Jim Thome has been plagued by aches and pains for the better part of a decade. They just seem to be coming around a little more often in his 19th season.

A strained oblique and bothersome toe injury on his left foot have slowed his chase of 600 career homers, but the Minnesota Twins are sticking with him for moments like the sixth inning on Sunday against Kansas City.

With the game tied and his team in desperate need of a jolt, Thome hit his 596th home run to lift the Twins to a 4-3 victory over the Royals.

Thome’s tiebreaking three-run drive off Felipe Paulino soared into the upper deck in right-center field, leaving him four shy of becoming the eighth player to hit 600 home runs.

“It’s always special,” Thome said. “That feeling you want to kind of last forever. It went out, it put us ahead. And that’s No. 1.”

Jeff Francoeur homered and Melky Cabrera added two hits for the Royals. Paulino (1-3) struck out eight in seven innings, yielding four runs and seven hits.

Brian Duensing (7-7) gave up three runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings for the Twins, who started a crucial 12-game homestand by taking three of four from the Royals.

After a relatively healthy season last year in which he hit 25 homers in 108 games, this one has been a tough one. He will turn 41 in August, and it’s getting tougher and tougher to get his body ready to grind out each at-bat.

On a sweltering day where the heat index climbed past 110 degrees, Thome looked plenty loose when he sent a 3-2 pitch from Paulino an estimated 464 feet into the stands for a 4-1 lead. He also became the 11th player to hit 500 homers in the American League.

“He’s had some injuries and we know we have to limit what you can do with him to keep him healthy,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “That was a big at-bat and it was one mistake. That’s what those guys do. You make one mistake and he’s going to put it in the seats. That’s why he’s got that many home runs.”

Francoeur came back with a two-run shot of his own in the top of the seventh, but Glen Perkins pitched a perfect eighth and Joe Nathan, who resumed his closer role when Matt Capps began to struggle, picked up his fifth save of the season.

It was a tough loss for Paulino, who has pitched well since joining the Royals at the end of May. Paulino hit 97 mph on the Target Field radar gun. He only walked one hitter, an intentional pass for Joe Mauer, who had two hits and an RBI.

“We’re at the point where one mistake kills us,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We’re just walking a thin line. Just keep battling through it. We’re getting better. We’ve just got to keep trudging through it.”

The Royals made Duensing work through the first three innings.

The Twins left-hander needed 58 pitches to get to the fourth, giving up an RBI single to Alex Gordon to fall behind in the first inning. But he breezed through innings four, five and six, averaging just 10 pitches per frame to keep the Twins in it.

Gardenhire returned to the ballpark Sunday after missing Saturday’s game with a chest cold that has bothered him for weeks. He played it safe by watching the game from the air-conditioned clubhouse, while bench coach Scott Ullger made the pitching changes.

Paulino fanned Thome and got him to ground into a double play the first two times up. But he left a slider out over the middle of the plate in the third at-bat, and paid for it.

“He knows what his game’s all about,” Nathan said. “He came to us and pretty much said, ‘There’s going to be a lot of times I strike out. There’s going to be a lot of times I walk and there’s going to be a lot of times that I’m going to barrel one up.’

“We got to see a lot of that today. He punched out, but he also got to barrel one up and we got to see one fly a long way.”

— Associated Press —

Joe Nathan entered in a save situation Saturday night and received a rousing ovation from the hometown crowd.

Quite a departure from a day ago, when Matt Capps was booed off the Target Field mound after another blown save.

Nathan couldn’t contain a smile after returning to the role he wanted. The Minnesota fans certainly embraced the Twins’ new, old closer as he preserved a 4-3 win over the Kansas City Royals.

“Especially running in, it got a little louder than normal,” Nathan said of moving into the closer’s spot after pitching in a setup role recently. “Usually it’s like advertisements going on in the eighth inning. So, yeah, you’ve got to calm down a little bit more.”

Michael Cuddyer singled home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning before Nathan did his job as the closer.

Cuddyer, Minnesota’s lone All-Star representative, singled off Aaron Crow to drive in Alexi Casilla.

Nathan finished for his fourth save in seven chances. Earlier in the day, the Twins put the former All-Star back into his familiar role, replacing the struggling Capps. Nathan earned his first save since the Twins’ home opener.

“For me, I try to treat it all the same,” Nathan said. “Obviously the stuff going on outside the field is the stuff that’s different, with the music playing, the crowd gets a little louder in the ninth, everything seems a little bigger in that inning. For myself and my own mental preparation, everything is the same.”

Drew Butera added a solo home run for Minnesota. Glen Perkins (1-1) pitched a perfect eighth for the victory.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire left the stadium during the game with an illness — he’s been dealing with a viral infection. Bench coach Scott Ullger finished the game as the acting manager.

Jeff Francis (3-11) lost his fifth straight decision, giving up four runs on seven hits and a walk.

Francis got one out in the eighth before back-to-back singles by Casilla and Joe Mauer chased him. Crow entered, and Cuddyer met him with a single that broke a tie at 3-all.

“I take a lot of responsibility for what I do on the mound, and I think I expect more out of myself than anybody else does,” Francis said. “I feel like I can get out of that inning, but I’ll give the ball to Aaron any day. I know the way that guy can throw. I’m not disappointed with him at all, only with my performance.”

