Bruce Chen pitched eight crisp innings, Alex Gordon homered and the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 4-0 on Tuesday night.

Chen (11-7) allowed two singles, struck out eight and walked one. He was 0-2 with a 7.94 ERA in his previous two starts.

Louis Coleman yielded a single to Joe Mauer while finishing the Royals’ sixth shutout of the season.

Rookie Mike Moustakas also went deep for Kansas City, which finished with 12 hits. Gordon went 3 for 5 and drove in two runs.

Ben Revere and Danny Valencia had Minnesota’s only hits off Chen, who improved to 2-4 with a 5.54 ERA in 16 career games against the Twins. Revere, who stole second after his leadoff single in the first, was the only Twins runner to reach second.

Chen threw 82 of his season-high 119 pitches for strikes.

Gordon hit a leadoff drive off Carl Pavano in the third for his 22nd homer. He also singled in Salvador Perez in the fourth.

Moustakas, who led the minors last year with 36 home runs, connected in the second for his second big league home run and first at Kauffman Stadium. Moustakas went 281 at-bats since his June 11 home run at Los Angeles.

Eric Hosmer, another one of Kansas City’s prized prospects, drove in Melky Cabrera with a grounder in the third. Cabrera doubled and advanced to third on left fielder Joe Benson’s throwing error to set up the run.

Pavano (8-12), who won his first two September starts, allowed four runs, three earned, and 11 hits in seven innings. That pushed his innings total to 200, the second straight year he has reached that mark.

The Twins, who have lost 18 of 22, dropped three games behind the Royals in the battle for last in the AL Central. The Twins have won the past two division titles, while the Royals have finished last the past two seasons.

The Twins have hit .149 and scored seven runs while losing the first four games on their road trip.

— Associated Press —

Everett Teaford’s first major league victory was worth the wait. It also came in his first big league start.

The Kansas City Royals rookie left-hander, who labored five seasons in the minors, took advantage of his first start Sunday against the Seattle Mariners, allowing three hits in five scoreless innings in a 2-1 victory.

He struck out a career-high five with one walk, Alex Gordon supported him with a pair of RBI doubles and three Royals relievers combined to finish off the victory.

Blake Wood took over in the seventh and tossed two hitless innings, retiring six straight, four on strikeouts. Greg Holland gave up a two-out RBI double to Ichiro Suzuki in the eighth and Joakim Soria pitched the ninth to pick up his 28th save in 35 opportunities.

“It’s unreal,” Teaford said. “To have my 100th (professional) start my first big-league start and my first win of my career, and my dad here. … It’s awesome to have him in town. You can’t write a better story than that.”

Teaford, the Royals’ 12th round draft choice in 2006, was recalled from Triple-A Omaha on May 17. He had a 3.21 ERA in 23 appearances out of the bullpen without a decision.

Having come through the system as a starter, Teaford was eager to get one. Manager Ned Yost told him Saturday that he would get the ball Sunday.

“I think he did very, very well, five shutout innings,” Yost said. “After that first inning (23 pitches), I thought we’d be lucky to get three out of him. Then he kind of settled down and did a good job getting through five.

“I did everything I could to at least give him the opportunity to get his first big league win. I didn’t want him going much more than 75 pitches. He did it. And the bullpen did an outstanding job from that point on.”

Kansas City got a break in the third inning when Alcides Escobar stroked a two-out single to left and Gordon lifted a routine fly to Mike Carp. The left fielder battled to track the ball in the sun, finally losing it to his right.

Escobar never broke stride, scoring without a throw and Gordon was credited with a RBI double.

“That sun ball, things finally went our way,” Gordon said. “Escobar did a good job running that ball out.”

Anthony Vasquez (1-3), who entered with a 9.00 ERA in his three previous starts for the Mariners, went six-plus innings — his longest career outing — allowing seven hits, two runs with two strikeouts and no walks.

“He’s different from other guys,” Gordon said of Vasquez. “He’s got a soft change, soft curveball. He only throws 88 (mph), but with his soft stuff it looks a lot harder. He just mixed it up well. He’s different from the guys you usually see. We had a tough time with him.”

