Scott Feldman’s sharp turnaround has been a huge boost for the Texas Rangers.

The right-hander won his sixth straight decision, Josh Hamilton drove in two runs and Texas defeated the Kansas City Royals 4-2 on Saturday night.

Feldman (6-6) worked into the eighth inning and became the first pitcher in 29 years to win six consecutive decisions after starting the season 0-6. Doyle Alexander did it in 1983 with the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays.

“I’ve just sort of gone about my business and felt the same way the whole year,” Feldman said. “It’s just nice to get an opportunity to go in there and help out and keep my focus on that, making good pitches.”

Feldman went 17-9 in 2009, but knee injuries the past two seasons set him back. This year, he returned to the rotation because of injuries to Rangers starters Neftali Feliz and Colby Lewis.

“It’s been very timely,” manager Ron Washington said. “He’s been our security blanket, really. Things go wrong in the rotation and we’ve been able to just plug him and he eats up innings. He’s executing his pitches really well.”

Hamilton, who leads the majors with 90 RBIs, hit an opposite-field single in the third inning to score Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus. Kinsler singled with one out and went to third on Andrus’ double.

Mike Olt, called up Thursday from Double-A, added two RBIs for the AL West leaders.

With closer Joe Nathan unavailable, Alexi Ogando worked around two singles in the ninth to earn his third save.

“It’s like the ’09 Feldman,” Hamilton said. “He’s throwing the ball good, mixing his pitches up well. He’s getting the job done. He’s keeping the ball down. He’s not throwing it over the middle of the plate. Everything has got so much movement on it.”

Feldman, who was 3-0 with a 1.96 ERA in July, held Kansas City to six hits and two runs over 7 2/3 innings. The Royals, who lost for the 23rd time in 32 games, scored twice in the fifth on groundouts by Chris Getz and Alex Gordon.

“We did a pretty good job against him,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. “He had a tremendous two-seamer, a tremendous splitter and a tremendous curve. He was really hard to hit and I think we did a good job of getting some hits off him.”

Olt, who had 28 home runs and 82 RBIs with Double-A Frisco before his promotion, hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth and an RBI single with two outs in the sixth.

“A big sac fly, a big hit up the middle with two outs,” Washington said. “That was huge. That gave us a little bit more of a cushion.”

Royals rookie Will Smith (2-4) gave up four runs and eight hits over 5 2/3 innings in losing his third straight start.

The Rangers could have scored more runs in the third if not for a gaffe on the bases.

Hamilton stopped at second on Adrian Beltre’s single before Nelson Cruz’s grounder caromed off the glove of shortstop Alcides Escobar for an error. The Royals, however, converted that into a double play when Beltre was caught between second and third and tagged out. Cruz attempted to go to second on the play and was out to end the inning.

“We could have put more on the board in the third inning, but it just wasn’t to be,” Washington said.

— Associated Press —

The beleaguered Texas Rangers pitching staff needed a solid start, and Matt Harrison provided it.

The Rangers starters had allowed at least six runs in each of the previous four games.

But Harrison’s strong start and Mitch Moreland’s three-run homer led the Rangers to a 5-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.

Harrison (13-6) held the Royals to two runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings.

“He’s got a mean streak now,” Rangers manager Ron Washington said. “That mean streak grew into him. He didn’t always have it. He hates to be taken out of the game. He hates when he doesn’t go out there and do good.”

Harrison, who went 1-3 in July, walked three and struck out three, departing after 109 pitches.

“I had a pretty successful year last year and I wanted to continue doing that,” Harrison said. “My confidence has grown a lot in myself and trusting my stuff. I understand why I get taken out of games, but I hate getting taken out of innings. I want to finish the inning every time, but it’s understandable with the situation. I just want to compete and be one of the best pitchers in the game.”

Washington said he wondered how long Harrison would be able to go after throwing 63 pitches over the first three innings.

“He was trying to find his rhythm, 3-2 counts on all the hitters,” Washington said. “His sinker came into play and he started getting a lot of quick outs.”

Harrison needed only eight pitches in the fourth inning.

“I didn’t figure it out until I was warming up in the fourth,” Harrison said. “From there I started locating my pitches better and the confidence grew.”

Moreland’s home run in the seventh inning came off Royals lefty relief specialist Jose Mijares, who had not yielded a home run to a left-handed hitter this season. Moreland hit an 0-2 slider out to right with Michael Young and Geovany Soto aboard.

“I was just trying to grind it out, foul off what I could, hang in there, until I got one,” Moreland said. “It was an 0-2 count. I was trying to stay nice and easy, short to the ball and I think it helped a little bit in that situation.”

