, ending the Royals’ streak at 11 games without an error, which matched a club record. Moustakas’ error on Manny Machado’s hopper led to two unearned runs.

 

“I just missed it,” Moustakas said. “No excuses for it. It’s routine as it gets. It’s a 5-4-3 double play and I just didn’t make the play. That’s an additional 20 pitches for Wade. It’s going to sting for a while.”

 

— Associated Press —

Miguel Cabrera is so locked in at the plate that he’s even hitting tough pitches.

Cabrera homered on a pitch that was way inside to help Detroit beat Kansas City 4-1 on Sunday and avoid being swept.

James Shields thought the pitch was way inside to Cabrera. So did Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost.

It made no difference was. Cabrera knocked it 387 feet down the left-field line for his 31st home run.

”That pitch was way, way inside,” Yost said. ”That ball was five inches inside. You’ve got to tip your cap to him for keeping that ball fair.”

Said Shields, ”That’s why he’s the best hitter in the game.”

Cabrera, who is second in the league to Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles, drove the 1-1 pitch out in the first inning.

”That ball is in on his hands, he hit it hard and kept it fair,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. ”He’s just an amazing hitter and we know that.”

Cabrera,the reigning AL MVP, leads the majors with 96 RBIs and 134 hits. Cabrera’s home run was his 352nd, passing Dick Allen and tying Ellis Burks for 86th on the all-time list.

”I’m not looking for it (inside),” Cabrera said of the pitch. ”I just reacted.”

Doug Fister (8-5) picked up the victory with six strong innings, yielding a run, while allowing six hits and striking out five and walking one.

”It was a constant battle from the first pitch,” Fister said. ”I’ve been on the mound (over the break), but I was shaking off rust and getting back out there, but I felt great from the first pitch to the last.

”The biggest focus was to get the ball down and around the knees. We executed with that on the better side and that’s going to continue to be our focus.”

Miguel Tejada tied it in the second with his third home run and the 307th of his career, but that was the only run the Royals could muster off Fister and three relievers. Tejada took an 0-1 Fister pitch out to left.

Andy Dirks broke the tie with a home run with one out in the fifth to straightaway center, just eluding Jarrod Dyson’s leap at the wall.

It was a two-game swing in the standings for the Tigers. A Royals’ victory would have pulled them within five of the division leaders, but instead they are seven games back.

”You’re always mad when you get a chance to sweep a team and don’t do it,” Dyson said. ”We’re just trying to creep back into it.”

The Tigers tacked on a run in the seventh. They loaded the bases with none out on Prince Fielder, Victor Martinez and Jhonny Peralta singles. Peralta’s single was off Shields’ inner right thigh, but he remained in the game after being checked out by the trainer.

”It hurt really bad,” Shields said.

Brayan Pena, a former Royal, brought home Fielder with a sacrifice fly to center.

Shields (4-7), who has won only one of 10 home starts, took the loss, giving up three runs on nine hits, while striking out six in seven innings.

”Anytime you give up three runs in seven innings, you’ve done a good job” Yost said.

Pena contributed another sacrifice fly in the ninth off Kelvin Herrera, this one scoring Peralta, who doubled with one out and stopped at third on Dirks’ single to left.

Joaquin Benoit worked the ninth to log his ninth save in as many opportunities.

Fister plunked Salvador Perez with a pitch in the third and leads the majors with 14 hit batters.

— Associated Press —

Mike Moustakas was in a slump and Justin Verlander, of all people, helped him snap out of it.

Salvador Perez drove in three runs and Moustakas went 3 for 4 with a game-winning home run to lead the Kansas City Royals to a 6-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers and Verlander.

Moustakas was hitless in 10 at-bats and in a 3-for-20 slide. His home run to right in the fifth snapped a 5-5 tie, while the three-hit game was his first since May 8.

”There’s a great pitcher on the mound and he doesn’t make too many mistakes,” Moustakas said. ”I got a pitch I could handle and didn’t miss it.”