Vasquez put down a couple of minor threats in the middle innings. In the fifth with one out, he hit Chris Getz and Escobar followed with a single to center. He then struck out Gordon and Melky Cabrera lined out to center when Casper Wells made a nice sliding catch.

In the sixth, Eric Hosmer launched a one-out double into the right-center gap, but Jeff Francoeur popped out to second and Yamaico Navarro bounced out to short.

Vasquez, however, couldn’t escape a self-induced jam in the seventh. Brayan Pena opened with a single to center and then Getz laid down a sacrifice bunt. Vasquez booted it, putting runners on first and second with no outs.

Shawn Kelley took over and struck out Escobar when he failed to put down a bunt with two strikes. Gordon followed with his second double, a shot against the left-center wall. Pena scored but Getz held up at third and Kelley got out of the jam without more damage.

Gordon leads the majors with 45 doubles.

The Royals displayed their defensive prowess in the fourth. With Dustin Ackley on first, Carp lined out to Francoeur in right. He quickly threw to first to double off Ackley.

It was the Royals’ 50th outfield assist, most in the majors. It also was the most in the big leagues since 2002 and three short of the club record.

— Associated Press —

Ichiro Suzuki had four hits, including a homer, to help the Seattle Mariners beat the Kansas City Royals 7-3 on Friday night.

Miguel Olivo and Justin Smoak each added three hits for the Mariners. Olivo fell a single short of the cycle.

Blake Beaven (4-5) gave up three runs in 6 1/3 innings, retiring 13 straight batters during one stretch.

Jeff Francis (5-16) allowed five runs in 3 1/3 innings. It could have been worse had Kansas City right fielder Jeff Francoeur not made an amazing catch in right field, taking a home run away from Seattle second baseman Dustin Ackley in the third inning.

Francoeur jumped, then reached over the wall to catch the deep fly ball. Replays showed the ball ticked off the glove of a fan before landing in Francoeur’s, which should have made it a home run. Umpires ruled it was an out.

— Associated Press —

Guillermo Moscoso had no intention of giving up the ball easily. Oakland manager Bob Melvin had to wrestle it from him with two outs in the ninth inning.

Melvin appreciated Moscoso’s competitive nature.

Moscoso held Kansas City hitless until rookie Salvador Perez singled with two outs in the eighth inning, and the Athletics beat the Royals 7-0 Wednesday.

“I guess my one bad pitch came in the last inning,” Moscoso said. “They showed the last two games that they are good hitters and that just made me focus more. I was feeling great.”

Moscoso (8-8) wound up allowing two hits in 8 2/3 innings. The right-hander walked one and struck out four in his 18th major league start.

“A lot of guys may have better stuff or better location than Guillermo but no one has a bigger heart,” Melvin said. “The ninth inning was painful for me. I just couldn’t stomach the fact he would throw 130 pitches. He wouldn’t give me the ball. It was actually a wrestling match for a little while.”

Moscoso set an Oakland record by retiring 30 consecutive hitters — the final 13 against Seattle last Friday and the first 17 against the Royals. He walked Kansas City’s Alcides Escobar with two outs in the sixth.

“It was a great day for everybody,” Moscoso said. “I always want to go deep into the game. This is something you never know if it will happen.”

Perez broke up the no-hit bid by lining a clean, opposite-field field single to right.

Moscoso recorded 16 of his outs on fly balls to the outfield, 10 to center fielder Coco Crisp. Crisp’s diving catch on Billy Butler’s sinking liner ended the first inning.

“You have to take your hat off to that pitching performance,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We’ve been swinging the bats really well. You know what? That kid threw a damn good game and that’s just the way it is.”

Butler’s eight-pitch at-bat in the ninth ended with A’s third baseman Scott Sizemore making two errors on the play. That prompted Melvin to bring in Fautino De Los Santos, who got the final out on one pitch.

Jemile Weeks had four hits and drove in a run for the A’s, who won for the fifth time in seven games. Sizemore doubled home two runs and Hideki Matsui, Josh Willingham and Adam Rosales also drove in runs.