Jeremy Guthrie (3-11) held the Rangers to three runs and six hits over six-plus innings. He is winless in three Kansas City starts since being acquired in a July 20 trade with the Colorado Rockies for Jonathan Sanchez and has not won since May 31 against Houston.

“That’s the best start we’ve seen from him,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He kept the ball down and he really matched Harrison pitch for pitch. That’s a difficult task against their lineup and Jeremy almost did that.”

The Rangers loaded the bases with one out in the first on a single by Ian Kinsler and walks to Elvis Andrus and Adrian Beltre, but scored only one run. Nelson Cruz’s fly ball to Jeff Francoeur at the wall in right field brought home Kinsler. Guthrie threw only 11 strikes in 25 pitches that inning.

The Royals tied it in the second when they loaded the bases with no outs. Salvador Perez started it with a single, Francoeur walked and Eric Hosmer beat out an infield single. Yuniesky Betancourt, however, grounded into a double play with Perez scoring.

“I was able to make the pitch and get out of the second inning with only one run with the bases loaded no outs,” Harrison said.

The Rangers took the lead in the fourth, which Beltre opened with a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on David Murphy’s single. Murphy is hitting .396 with 32 RBIs in 53 at-bats with runners in scoring position.

The Royals chased Harrison in the seventh. Chris Getz and Alex Gordon had two-out infield singles. After Alcides Escobar’s run-scoring single, Tanner Scheppers replaced Harrison.

Betancourt’s two-out double in the eighth scored Francoeur with the final Royals run.

Alexi Ogando worked a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out two, for his second save in five opportunities.

“He blew them away,” Washington said. “He’s good in situations where he can let it all go. He let it all go, 97-98 (mph). He looked calm out there.”

— Associated Press —

Alcides Escobar’s RBI single with two outs in the 11th inning gave the Kansas City Royals a 7-6 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Thursday night.

Escobar’s two-strike hit scored Eric Hosmer, who led off the inning with a single.

The Indians rallied from a six-run first-inning deficit, but lost their sixth straight, their longest losing streak since dropping seven in a row from June 19-26, 2010.

Aaron Crow (2-1), the sixth Royals pitcher, worked a spotless 11th inning to pick up the victory.

Reliever Esmil Rogers (1-1), the fifth of six Indians pitchers, took the loss. Carlos Santana homered and drove in four runs for Cleveland.

Indians right-hander Corey Kluber, who was making his first major league start, faced 10 batters in the first inning and gave up six runs, six hits and a walk, throwing 43 pitches.

Alex Gordon began the Royals’ six-run first with his seventh career leadoff home run. Hosmer’s three-run homer to center was the big blow of the inning. Lorenzo Cain and Jarrod Dyson had run-producing singles.

Kluber, however, pitched longer than Royals veteran left-hander Bruce Chen, who was yanked after 2 2/3 innings, allowing four runs, seven hits, one walk and two sacrifice flies. In seven starts since July 1, Chen is 0-3 with an 8.73 ERA, allowing 32 runs, 50 hits and 11 walks in 33 innings.

Kluber made it through 4 1/3 innings, giving up no runs and three hits after the first.

The Indians got a run in the second when Michael Brantley led off with a double and scored on Vinny Rottino’s sacrifice fly.

The Indians cut the lead to 6-4 with a three-run third, which was highlighted by a two-run single by Santana. Brantley drove in the other run with a sacrifice fly.

Santana homered with Brent Lillibridge aboard in the fifth off Everett Teaford, who replaced Chen. Santana hit an 0-2 pitch out to left.

— Associated Press —

Luis Mendoza pitched into the eighth inning, Lorenzo Cain and Jarrod Dyson stroked two hits each and drove in a run and the Kansas City Royals beat the Cleveland Indians 5-2 on Wednesday night.

The Royals, who have the worst record in the American League (42-61), won consecutive games for the first time since June 27-29.

Mendoza (5-7) limited the Indians to two runs and four hits, only one after the fourth inning, and went 7 1/3 innings to pick up the victory. Mendoza, who was 1/3 in his four previous starts, did not throw more than 11 pitches in an inning except for the third when he threw 25.

The Royals jumped to a 4-0 lead after two innings.

Alcides Escobar walked with one out and stopped at second on Cain’s single. On a double steal, catcher Carlos Santana threw the ball into left field, allowing Escobar to score and Cain to take third. Cain, who is hitting .313 since coming off the disabled list, wound up scoring on a groundout by Billy Butler.

