Will Smith is probably auditioning for a spot in Kansas City’s rotation next season.

Having Salvador Perez as his catcher sure helps his cause.

Smith pitched seven shutout innings, Eric Hosmer homered and the Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 9-1 on Tuesday night.

Lorenzo Cain had two RBIs and was a home run away from the cycle as Kansas City beat Minnesota for just the sixth time in 16 games.

Perez extended his hitting streak to a career-best 15 games and threw out two runners trying to steal in support of Smith (5-7), who struck out a career-high seven and gave up seven hits in his first win in four starts.

“That guy’s awesome,” Smith said about Perez. “He’s so good. You love having him back there. You feel confident that the running game, he’s just going to completely shut it down.”

Ryan Doumit had the Twins’ RBI and Ben Revere had three hits.

Joe Mauer was in the initial starting lineup, but was scratched after experiencing back spasms before batting practice.

The atmosphere at Target Field brought back memories of the Metrodome, and not only because of all the empty seats for a September game featuring two teams out of contention.

With two outs and two runners on in the second inning, Cain hit a towering fly to left field. Josh Willingham lost it in the sky, holding out his hands as the ball fell 15 feet behind him and both runners scored.

Outfielders losing flyballs was a common occurrence under the white Teflon roof of the Metrodome, but hasn’t been a problem under the lights at Target Field.

“It was just the time of day. It’s frustrating when you can’t see the ball,” Willingham said. “You can’t catch it if you can’t see it. Can’t see it, it’s pretty helpless.”

The miscue didn’t help Scott Diamond (11-7) get back on track.

The left-hander allowed four runs and 10 hits over six innings and has just one victory in his last six starts.

The first two Twins batters reached in the first, fourth and fifth innings, but they couldn’t break through against Smith.

Perez threw out basestealers to help erase the threats in the first and fifth, and Smith got Doumit to ground into a double play and struck out Trevor Plouffe to end the fourth.

The Twins had 16 stolen bases in their last 11 games, but were no match for Perez’s strong arm and quick release. Jamey Carroll and Darin Mastroianni fell victim to Perez on Tuesday.

“It kept the momentum on our side,” manager Ned Yost said about Perez, who has caught 11 of the last 21 runners trying to steal on him.

Cain got hit in the head by reliever Luis Perdomo in the eighth.

The ball appeared to hit Cain in the back of his helmet as he ducked, but Cain sat up quickly and remained in the game after sitting in the batter’s box and getting checked out by trainers.

“The guys definitely let me know I was a home run away from the cycle,” Cain said. “I was looking for a pitch to drive and ended up getting hit in the head. I went down for a second, but I’ll be fine. Bounced back up and I’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”

Cain also said the back of his head was a little sore and he had a light headache.

The Royals scored five runs in the eighth and ninth, capped by Hosmer’s 14th home run.

Alcides Escobar added two hits and two RBIs.

— Associated Press —-

Michael Young is able to handle his lower-than-usual stats this season because the numbers he cares most about are wins.

Ian Kinsler hit a leadoff triple in the 10th inning and scored on Young’s single to lift the Texas Rangers over the Kansas City Royals 5-4 on Thursday night.

Josh Hamilton and Adrian Beltre hit back-to-back homers in the fourth to help the AL West leaders overcome a 3-0 deficit.

“Knocking in runs leads to wins,” said Young, a seven-time All-Star who is hitting .269, 35 points below his career average entering this season. “That’s the only stat I care about is racking up wins. I don’t care about the numbers that are in the past. Those games are done. They’re as much in the past as numbers I put up 10 years ago, they’re in the past. I’m always focused on the next game and the next opportunity.”

The Rangers (82-55) moved a season-high 27 games above .500 and own the best record in franchise history after 137 games. They won their sixth straight series and upped their division lead to 5 1/2 games over idle Oakland.

With Kinsler on third base and no outs, Young was looking for a pitch to lift.

“I’m trying to stay in the middle of the field, stay as short and quick as I possibly can and get something up in the zone that I can hit on a line or higher,” Young said. “The last thing you want to do is hit a ground ball right there, just try to get something up and use the whole field.”

Young had hit just .222 in his previous 22 games, but Rangers manager Ron Washington remained in his corner even after the promotion of 19-year-old phenom Jurickson Profar, who homered in his first big league at-bat Sunday but did not play in the four games at Kansas City.