“He was putting the zeros up on the board,” Weeks said. “I didn’t even know he had one going until they got their first hit. He located every pitch and when he does that he usually has success.”

Bruce Chen (10-7) allowed six runs on eight hits in his 6 1/3 innings.

“I felt like I was making my pitches but in the end we lost,” Chen said. “Their pitcher did a good job and he beat us.”

Crisp, after missing four games with a sore right foot, doubled in the first inning, stole his 40th base and scored on Willingham’s sacrifice fly.

The A’s added another run in the fourth when left fielder Alex Gordon misplayed Michael Taylor’s fly ball into a two-base error, allowing Kurt Suzuki to score.

Earlier, Taylor lost a hit when he was thrown at first base by strong-armed right fielder Jeff Francoeur. The 9-3 putout was just the fifth in the AL since 1974.

— Associated Press —

Billy Butler enjoyed this game at Oakland Coliseum very much.

Butler homered twice and drove in three runs, Alex Gordon doubled home the go-ahead run and the Kansas City Royals scored five times in the ninth inning to beat the Athletics 11-6 on Monday.

Jeff Francoeur, Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas had two RBIs apiece and Melky Cabrera also drove in a run for the Royals, who avoided being mathematically eliminated for at least one more day.

In 19 previous games in Oakland, Butler was 13 for 63, a .206 hitter, with no home runs and six RBIs.

“Who does say they like hitting here?” Butler laughed. “The ball carries better during the day, but that’s usually true everywhere. Some days you’re going to get them and some days you’re going to miss them. I got some good pitches to hit and didn’t miss.”

Butler, who finished with three hits, has been on a tear over the past week. He’s hit safely in six straight and has a .417 batting average over that stretch.

“It just shows we’re getting better offensively as a team,” Butler said. “When you look at all the positions, these are guys we’re going with next year and it’s been good.”

Scott Sizemore hit a three-run homer for the A’s, who had won four straight. David DeJesus, Josh Willingham and Kurt Suzuki each drove in a run.

Butler hit a tying two-run shot off Craig Breslow in the seventh, and the Royals broke it open against closer Andrew Bailey (0-4) in the ninth.

“We have a pretty good offense,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We keep tacking on runs. Billy is having a great offensive year and he’s doing it all. He’s driving in runs, hitting with power and hitting the ball the other way.”

Salvador Perez sparked the winning rally with a leadoff single and was replaced by Chris Getz. After Alcides Escobar flied out, Gordon doubled to right and scored on Melky Cabrera’s single to give Kansas City an 8-6 lead.

“I was just trying to make contact,” Gordon said. “He threw me a good pitch, down and away, and I somehow barreled it.”

Bailey said he wasn’t sure he could have done much else against Gordon.

“Looking back at it, a couple first-pitch fastballs that were well located that they just put in play, and Gordon got that one fair,” he said. “You just have to tip your cap to that one. It probably would end up a ball.”

Neil Wagner replaced Bailey and walked Butler before Hosmer added an RBI double. Moustakas capped the scoring with a two-out, two-run single and was cut down trying to advance to second on the play.

“They’re swinging hot bats right now,” Bailey said. “I know they’ve got a bunch of guys that hit .300 and hit home runs. That’s the start of a winning team. From here on out they’re going to be a pretty good team in the AL and definitely compete in the next couple of years.”

Greg Holland (4-1) pitched a scoreless eighth to get the victory.

A’s starter Rich Harden struck out 10 in five innings but was charged with four runs and eight hits. He had eight K’s through three innings.

Kansas City starter Felipe Paulino also went five innings, allowing four hits and a season-high six runs. He issued a career-high six walks while striking out four.

Paulino, who was scratched from his last start with back spasms, has walked 22 hitters in his last 27 innings. He walked 19 in his previous 73 innings.

The Royals hit .325 on their last road trip and they picked up where they left off, scoring three times in the first inning, two on Francoeur’s single.

Scott Sizemore’s homer gave the A’s a 4-3 edge in the second. Suzuki singled in a run just ahead of Sizemore.