In the second inning, Chris Getz walked, stole second and scored on Dyson’s single to center. Dyson stole second and scored on Alex Gordon’s major league-leading 37th double.

Santana homered in the fourth for the first Indians run.

Jose Mijares replaced Mendoza with one out in the eighth after a double by Jack Hannahan, Mijares hit Shin-Soo Choo with a pitch and gave up a run-producing single to Asdrubal Cabrera.

Greg Holland, who replaced Jonathan Broxton as the closer after he was traded Tuesday to Cincinnati, worked a spotless ninth for his first save since Sept. 25.

Indians rookie right-hander Zach McAllister (4-3) gave up five runs, five hits and two walks in six innings. The Royals stole four bases off McAllister, who has allowed nine stolen bases without a runner being caught in his 11 starts.

— Associated Press —

Even a line drive that left the lower part of Felix Hernandez’s left hand bruised and swollen couldn’t knock out the Seattle Mariners’ ace.

Good thing, since the Mariners’ relievers did their best to try and blow a shot at Seattle’s first four-game sweep at home in more than a decade.

Hernandez shook off a line drive to his left wrist and threw seven strong innings, and the Mariners overcame bullpen problems to beat the Kansas City Royals 7-6 Sunday for a four-game sweep.

Seattle swept Kansas City in a four-game set for the first time since May 2001 and was the first time the Mariners recorded a four-game sweep at home since early in the 2001 season against the Angels. Seattle went on to win 116 games that season.

There won’t be any win records this season for the Mariners. But the Mariners are taking advantage of weak points in their scheduling, winning seven of eight games against the Royals since the All-Star break.

“These are the types of games you’re glad you’re the home team and get those final at-bats,” Seattle manager Eric Wedge said. “Ultimately we had some guys step up late.”

Hernandez was on pace for his sixth straight win, giving up just five hits and two runs. But he lost out on that chance when the Mariners’ bullpen gave up three runs in the eighth.

As they did previously in the series, Seattle’s bats answered immediately. Mike Carp opened the Seattle eighth with his third hit, a double that thudded off the wall in left. Munenori Kawasaki came on as a pinch-runner and Trayvon Robinson laid down a perfect sacrifice up the third-base line.

Reliever Jose Mijares (2-2) fielded the bunt, but his throw was rushed and the ball went rolling into foul territory as Kawasaki scored the go-ahead run. Casper Wells added an RBI single later in the inning.

Even though Hernandez didn’t get the decision, his performance Sunday continued a brilliant six weeks of pitching from the former AL Cy Young Award winner. Hernandez has not lost since June 12 and has allowed a combined 12 earned runs over his last 67 1/3 innings, watching his ERA plummet from 3.70 to 2.79 over the last nine starts.

Hernandez got a scare in the fourth when he hung a 3-2 breaking ball to Eric Hosmer that was lined back up the middle and off the inside of the right-hander’s left hand near his wrist. Wedge and trainer Rick Griffin were immediately to the mound as Hernandez grimaced in discomfort, but never left the field.

Hernandez struggled to start the fifth, giving up a run on Alcides Escobar’s infield groundout, but retired his final nine batters. He struck out six and walked two.

The injury seemed to bother Hernandez. He sometimes caught return throws from catcher Miguel Olivo or his infielders with his bare hand rather than his glove.

“A little bruised. It’s fine,” Hernandez said. “They were not going to take me out today.”

X-rays on Hernandez’s hand were negative, Wedge said.

All signs pointed toward another Hernandez victory after Lucas Luetge started the eighth with a strikeout. He was replaced by Brandon League, who gave up three hits and three runs while recording just one out.

The big blow came after League was pulled when Hosmer grounded a two-run single off Oliver Perez (1-2) that allowed Butler and Salvador Perez to score after both had advanced on a wild pitch earlier in the at-bat.

“This one hurt, we needed to win this game,” Hosmer said. “It’s a tough road trip for us but a good off day tomorrow, get things going at home.”

Carp and Robinson both had RBI doubles earlier in the game and Kyle Seager had a two-run, two-out single in the seventh. Seager now has 36 two-out RBIs on the season, tops in the American League.

“We’ve been playing pretty well lately and scoring some runs and pitching has been great,” Seager said. “It’s been great.”

— Associated Press —

Kevin Millwood is having an easy time ignoring trade speculation.

“My computer’s broke,” he said.

His arm is not.

The way Millwood is pitching lately, he could be a quick fix for someone’s rotation before Tuesday’s trade deadline.

The 37-year-old right-hander pitched effectively into the seventh inning, Jesus Montero hit a two-run homer and the Seattle Mariners beat the Kansas City Royals 4-3 on Saturday.