“Michael has been grinding all year,” Washington said. “There’s no change in him. The only thing is things are working now. I believe in Michael Young and I’m going to play Michael Young. You don’t get over 2,000 hits and not be able to hit. He’s done a lot of things in 10 years. I’m on his ship.”

Mike Adams (4-3) allowed one hit in a scoreless ninth. Joe Nathan earned his 30th save in 31 tries, converting his 28th consecutive opportunity since a blown save on April 11. It was the right-hander’s 39th career save against Kansas City.

Greg Holland (6-4) took the loss.

Royals starter Luke Hochevar took a 3-0 lead into the fourth and retired his first 10 batters before Young’s single. Four pitches later the score was tied after Hamilton and Beltre hit consecutive home runs for the fourth time this season and second on this road trip.

Hamilton leads the majors with 39 homers and is tied with Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera for the RBI lead with 116. Beltre, who has 30 home runs, has been the hottest hitter in the majors over the past 17 games with 11 homers, 21 RBIs, 16 runs and a .435 batting average.

“You can’t make mistakes against them,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “They do a lot of damage with home runs. They’re geared for it. It’s the way they are built, for quick strikes.

“Luke got a pitch up to Hamilton, but he made a pretty good pitch to Beltre. He’s so hot now he’s spanking everything.”

Hochevar, who is 0-4 with a 5.74 ERA in seven starts since a July 31 victory, was pulled with one out in the seventh when the Rangers went ahead 4-3. Geovany Soto’s double knocked in David Murphy, who had singled.

Kelvin Herrera replaced Hochevar and on the next pitch induced Craig Gentry to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Scott Feldman, who is 0-5 in his past six starts, left with a 4-3 lead, but the Texas bullpen failed to hold it for even one batter. After Feldman retired the leadoff hitter in the seventh, Washington summoned left-hander Michael Kirkman to face Eric Hosmer, who homered on a 3-1 pitch.

“I made a little adjustment,” Feldman said after the third inning. “Getting those three runs back was huge and from there basically just throwing to Geo’s (catcher Geovany Soto) glove and trying to make pitches. We’re capable of striking back pretty quickly like you saw tonight.”

Jeff Francoeur, who entered batting just .128 with no extra-base hits and one RBI in 14 games, homered in the second inning off Feldman.

Alex Gordon stroked a run-scoring triple in the third and scored on Salvador Perez’s single. Perez extended his hitting streak to 11 games, matching his career best.

The Royals stole three bases without a throw, including two swipes of third by Lorenzo Cain. Rangers opponents have stolen 24 consecutive bases without being caught since Aug. 6.

On the flip side, Perez picked off Gentry at first base, his second pickoff of the series and fourth this season — a Royals record.

— Associated Press —

The Texas Rangers figure they’ll be just fine if they keep focusing on themselves.

That’s why the AL West leaders were lounging on black leather sofas in the visiting clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium on Wednesday afternoon, hours before playing Kansas City, and stifling laughter as they watched comedian Robin Williams do a stand-up routine on television.

Rather than watching, say, second-place Oakland’s game against the Los Angeles Angels.

“Those guys aren’t worrying about that,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “If we take care of our business, it doesn’t matter what they do.”

Well, the Rangers certainly took care of their business. Adrian Beltre hit a three-run homer, Michael Young also went deep and Texas held on for a 7-6 victory over the Royals to open a five-game lead in the division after the A’s lost their matinee.

Ryan Dempster (5-1) gave up RBI doubles to Billy Butler in the first inning and Salvador Perez in the sixth, but was otherwise stingy for the Rangers. He only allowed two other hits in six sharp innings, striking out eight to win his fourth consecutive game.

“You know, I was in a situation where I was pitching for pride,” said Dempster, acquired in a July 31 trade with the Chicago Cubs. “Now I’m just trying to do my best every fifth day.”

Beltre’s homer came off Everett Teaford (1-4), who was making his fifth start of the year. Young’s solo shot came off Vin Mazzaro during a three-run seventh.

The runs proved handy when Kansas City mounted a late comeback. Alcides Escobar’s RBI single off Joe Nathan put the potential tying run on first with two outs in the ninth, but Alex Gordon flied out to end the game. It was Nathan’s 27th consecutive save.

Ian Kinsler, Elvis Andrus and Nelson Cruz also drove in runs to help the Rangers (81-55) move a season-high 26 games above .500, and assure a club-record fourth straight season of .500 or better.