Butler hit a solo shot in the third but Willingham put the A’s ahead again with an RBI single in the fifth. DeJesus followed with a sacrifice fly.

Everett Teaford helped the Royals stay in the game, pitching 2 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Paulino.

— Associated Press —

After a harmless groundout in the fourth inning Sunday against Kansas City, Shelley Duncan made a minor adjustment to his swing at the suggestion of Cleveland hitting coach Bruce Fields.

There was nothing harmless about Duncan’s next two trips to the plate.

He pounded a three-run homer into the gusting wind in the sixth inning, and then added a two-run shot in the eighth as Cleveland built a big lead. Duncan’s career-high five RBIs helped the Indians beat the pesky Royals 9-6 and set up a critical three-game series starting Monday against Detroit.

“Both balls were just left over the plate,” said Duncan, who had just four homers and 24 RBIs coming into the game. “It was nice getting that big lead for once. We haven’t done that for a while.”

Asdrubal Cabrera returned to the lineup to drive in two runs, and Jason Donald and Jerad Head also had RBIs for the Indians (70-67), who surpassed their win total from all last season as they try to keep pace with the Tigers in the AL Central. They began the day 6 1/2 games back in second place.

The Tigers, who played Sunday night, face Cleveland in a three-game series starting Monday.

“You want to go into that series with a positive outcome here,” Indians manager Manny Acta said. “If we don’t take advantage of this series, you can’t be looking at the last three games of the season (also against Detroit), because you might not be there.”

Jeanmar Gomez (2-2) was effective again in his second start since getting recalled from Triple-A Columbus, allowing six hits and only Mike Moustaksas’ RBI groundout in 5 1/3 innings.

The bullpen wasn’t nearly as good.

Eric Hosmer drove in a pair of runs in the ninth inning, and Johnny Giavotella had one of his two RBIs in the ninth as Kansas City tried to rally. Chris Perez came in with a runner on first and got Moustakas and Brayan Pena on weak pop outs for his 32nd save.

Melky Cabrera also drove in a run for Kansas City, but it wasn’t enough to help Jeff Francis (5-15) finally end his home woes. He allowed four runs — all in the first two frames — and nine hits over five shaky innings, and still hasn’t tasted victory at Kauffman Stadium since May 31.

“I tried to make an adjustment and was able to put up at least three zeros,” Francis said. “When you only go five innings, you don’t give the team much of a chance. It was disappointing.”

Francis got in trouble quickly when Kosuke Fukudome doubled with one out in the first. Carlos Santana and Duncan walked to load the bases for Donald, whose single made it 1-0.

Santana was thrown out trying to score on the play by Mitch Maier, the 24th time a Royals outfielder has thrown someone out at home. Only the 1978 Montreal Expos have more outfield assists at the plate (30) in a single season since 1974, when accurate records started being tracked.

Cleveland piled on in the second inning when Jack Hannahan doubled, Lou Marson singled and Head hit an RBI single. After a couple quick outs, including a great stab by Hosmer on a hard-hit ball by Fukudome, Cabrera ripped a two-run double down the left-field line.

Cabrera fouled a pitch off his knee Friday night, causing a colorful bruise that kept him out of the lineup Saturday night. He returned to push his team-leading RBI total to 82, a career best.

“He’s been such a strong player for us all year long,” Duncan said. “He’s a hard one to just plug someone in and have them do what he’s done for us this year.”

The Royals finally scored in the fourth when Hosmer lined a double into the wind, which was whipping up to 27 mph. He came home when Moustakas hit a grounder to third base.

The Indians got some breathing room in the sixth when Ezequiel Carrera and Santana reached base and Duncan pounded a 1-0 pitch from Jesse Chavez into the Royals’ bullpen for a 7-1 lead. The two-out homer to left field was Duncan’s fifth of the season and first since Aug. 5.

Hosmer and Giavotella drove in runs in the seventh for Kansas City, and Moustakas nearly tied the game with a bases-loaded drive that just skirted the foul pole. He eventually flied out to right, and Duncan’s second homer of the game in the eighth restored Cleveland’s six-run cushion.