Millwood (4-8) gave up one unearned run and six hits in 6 1/3 innings, lowering his ERA to 3.91 with his second consecutive solid outing. He struck out three, walked one and was aided by two excellent plays from Brendan Ryan.

The shortstop sprinted into left field to catch a popup well behind third base, then later ranged to his right to gobble up a grounder, leap and throw to first for an out.

“I’m not sure you can get any better than that guy,” Millwood said.

Tom Wilhelmsen worked the ninth for his 13th save. Lorenzo Cain hit an RBI triple with two outs before Alex Gordon grounded out.

Cain’s fly ball soared into the sunlight and Seattle right fielder Casper Wells paused, waiting for it to come down to a point where he could pick it up. Then he sprinted toward the line, but it was too late.

The ball tailed away from Wells and dropped, putting the Mariners in peril.

“He probably hit it in the best spot you could possibly hit a ball,” Wells said. “I’m glad Tom got out of it because I wouldn’t have had a good afternoon after that.”

Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas sprained his right knee while diving for a grounder in the first inning. He is day to day and will be examined again Sunday.

Billy Butler was 3 for 3 for Kansas City.

Montero hit his 10th home run, connecting in the third off Bruce Chen (8-8).

“Made a mistake on Montero,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. “Tried to go in on him and the ball ended up middle-away.”

After navigating around two hits in the first, Chen gave up three runs on four hits in the third.

Gordon turned Kyle Seager’s fly ball into a double when he lost it in the sun in left field in the third. Miguel Olivo followed with a single to right and the Mariners challenged the arm of Jeff Francoeur, who came into the game leading the league in outfield assists. Seager slid wide and tapped the plate with his hand to put Seattle up 3-1.

Kansas City took a first-inning lead when Butler singled home Alcides Escobar.

The Royals closed to 3-2 in the eighth when Gordon doubled off Brandon League and Escobar hit a one-out triple. But Chris Getz, hitting in Moustakas’ spot, grounded out against a drawn-in infield and after an intentional walk to Butler, Yuniesky Betancourt grounded out to end the inning.

The Mariners added a run in the eighth on Mike Carp’s sacrifice fly.

Kansas City lost its fourth straight on the road and dropped to 1-6 against the Mariners this season.

— Associated Press —

John Jaso drove in four runs and Blake Beavan pitched into the seventh inning to lead the Seattle Mariners to a 6-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.

Beavan (6-6) pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing four hits, one walk and a run. Over his last two starts, Beavan has thrown 14 2/3 innings, struck out 11, walked one and has a 1.29 ERA. He is 3-0 since being recalled from Triple-A Tacoma July 17.

Kansas City starter Jeremy Guthrie (0-2) remained winless with Kansas City and is 3-11 on the season between Colorado and the Royals. He threw 5 2/3 innings Friday night, allowing six runs and 11 hits. He struck out four and walked none.

Mike Carp, who is 5-for-8 in the last two games against Kansas City, hit his fifth homer in the sixth inning to put Seattle up 6-1. Brendan Ryan singled two batters later to knock out Guthrie.

— Associated Press —

Seattle starter Jason Vargas allowed one hit in eight innings to win his career-high 11th game, and Mike Carp had three hits to help the Mariners beat the Kansas City Royals 4-1 Thursday night.

Vargas (11-7) allowed just a fourth-inning double during his eight innings, while striking out five and walking three.

He retired the first 11 batters he faced before Billy Butler’s 200th career double drove in Lorenzo Cain in the fourth. Vargas had walked Cain, then fell behind 3-0 before Butler drilled a fastball to the gap in left-center.

Kansas City did not get a runner to second base against Vargas after the fourth. He’s taken the mound following a Mariners loss in 14 of his 22 starts this season and has a 10-2 record with a 2.78 ERA in those games. He’s 4-0 with a 1.46 ERA in five July starts.

Kansas City starter Luis Mendoza (4-7) pitched five innings, allowing nine hits and four earned runs with three walks and a hit batter.

Tom Wilhelmsen pitched the ninth for his 12th save in 14 opportunities.

Consecutive sixth-inning doubles from Miguel Olivo and Carlos Peguero pushed Seattle in front 4-1. After getting ahead of Brendan Ryan 0-2, Mendoza walked Ryan on four consecutive breaking balls in the dirt, one of which was a wild pitch that moved Peguero to third. That ended Mendoza’s night and put the Mariners in business with first and third and none out.

But, left-hander Jose Mijares came in to strikeout Dustin Ackley and Michael Saunders, before getting a ground ball from Casper Wells to get out of the jam.