Verlander (10-7) had not lost to the Royals since Sept. 9, 2009, but gave up six runs, five earned, on eight hits and four walks in 5 2-3 innings.

”It was not good at all,” Verlander said. ”I walked guys and they scored runs. I wasn’t able to execute. I was just all over. I wasn’t in sync. I’ve got to find it. I had three or four games before the All-Star break where I thought I had it back, but I didn’t feel in sync tonight. Hopefully I’ll get it back.”

It was the seventh time in 21 starts that Verlander failed to make it into the sixth inning.

”I would say over the course of the season up to this point, and there’s still a lot of season left, his performance hasn’t been quite as consistent as in the past,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. ”It’s just not what you expect of him, which is a little unfair because of what you expect of him.”

Perez drove in a run in the first with a sacrifice fly and stroked a two-run double in the third.

Jeremy Guthrie (9-7) picked up the victory, surrendering five runs on 10 hits and two walks in six innings.

”The bullpen won the game despite me trying to give it away,” Guthrie said.

Aaron Crow, the fourth of five Kansas City pitchers, pitched out of danger in the eighth inning. Alex Avila led off with a single, his third hit, and pinch hitter Don Kelly walked. After Austin Jackson bunted them both over, Crow retired Torii Hunter and Miguel Cabrera on ground balls to third base to strand them.

”I’m trying to put everything behind me and they both hit balls right at Moose (Moustakas),” Crow said. ”I got the ball down on Cabrera and he hit it on the ground. You don’t want to walk him to load the bases with Prince (Fielder) on-deck.”

Hunter and Cabrera are a combined 0 for 14 off Crow.

”We were not going to give in to Cabrera,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. ”We’d either walk him or make perfect pitches. Crow made the perfect pitches.”

Greg Holland worked the ninth to collect his 24th save in 26 chances, although he yielded a one-out double to Victor Martinez off the right-field wall.

”Soon as he hit it, I was praying it would stay in the park,” Yost said. ”I thought it had a chance to go out. I’m just glad it didn’t.”

Martinez stood at the plate for a couple of seconds to admire his work before taking off and just making it to second.

”I thought I had that ball and then I saw it go down,” Martinez said.

Fielder and Martinez stroked RBI-singles in the first as the Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead.

The Royals seized a 5-3 lead in the fourth when Chris Getz drove in a run with a fielder’s choice grounder, while Verlander walked Eric Hosmer with the bases loaded.

Avila drove in two runs with a two-out fifth inning single to tie the score at 5-all.

Getz, who was recalled Friday from Triple-A Omaha, suffered a mild medial strain of his left knee in the fifth inning while trying to field Fielder’s smash grounder. He was replaced by Elliot Johnson. Yost said Getz is ”not a DL (disabled list) situation, more like a day-to-day situation.”

— Associated Press —

Ervin Santana allowed two singles in 7 1-3 innings and the Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers 1-0 on Friday night to snap a five-game losing streak.

Santana, who can be a free agent after the season and has been widely speculated to be traded before the July 31 deadline without a player clearing waivers, did not allow a runner to reach second base. He walked one and struck out six.

Santana (6-6), who was coming off his worst outing of the season, when he allowed eight runs on 10 hits in a July 11 loss at Cleveland, retired the first 10 Tigers before Torii Hunter’s one-out single in the fourth.

Kelvin Herrera, who was just recalled from Triple-A Omaha, replaced Santana in the eighth after he walked Jhonny Peralta with one out. Herrera retired Andy Dirks on a grounder and struck out Alex Avila looking.

Greg Holland worked a flawless ninth for his 23rd save in 25 opportunities, striking out one.

Alex Gordon led off the Royals’ first with a single to right, stole second with one out and scored on Billy Butler’s ground-ball single to center.

That was the only run Tigers right-hander Anibal Sanchez (7-7) would allow in six innings, but that was one too many.