“Today, Shelley Duncan stepped up, and we need just about every guy to step up with the roster we have right now,” Acta said, referring to his patchwork lineup. “We need heroes every day.”

— Associated Press —

Justin Masterson worked seven strong innings, and Asdrubal Cabrera and Jason Donald both homered to lift the Cleveland Indians to a 5-4 win over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.

Masterson (11-8) allowed seven hits and four runs as the Indians (69-66) equaled last year’s win total and remained 5 1/2 games behind first-place Detroit in the AL Central.

Royals starter Bruce Chen (10-6) gave up five runs on eight hits in six innings and Chris Perez worked the ninth for his 31st save.

When Masterson and Chen matched up in Cleveland last Sunday, it was Chen who had the upper hand in a 2-1 Kansas City victory.

Not this time.

The Indians went to work in the first, producing two runs on three hits. Carlos Santana’s run-scoring double and an RBI single by Jim Thome put the Royals in a hole that would get much deeper.

Cleveland struck again in the third against Chen, who had gone 5-1 in six August starts. A leadoff single by Kosuke Fukudome and Cabrera’s two-run homer that barely eluded the outstretched glove of a leaping Alex Gordon in left staked Masterson to a 4-0 lead.

Cabrera fouled a pitch off his left knee early in his at-bat and hobbled out of the batter’s box. He homered shortly after that but left the game favoring his knee in the bottom half when he had trouble moving laterally in the field on a grounder.

Donald homered in the fourth before the Royals made a bid to climb out of a five-run hole. Kansas City used a run-scoring single by Alcides Escobar in the fifth and a sacrifice fly by Eric Hosmer in the sixth to close to 5-2.

The Royals applied more pressure in the seventh when Alex Gordon launched a two-run homer to straightaway center.

— Associated Press —

Danny Duffy overthrew his catcher on an intentional walk, and Alcides Escobar struck out on a pitch that hit him in the shoulder.

This wasn’t the prettiest of games for the Kansas City Royals, but Jeff Francoeur and his teammates managed to outslug Detroit.

“You saw a lot of stuff,” Francoeur said.

Francoeur homered for his 1,000th career hit and drove in three runs, and the Royals outlasted the Tigers 11-8 Thursday to salvage a split of their four-game series. Kansas City scored four runs in both the fifth and seventh innings, batting around each time.

Johnny Giavotella hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the seventh against Luis Marte, who was making his major league debut. Eric Hosmer added a solo shot in the eighth to make it 11-8. Hosmer also had two singles and two walks.

Francoeur opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the second, reaching his milestone in style. His first hit as a major leaguer was also a homer, back in 2005 with the Atlanta Braves.

“To do it on a home run — even more special,” he said. “My mom texted me, reminding me that my first in the big leagues was a home run and my 1,000th.”

Magglio Ordonez homered, doubled twice and stole a base for the first-place Tigers, who lead Cleveland and the Chicago White Sox by 5½ games in the AL Central. Detroit won the middle two games of the series against Kansas City with late-inning rallies and took an 8-6 lead Thursday on a two-run homer by Austin Jackson in the sixth.

Aaron Crow (4-4) allowed three runs in the sixth, his only inning of work, but was credited with the win after the Royals reclaimed the lead in the seventh. Phil Coke (2-9) came in with a man on second and one out and allowed a walk to Hosmer, an RBI double to Francoeur and an RBI single by Mike Moustakas.

Giavotella’s soft single to left off Marte put Kansas City ahead to stay. Marte was brought up from Double-A earlier in the day as part of Detroit’s expanded September roster.

“I don’t know a thing about him, so I don’t know if that’s Marte nervous or Marte at his best or Marte at his worst,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “That’s why I went with him, because they had never seen him, and I wanted to see how he handled it. He did fine — he just got one pitch up.”

Three more Kansas City relievers finished the game, with Joakim Soria pitching the ninth for his 25th save.

Detroit rookie Jacob Turner struggled in his second career start, allowing six runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Duffy had problems of his own, allowing five runs and six hits in five innings. He struck out four, walked three and overthrew his catcher on an intentional walk in the third inning for a bizarre wild pitch.