The 28-year-old Teaford was called upon to make his first start for Kansas City since July 8, when he allowed five runs in 4 1/3 innings at Detroit. He’s been exemplary in long relief — he threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings last Saturday against Minnesota — but less effective as a starter.

That proved to be the case again Wednesday night.

Kinsler led off the game with a single, and after Andrus went down swinging, Josh Hamilton walked to put runners on first and second for the hottest hitter in the Texas lineup.

Beltre calmly waited for a 1-2 pitch from Teaford and sent it soaring over the left-field wall for a three-run homer, his 29th of the season. The ball landed just shy of the fountains.

“That’s what I’m supposed to be doing,” Beltre said demurely.

The slugging third baseman also tripled and scored in the eighth, giving him 10 homers, seven doubles and two triples since Aug. 20. Beltre has scored 15 runs and driven in 20 in that stretch.

“I saw his charts yesterday and the whole chart was like, red against lefties. It’s basically a heat map. Red would describe Kansas City in July, that kind of hot,” Teaford said. “If you make a bad pitch, he hits it real well. He’s tough. You’ve just got to hope to make good pitches.”

The Royals clawed back with runs in the first and sixth, but Texas added three in the seventh, the homer by Young starting things off. Kansas City added two more runs in the bottom half to keep it close, and the teams traded runs in the eighth before Nathan held on through a shaky ninth.

The veteran closer has 28 saves in 29 chances this season.

“We played catch-up all night, and when we’d get close they’d tack on,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “The three-run seventh did us in.”

— Associated Press —

Salvador Perez’s pickoff throw changed the momentum, and Jeremy Guthrie was unhittable after that.

Guthrie pitched seven strong innings and the Kansas City Royals got home runs from Alex Gordon and Johnny Giavotella in a 6-3 victory over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night.

After giving up five hits to his first 10 batters, Guthrie did not allow another hit after Ian Kinsler led off the third with a double. Elvis Andrus bunted him to third, but Perez picked off Kinsler with Josh Hamilton at the plate.

“The big momentum shift was the throw by Salvy,” Guthrie said. “That was a huge sigh of relief for me. I scuffled up to that point. It gave me a big boost.”

Perez leads all major league catchers with three pickoffs this season even though he didn’t play until June 22 after having knee surgery in spring training.

“That’s a big play,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “You’re staring down the barrel of being down 3-0 and you’ve got an All-Star pitcher on the mound with a tremendous offensive club. To pick a runner off third base and keep it 2-0, you still feel like you’ve got a chance for something to happen, and it did.”

Gordon broke a 2-all tie in the fifth with a two-run shot off Matt Harrison, the third home run he has allowed to a left-handed hitter this season.

“From experience, he likes to pound me in with fastballs,” Gordon said. “He does a pretty good job of laying it on the inside corner. It’s a tough pitch to hit. I just tried to wait him out and get a pitch out over the plate. I was able to do that and put a good swing on it.”

Guthrie (4-3) held the AL West leaders to two runs and five hits. He went 3-9 with Colorado before the Royals acquired him in a July 20 trade for Jonathan Sanchez.

“One play didn’t change this game,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “We just didn’t score any runs. We had Hamilton up there with less than two outs. I figured we were going to get that run in.”

After Perez’s run-scoring double with two outs, Harrison was replaced by Roy Oswalt. It was a rare short night for Harrison (15-9), who has pitched at least eight innings in eight starts. He fell to 10-5 away from home, tied with Tampa Bay ace David Price for the most road victories in the American League.

Harrison allowed five runs, three earned, and eight hits. The Royals scored a pair of unearned runs in the third after an error by Kinsler at second base.

Giavotella connected off Oswalt, ending a drought of 185 at-bats with his first home run since Sept. 3, 2011.

After Hamilton and Adrian Beltre started the ninth with singles off Kelvin Herrera, Greg Holland came on to earn his 11th save in 13 opportunities. Hamilton scored on Michael Young’s sacrifice fly.

Guthrie gave up a home run to Andrus in the first inning. Mitch Moreland’s double in the second scored Geovany Soto.

Lorenzo Cain reached on Kinsler’s error in the third and scored on Alcides Escobar’s double, which snapped an 0-for-21 skid. Escobar went to third on Gordon’s groundout and scored on Billy Butler’s sacrifice fly.