Mendoza found trouble early when the Mariners piled three hits and a hit batter together for two runs in the first. Carp’s single up the middle with the bases loaded scored Ackley and John Jaso for a 2-0 lead.

It also continued a trend of the Mariners jumping on teams early. Seattle has scored in the first inning in six of its last seven games.

Carp snapped an 0-for-7 streak with his first hit since his July 24 return from Triple-A Tacoma.

Ackley’s hard single to start the game snapped his 0-for-20 streak. He finished the night 2 for 3 with two walks and a run scored.

The two hits were a season-low for Kansas City.

— Associated Press —

Five innings on a muggy afternoon were enough this time for Jered Weaver.

Weaver won his seventh straight start to tie a career best and Torii Hunter, Mike Trout and Bobby Wilson homered for the Los Angeles Angels in an 11-6 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday.

”Anytime your team gives you eight runs to work with, the last thing you want to do is go out there and throw only five innings,” Weaver said. ”It was a rough one. But we came out on top, which was the most important thing.”

The Angels won minus slugger Albert Pujols, who was out because of a bruised right elbow.

Weaver (13-1) threw 101 pitches, allowing two runs and three hits. His AL-leading ERA rose from 2.20 to 2.27 because of Billy Butler’s two-run homer in the fifth.

”If you can get two runs off of Weaver and get him out after the fifth inning, you’ve done a real good job. We did both of those things, but the score was lopsided by then,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

”We did exactly what we wanted to do with Weaver. He’s a guy who’s got great command, never gives in, throws the ball off the corners trying to get you to swing at it, but we did a good job of taking those pitches,” he said.

Weaver’s only loss was at Texas on May 13, when he pitched 3 1-3 innings and gave up eight runs. The All-Star right-hander is 16-2 with a 1.53 ERA in 24 starts at Angel Stadium since the beginning of last season and has yielded only six earned runs over 58 2-3 innings at home this year.

Los Angeles staked Weaver to an 8-0 lead before Butler hit his 20th homer. Jeff Francoeur added a three-run shot in the eighth against Scott Downs to snap an 0 for 15 drought and slice the Angels’ lead to 8-5.

But Trout and Hunter homered back-to-back in the bottom half against Luis Coleman. Trout’s homer was his 16th, Hunter’s his 11th.

Hunter had four hits and drove in three runs.

Weaver, who had hit only one batter in 110 2-3 innings this season coming into the game, plunked Lorenzo Cain his first two times up. Cain, who homered Tuesday night in Kansas City’s 4-1 win, hadn’t been hit in his previous 217 plate appearances since Aug. 12, 2010, when he was with Milwaukee.

”I’m not one to go out there and hit people, obviously,” Weaver said. ”I think I hit one or two guys a year. The command was just not there today. I don’t know what my first-pitch strike (ratio) was, but I know it wasn’t very good.”

”It was just one of those days where I couldn’t find the release point and was a little erratic,” he said.

Royals starter Luke Hochevar (6-9) was ejected in the fourth inning by plate umpire Bob Davidson after hitting Trout – immediately after Wilson’s leadoff homer gave the Angels an 8-0 lead.

”He thought I hit Trout because I gave up the home run, but I’m not that type of player. And I’m not going to just start drilling guys out of frustration,” Hochevar said. ”I don’t do that. I’m pitching the guy in, and one gets away and hits him. But he made his call, and it is what it is.”

Hochevar was charged with eight runs – six earned – and nine hits in his three-plus innings, along with two wild pitches. He was 3-1 with a 2.50 ERA over his previous six starts.

”It was just poor execution. My breaking stuff was up and hanging, and they put some good swings on it,” Hochevar said. ”My whole focus is executing quality pitches. And when you don’t execute, this is what happens. I’ve just got to make better pitches. That’s the bottom line.”

Hochevar gave up singles to his first three batters, all of whom scored. Trout, whose franchise-record run-scoring streak ended at 15 games on Tuesday, came home on a wild pitch to Mark Trumbo. Hunter scored on a groundout by Kendrys Morales, and former Royal Alberto Callaspo delivered Trumbo with the first of his two doubles.

The Angels parlayed two Kansas City errors into three more runs in the second inning despite getting only one ball out of the infield.

”We don’t play sloppy very often, but we did today in the first two innings. That’s for sure,” Yost said. ”It was a day where Hoch didn’t have his good stuff, and they were on him the whole time. Over the course of 162 games, you’re bound to have a few of these. At least we rebounded after the second inning and played pretty decent baseball from that point on.”

— Associated Press —