Duffy said he’d never intentionally walked someone at any level.

“Literally never — never in my whole life,” he said. “I didn’t really know how to go about it. Obviously, you throw it to the glove, but it didn’t happen that way.”

The Tigers had already scored three runs in the third to take a 3-2 lead when that mishap occurred, but Duffy recovered to strike out Alex Avila with men on first and third to end the inning.

In the sixth, Escobar struck out swinging on an inside pitch that hit his right shoulder. Escobar, who hits right-handed, appeared to try to hold up his swing at an inside pitch. He said the bat might have come through the hitting zone because he was trying to avoid the ball.

“If I hadn’t swung, it maybe hits me in my chest,” he said. “I can do nothing in that situation.”

The Royals made up for those bloopers later on, and Francoeur, Hosmer and Giavotella had three hits each. Moustakas extended his hitting streak to 15 games, and Hosmer extended his to 10.

— Associated Press —

The Detroit Tigers have two of the best players in the majors in ace Justin Verlander and slugger Miguel Cabrera.

The rest of the roster is holding up quite nicely, too.

Wilson Betemit capped Detroit’s three-run eighth inning with a tiebreaking RBI double against his former team, leading the Tigers to a 5-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday.

Betemit’s big hit came less than 18 hours after reserve Ramon Santiago delivered a game-ending homer in the 10th inning.

“People wonder why I play so many different lineups, but that’s what you have to do when you want to win a division,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “You don’t win unless you get contributions from everyone, and you have to play them so that they are ready to make a play when you need them.”

Austin Jackson went 4 for 4 and scored three times for the AL Central-leading Tigers, who have won seven of 10. Cabrera added two hits and Jose Valverde worked the ninth for his 40th save in 40 chances.

“Austin had a great game for us — that’s exactly what we want from him at the top of the order,” Leyland said. “When he’s hitting, it is a really big tonic for our offense.”

Eric Hosmer had a pair of solo homers for Kansas City, which has dropped four of six.

Jackson sparked the winning rally with a leadoff triple against Blake Wood (5-2). Ramon Santiago followed with a sacrifice fly that trimmed Kansas City’s lead to 4-3.

With one out and Delmon Young on first, Victor Martinez hit an RBI double into left-center. Alex Gordon made a diving attempt on the ball but couldn’t haul it in.

“Alex made the dive, and I couldn’t tell if he got it or not until I saw Melky (Cabrera) running after the ball,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He covered a lot of ground to even get close to that.”

Alex Avila was intentionally walked before Betemit hit a liner into the right-field corner to drive in pinch runner Brennan Boesch. Jeff Francoeur cut down Avila at the plate to end the inning.

“I haven’t been swinging the bat well in the last couple games, but this was a big situation,” said Betemit, who was acquired from the Royals on July 20. “I know Blake throws hard, so I was looking for something I could hit. He threw me a slider, and I put a great swing on it.”

Daniel Schlereth (2-1) pitched an inning to get the victory and Valverde got Alcides Escobar to fly out with runners on first and second to end the game.

Hosmer connected in the second and the fourth, hitting a drive to right on a 1-2 pitch each time, and Kansas City added two more runs in the sixth to take a 4-2 lead.

Gordon hit a leadoff single and scored on Melky Cabrera’s double. Cabrera then scored when Young couldn’t handle Billy Butler’s drive to left and misplayed it again when trying to pick it up.

“I thought I was pitching well until the sixth — other than the two homers, obviously,” Tigers starter Rick Porcello said. “Things got away from me a little in the sixth, but I was still pleased that I kept us close enough to get the win.”

Jackson scored each of Detroit’s first two runs, on Young’s sacrifice fly in the first and Nate Adcock’s wild pitch in the third.

Kansas City helped itself on defense. Rookie Johnny Giavotella made four highlight-reel plays at second base, and Gordon robbed Avila of extra bases with a leaping catch as he crashed into the fence in left.

“We played great defense, but every time you lose a one-run game, you hate it,” Yost said. “We had a two-run lead and we couldn’t hold it in the eighth.”

— Associated Press —