After getting some help from his teammates, Guthrie cruised.

“When Salvy picked Kinsler off third base and he struck out Hamilton, he really got on a roll from that point,” Yost said. “He got settled in, was banging strikes and was extremely sharp. From the third inning on he was fantastic. A phenomenal job by him.”

— Associated Press —

Baseball America announced Tuesday that Kansas City Royals outfield prospect Wil Myers has been named the publications’ 2012 Minor League Player of the Year.  Myers becomes the third Royals prospect to win the prestigious award since its inception in 1981, joining Tom Gordon in 1988 and Alex Gordon in 2006.

Myers, 21, opened the 2012 campaign at Double-A Northwest Arkansas and batted .343 with 13 home runs and 30 RBI in 35 games before a promotion to Omaha in mid-May.  For the Storm Chasers, who begin their quest to repeat as PCL champions tomorrow night in Omaha, Myers hit .304 (118-for-388) with 15 doubles, five triples, 24 home runs and 79 RBI in 99 regular season games.  Overall, his 37 home runs were the second-most in minor league baseball, one shy of 26-year-old Darin Ruf who hit 38 for Reading (AA), while his 109 RBI ranked fourth overall.

The Royals’ third round selection in 2009 collected two hits and drove in three runs for the U.S. squad at the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game in Kansas City on July 8 and then three days later was selected the “Star of Stars” for the Pacific Coast League in the Triple-A All-Star Game after recording two hits, including a double, with an RBI and a run scored. Last week, he was named to the 12-member all Pacific Coast League squad and he is one of five finalists for USA Today Minor League Player of the Year.

— Royals Media Relations —

While Yu Darvish flirted with a no-hitter, the Texas Rangers were hitting the ball over the Kauffman Stadium fences.

Darvish retired the first 17 batters, Texas hit five home runs and the Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals 8-4 Monday in a game that turned testy.

Adrian Beltre and Nelson Cruz homered on consecutive pitches in the sixth inning. Cruz watched his drive sail over the wall, then was hit by Louis Coleman’s first pitch leading off the ninth.

Cruz took a few steps to the mound, but was restrained by catcher Brayan Pena.

“It’s part of the game,” Pena said. “We’re trying to go inside. Cruz is a very strong guy and we were trying to not let him extend his arms. He is one of my good friends and I hope he knows we were not trying to hit him.”

The dugouts and bullpens emptied, but only words were exchanged. Both teams were issued a warning by plate umpire Mike Everitt.

Michael Young answered that by homering on the next pitch and Coleman was replaced by Francisley Bueno.

“That was an outstanding sequence,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “Not the fact Cruz got hit, but the fact Michael hit the home run. I don’t know what that was about, but undoubtedly it didn’t affect us because we put another two runs on the board and got him out of the game. We was fired up already. All he did was make it shine a little brighter.”

Josh Hamilton hit his 38th homer and Geovany Soto added a three-run shot as Texas won for the ninth time in 12 games. The AL West leaders moved a season-high 26 games over .500 with some more pop after hit four homers Sunday in an 8-3 victory at Cleveland.

A day after he homered and doubled in his first two big league at-bats, 19-year-old Jurickson Profar was not in the Texas lineup. Second baseman Ian Kinsler, who sat out Sunday with a stiff back, returned to the lineup.

Darvish (14-9), who retired the final seven batters he faced in his previous start, did not allow a runner until two out in the sixth when he walked Johnny Giavotella on a close full-count pitch.

“When I threw that pitch — it was a slider — I tried to throw it right down the middle,” Darvish said through an interpreter. “It ended up being on the outer edge, a very close call. At that moment, I wanted the call, but later after that inning I looked at the replay video and saw that it was fairly a ball. So it just goes to show the umpires are right and good. And that hitter had a very good take, a very good at-bat.”

David Lough, playing in his third big league game, blooped a single just over the reach of shortstop Elvis Andrus and into shallow center to end Darvish’s no-hit bid.

“I didn’t think about that at all,” Darvish said.

Darvish gave up a two-run triple to Tony Abreu and a RBI double to Alex Gordon to cut the Texas lead to 6-3 before the inning ended.

“It takes one hit sometimes and other guys can feed off it,” Lough said. “I saw him going back for it and I was hoping it would fall in.”

Darvish was pulled after the seventh and struck out six, including five in the first three innings, while walking one.