Sanchez, who was making his third start since coming off the disabled list with a shoulder strain, left after 101 pitches, allowing four singles, walking five and striking out three.

The Royals loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth on Butler’s single and walks to Mike Moustakas and David Lough, but failed to score as Alcides Escobar struck out to end the inning.

The Royals are 4-2 against the American League Central Division-leading Tigers, with five of the games decided by two or less runs.

The Tigers were shut out for the seventh time this season.

— Associated Press —

The Kansas City Royals announced Tuesday they have claimed shortstop Pedro Ciriaco off outright waivers from the San Diego Padres.

Ciriaco, 27, is batting .228 with eight stolen bases, three doubles, two triples and two homers in 51 games this season split between San Diego and Boston.  He started this season with the Red Sox, but was traded to San Diego on June 10 for a player to be named later.

Ciricao has played all four infield positions this season, seeing a combined 26 games at shortstop and 10 at third base.  The fourth-year infielder hit .293 with Boston last season, setting career highs in nearly every offensive statistical category, including 15 doubles, 19 RBI and 33 runs scored in 76 games.  He is a career .279 hitter.

— Royals Media Relations —

 “Second to None,” a grassroots committee in the Kansas City area, has been formed to endorse Frank White for the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

The group is hoping that White will be strongly considered.  He was a 5-time All-Star, 8-time Gold Glove Award winner, World Series Champion, Royals Hall of Famer, one of only three Royals’ players whose number is retired and his bronze statue is prominently displayed at Kauffman Stadium, .

 

“Our community is certainly excited that Frank may be considered for the next ballot as evidenced by the already 6,500 signed petitions (growing daily) and the myriad of very impressive letters of endorsement already received,” said Lenny Cohen, a committee member from Olathe, KS.

Fans can go to a newly formed Web site  to learn about White’s career and sign the petition that will be submitted over the next month to the Baseball Writers, responsible for developing the ballot.

A week ago, the Indians were reeling amid serious questions about whether they could contend.

Five wins have put them back on track.

And back on Detroit’s heels.

Asdrubal Cabrera hit a two-run double to cap Cleveland’s comeback in the sixth inning, and the Indians charged into the All-Star break with a 6-4 win over Kansas City on Sunday and three-game sweep of the Royals.

Cabrera’s double off Tim Collins (2-5) led the roller-coasting Indians to their fourth straight win. At 51-44, they stayed 1 1-2 games behind the first-place Tigers in the AL Central. Last week, Detroit took three of four from Cleveland to widen its lead in the division. It seemed the Tigers were poised to run away and hide.

But with their fans fearing a collapse like last year, the Indians pulled together.

”We got the city of Cleveland to step back off the ledge after the Detroit series,” said All-Star second baseman Jason Kipnis. ”So that’s good. We wanted to push ourselves. To be able to sweep them and get a couple days off now, that’s a great way to end it.”

Cleveland has its most wins at the All-Star break since 2007 – the last time the Indians made the playoffs.

Reliever Rich Hill (1-1) got two outs in the sixth, and closer Chris Perez – Cleveland’s fifth reliever – worked the ninth for his 13th save as the Indians improved to 43-1 when leading after eight.

Billy Butler had three hits for the Royals (43-49), who dropped their fifth straight. Kansas City is third in the AL Central, eight games back.

”We’ve had a rough five games,” manager Ned Yost said. ”They can go take a break, regroup and hopefully come back and play more consistent baseball.”

The Indians have had their issues with inconsistency, as well, but they have been resilient all season. The series finale was no different as Cleveland trailed 4-3 in the sixth before rallying against Kansas City’s usually reliable bullpen.

Collins, who took the loss in Friday’s series opener, walked Lonnie Chisenhall leading off. Drew Stubbs singled, Michael Bourn sacrificed, and Cabrera, whose name has surfaced in trade rumors, drove a 1-0 pitch into the gap in right-center to put Cleveland back in front.