“It was as good as I’ve seen his stuff,” Washington said. “His stuff was real crisp. His curveball they just couldn’t do anything with it. Early in the game his cutter was just outstanding. His four-seamer, he was zipping it. He was hitting his spots with consistency.

“He was doing everything he wanted to do out there. He’s getting a feel for what is working and he’s staying with it.”

Darvish tied Wade Miley of Arizona for the most victories by a rookie this season.

Soto homered in the second for a 3-0 lead.

Bruce Chen (10-11) allowed six runs on six hits, four of them home runs. He lasted six innings as his career ERA against Texas climbed to 8.68.

Abreu also singled in a run in the eighth, giving him six RBIs in two games.

— Associated Press —

Tony Abreu is making the most of his limited chances and that could earn more playing time.

Abreu drove in three runs and the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 6-4 Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep.

Abreu’s three RBIs matched his career high, set on Sept. 18, 2007 while with Arizona at Colorado.

“He’s got some clutch hits,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He had some great at-bats, really was huge offensively for us. I would gather to say he’s been more of a clutch hitter than a good hitter. I mean he’s hitting .300, but the majority of his hits have either tied ball games or given us the lead. He’s done a great job for us.”

“He made some great defensive plays (Saturday). He’s done a tremendous job for us defensively.”

Abreu, appearing in his eighth game since his Aug. 8 promotion from Triple-A Omaha, delivered a two-run two-out second inning single, scoring Mike Moustakas and Lorenzo Cain. Salvador Perez, who walked to lead off the inning, scored the first run of the inning on Eric Hosmer’s sacrifice fly.

Abreu’s two-out sixth inning single scored Hosmer, who had doubled, and broke a 4-4 tie.

Yost said he would probably give shortstop Alcides Escobar off Monday and play Abreu, who is hitting .344 with seven RBIs while starting four games at second base, three at third and one at shortstop.

“I just see him as a good hitter,” Royals closer Greg Holland said. “He doesn’t try to do too much. He puts good swings on the ball and works the count. I guess that counts as clutch.”

Holland struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth to log his 10th save in 12 chances. He is 9-for-9 in save situations since the Royals traded closer Jonathan Broxton on July 31 to Cincinnati.

The Twins jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Justin Morneau’s groundout in the first and Chris Parmelee’s homer in the next inning.

In the fifth inning, Billy Butler singled home David Lough, who had four hits in his first two big league games.

The Twins tied it in the sixth on a two-run single by Alexi Casilla on a full-count pitch with two out and the bases loaded against Tim Collins.

While Collins (5-2) got a blown save, he also got the win. Starter Luis Mendoza left with a 4-2 lead after five innings, allowing two runs on seven hits, throwing 84 pitches.

“Mendoza was starting to labor,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “They had (Joe) Mauer, (Justin) Morneau and (Ryan) Doumit coming up. I just said I’m going to match up from here. I wish he could have got the win.”

The Royals padded their lead in the eighth with Lorenzo Cain’s run-producing double.

Esmerling Vasquez (0-1), who was making his first big league start after 141 relief appearances, allowed five runs on seven hits and three walks in 5 2/3 innings.

“Vasquez was good,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He misfired a little there in the second inning and threw some balls to the backstop. He had one bad inning early, but then he settled down OK. He gave us a chance to win. We’ll take that and go forward.”

— Associated Press —

Jeremy Guthrie pitched effectively into the eighth inning and Alex Gordon homered to lead the Kansas City Royals over the Detroit Tigers 2-1 Thursday night for a three-game sweep.

Prince Fielder had three hits for the slumping Tigers, who remained three games behind the first-place Chicago White Sox in the AL Central. The teams begin an important three-game series Friday night in Detroit.

Royals rookie Kelvin Herrera worked around a walk and a single in the ninth to earn his first career save, coaxing slugger Miguel Cabrera to ground into a game-ending double play.

Guthrie (3-3), who did not give up a hit to the White Sox until the eighth inning on Aug. 19 in his previous Kauffman Stadium start, held Detroit to one run on 10 hits — nine of them singles. He walked none and struck out three.

Guthrie has made eight starts for the Royals since they acquired him in a July 20 trade with Colorado for left-hander Jonathan Sanchez. He is 6-12 overall.

Gordon hit his 10th homer leading off the sixth and extended his hitting streak to eight games.