Kipnis followed with an RBI single off Everett Teaford to give the Indians a 6-4 lead.

”I was real proud of our guys,” manager Terry Francona said. ”We kept battling, and because of it we go into the break with a nice win.”

Bryan Shaw and Joe Smith combined for two scoreless innings before Perez, who spent time on the disabled list and was charged with drug possession in the first half, gave up a one-out double in the ninth but struck out Butler and retired All-Star catcher Salvador Perez on a grounder for the final out.

The Indians have overcome their share of injuries, inconsistent pitching and a 4-16 stretch which put them 5 1-2 games back of the Tigers on June 17.

After dropping three of four to Detroit, Cleveland finished the first half by going 5-1.

”It’s been a great first half for us,” Indians first baseman Nick Swisher said. ”We’ve dealt with a lot of injuries and to be standing where we are right now, we’ve got to feel great about that.”

Royals starter James Shields ended up with his seventh no-decision in his last nine starts. The right-hander allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings, leaving with a 4-3 lead. Shields has received sparse run support as the Royals have scored just nine total runs in his six losses.

Shields, though, was more focused on getting his team turned around than his record.

”You never want to lose five in a row, but I’m not too worried about it,” Shields said. ”We’ve done a good job of grinding this first half. It definitely could be a lot worse and it definitely could be a lot better. Right now we need to kick it in gear and string together some wins.”

Indians starter Ubaldo Jimenez didn’t get through the fifth inning, his shortest start since June 7.

After the Indians took a 3-2 lead in the third, Jimenez let the Royals grab it back in the fourth on Johnny Giavotella’s RBI groundout and Alcides Escobar’s run-scoring single.

Jimenez walked the leadoff hitter in the fifth and was quickly pulled by Francona before things got worse. Reliever C.C. Lee made his major league debut and retired the Royals on three straight popups to keep the Indians within one.

Shields worked around a two-on, none-out jam in the second, but hurt himself with a one-out walk in the third when the Indians scored twice to take a 3-2 lead.

Kipnis walked with one down and moved up on a groundout. Michael Brantley, who came in batting .382 with runners in scoring position, hit an RBI single to tie it 2-all. Santana then doubled inside the bag at first, and third-base coach Brad Mills never hesitated in waving Brantley home.

”I don’t feel like I struggled,” Shields said. ”I threw some really good pitches. I think I threw three changeups that probably would have hit the dirt, and they got base hits on them. They probably had about 20 foul-offs. That’s a good team over there. They work really good at-bats.”

— Associated Press —

Major League Baseball announced Sunday that Kansas City Royals closer Greg Holland has been named a replacement on the American League All-Star team, taking the spot of Seattle’s Hisashi Iwakuma, who started today for the Mariners and will be unable to pitch on Tuesday night.  Holland will join teammates Alex Gordon and catcher Salvador Perez, who were named to the 84th Midsummer Classic at Citi Field in New York last week.  All three are making their first career trip to the All-Star Game.

This marks the first time since the 1988 All-Star Game in Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium that the Royals have had three players selected, when George Brett made his 13th and final All-Star appearance, going as a first baseman, and was joined by infielder Kurt Stillwell and pitcher Mark Gubicza.  This is the 11th time the club has had at least three players named to the American League squad.

Holland, 27, has served as the Royals’ closer since the second half of last season after Jonathan Broxton was dealt to the Reds at the trade deadline.  Greg has made good on 38 of 42 save opportunities since taking over the roll full-time, including a current run of 15 in a row dating back to May 30.  Since that date, Holland has posted a 0.95 ERA, allowing just two earned runs in 19.0 innings, while recording 34 strikeouts and holding opponents to a .111 average (7-for-63).  He has recorded all three outs via the strikeout on six occasions and entered today leading the Majors in strikeouts per batter faced (.444) and strikeouts per 9-inning ratio at 15.43

— Royals Media Relations —