The Royals loaded the bases with none out in the fifth, but converted that into just one run. Mike Moustakas doubled to start the inning and Jeff Francoeur singled on the 10th pitch to snap an 0-for-19 streak. After Eric Hosmer walked to load the bases, Johnny Giavotella’s groundout to shortstop Jhonny Peralta scored Moustakas.

Rick Porcello (9-10) lost his fourth straight start, giving up two runs and eight hits in five-plus innings. He struck out four and walked two.

The Tigers snapped a 17-inning scoreless drought with a run in the eighth when one-out singles by Fielder and Delmon Young chased Guthrie. After reliever Tim Collins struck out pinch-hitter Jeff Baker on three pitches, Peralta delivered a run-scoring single.

— Associated Press —

The Royals proved Wednesday night just how fickle baseball can be.

One night after roughing up Tigers ace Justin Verlander to win a stunning shootout, Kansas City saw crafty veteran Bruce Chen go eight innings in an equally surprising pitcher’s duel with Anibal Sanchez. Eric Hosmer’s shank single in the fourth score the lone run in a 1-0 victory.

“That’s baseball. That’s why this game is so great,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We won the game on an 80-foot bomb in the Bermuda triangle. That’s baseball.”

Indeed, Hosmer managed to get just enough of Sanchez’s pitch to drop the ball between the mound and second base, and that was enough to score Mike Moustakas from third base.

Try that for fickle.

“Isn’t it amazing?” Hosmer asked. “You can go up there and hit three lasers at guys, and then have a hit like that and it ends up deciding the game.”

Greg Holland earned his ninth save with a shaky ninth inning, allowing a leadoff single to Andy Dirks. Jarrod Dyson likely saved the tying run with a diving grab in center, and after Prince Fielder singled, Holland struck out Delmon Young and Jhonny Peralta to end the game.

The star of the game, though, unmistakably was Chen (10-10), who lasted eight innings for the first time since his last two starts of last season. The 35-year-old left-hander hadn’t even gone seven in his past 11 outings, though he had been pitching better of late.

Sanchez (2-4) matched him most of the night, finally looking like the guy the Tigers thought they were acquiring in a July trade with Florida. He allowed seven hits in seven innings.

“Chen pitched a great game. A great matchup — Chen and Sanchez — and Chen was just a little better,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “Chen throws this when you’re looking for that, and vice-versa. He knows what he’s doing, obviously.”

The Tigers came to town hoping to make up ground on the AL Central-leading White Sox, but the third-place Royals have gotten the most of them so far.

Kansas City battered Verlander, the reigning AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner, in the opener Tuesday night, scoring eight earned runs in 5 2/3 innings. Moustakas then delivered the go-ahead RBI double in the eighth to give the Royals a 9-8 victory.

They did it with pitching and defense Wednesday night, getting Chen’s best start of the year and turning a pair of inning-ending double plays to help him out.

“I felt really good. I felt like my teammates played really good defense,” Chen said. “After the third inning, I didn’t have to shake off anything. Everything was working.”

Everything was working for Sanchez until the fourth.

Moustakas doubled down the right-field line with one out and Hosmer came to the plate with two outs. He managed to catch a pitch so close to the hands that it popped over Sanchez’s head like a knuckleball, and dropped with a thud between the mound and second base.

Sanchez tried to grab it while whirling toward first, but he just about whiffed on the pick-up and Hosmer had an RBI single. Brayan Pena grounded out to leave the score 1-0.

“It’s part of the game, a blooper like that,” Sanchez said. “I have to take it. You have to go back to the mound and get the next guy out.”

Meanwhile, Chen was getting just about everybody out.

After giving up a leadoff double to Austin Jackson, the left-hander pitched 1-2-3 innings in the second and fourth, and got help from Moustakas in starting inning-ending double plays to get Kansas City out of the third and fifth.

The most perilous situation came in the seventh, when Miguel Cabrera scorched a pitch to center for a leadoff double. Cabrera advanced to third on Fielder’s flyout, and Chen hit Young with a pitch to put runners on the corners with one out.

Relying on his deep repertoire of off-speed stuff, Chen struck out Peralta and then watched Moustakas charge a grounder to third by Jeff Baker and throw him out to end the threat.

Chen retired the side in the eighth before Holland slammed the door in the ninth.

“Outstanding,” Yost said. “Chen was surgical with his stuff today. He was sharp, he was extremely effective. And then Holland was there to finish it off.”

— Associated Press —