Still stuck six games under .500, the Twins are opening the second half with 12 straight home games, all against AL Central opponents. Minnesota used a 24-11 surge going into the All-Star break to cut their 10-game deficit.

The Twins now trail Cleveland by six games.

“When you put yourself in a hole, that mountain when you’re standing at the bottom of it, it looks like it never ends,” Cuddyer said. “But when you’re climbing and taking every step, that next step looks closer. That’s kind of the way we relayed it. Every night you go out and try to figure out a way to win, and by the time it’s all said and done, hopefully you’ve climbed to the top.”

Playing a Central team is usually a good tonic for Minnesota, which has won 13 of its last 16 games against division foes. The Twins have also won 16 of their last 21 home games.

Nathan could play a big part in Minnesota’s resurgence. He certainly caught the eye of Royals manager Ned Yost.

“His fastball is down from what it used to be, but it still looks crisp. His breaking ball looks a lot sharper, to me, than it did,” Yost said. “But I ain’t seen him in a long time.”

Alcides Escobar homered for Kansas City, which has lost six of seven to the Twins.

Carl Pavano pitched seven innings for Minnesota, allowing three runs and six hits. He cruised through the first four innings, allowing just two hits.

The Royals broke through with Escobar’s two-out homer in the fifth and added a run in the sixth as Melky Cabrera singled, stole second and scored on a groundout by Eric Hosmer.

Mauer had an RBI grounder, Cuddyer singled and Delmon Young doubled for a 2-0 lead in the first. Butera’s second homer made it 3-0 in the fourth.

Francis retired 11 batters in a row before Casilla’s single in the eighth.

— Associated Press —

Matt Capps insisted there’s no difference to him, pitching on the road or at his home ballpark.

But Target Field has not been a friendly place lately for the scuffling former All-Star closer.

Eric Hosmer hit a two-run, two-out homer in the top of the ninth inning to lift the Kansas City Royals to a 2-1 victory Friday night, the seventh blown save this season for Capps to match the major league lead.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever struggled like this,” Capps said, adding: “Nobody’s more disappointed right now. It’s not fun.”

Capps (2-5) was booed mildly after Melky Cabrera’s leadoff four-pitch walk and loudly after Hosmer’s drive to straightaway center field. Capps couldn’t hold the lead in a save situation for the seventh time in 22 tries, tying Carlos Marmol of the Chicago Cubs for most in the majors.

In his last four appearances at home, Capps has blown two saves, allowing 11 hits, seven earned runs, two walks and two homers in just 2 2/3 innings.

“It’s been a rough year from the word `go’ for me,” said Capps, an All-Star last season for the Washington Nationals before coming to Minnesota in a trade for prize catching prospect Wilson Ramos. “I appreciate the support I do get, and all I can say is I’m going to keep grinding. I’m not giving up.”

Tim Collins (4-4) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win, the first by the Royals in their last six games against the Twins, and Joakim Soria escaped a jam in the ninth for his 16th save in 21 tries. Soria empathized with his opponent after watching his teammates rally.

“He’s a great pitcher. He’s not that bad. He’s not wild. Nothing. He’s just hit a bit of bump there … ” Soria said. “I had that one this season. He’ll figure it out. He’s a really good guy and a great baseball player. I think the fans, he needs their support.”

After Cabrera stole second base, Alex Gordon grounded out and Jason Repko raced to catch a sharp flyball by Billy Butler in the right field corner for the second out of the ninth. But Hosmer — after swinging late and missing a high fastball — connected for his ninth homer this season to spoil seven shutout innings by Twins starter Nick Blackburn.

“Anytime you’re facing a good closer like Capps, especially with a good fastball, got to try to jump on it early,” Hosmer said.

Said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire: “Everything gets thrown on the closer. Sure, he gave it up at the end, but a lot of people misfired, too. … We have all the trust in the world in him.”

Soria gave up a leadoff single to Jim Thome, and Matt Tolbert entered as a pinch runner.

Danny Valencia’s drive to the warning track in center raised hope for the home team of a walk-off win, but the ball died in time for Cabrera to catch it for the first out. Delmon Young’s soft single to center sent Tolbert to third, but Tolbert came home on a roller in front of the plate by pinch-hitter Luke Hughes and was easily tagged out. Tsuyoshi Nishioka grounded out to end the game.

“It was pretty bad on my part. I thought I could’ve made it at first. I thought it wasn’t hit that hard, and then it kind of just got to him a little quicker than I thought,” Tolbert said.

Blackburn gave up only four hits and two walks while striking out three, his best start in a month. Royals starter Luke Hochevar who looked just as comfortable on the mound and was equally effective, finishing seven innings with only three hits allowed.

Ben Revere ran his way to the Twins’ only run, stealing second base, moving up on a ground ball and scoring easily on Hochevar’s wild pitch in the fourth.

Then with one out in the sixth, Revere really revved up the crowd with a highlight-reel three-base hit — putting the trip in triple. His line drive to right field bounced past Jeff Francoeur to the bottom of the wall, and he sped so fast around second base that he lost his balance and fell forward halfway to third. The 5-foot-9, 170-pound Revere barely lost momentum as he did a full somersault, got up without his helmet and slid head-first into the base with room to spare.

— Associated Press —

It had been an awful long time since Delmon Young and Trevor Plouffe played at Target Field, albeit for completely different reasons.

Young had been on the disabled list since June 26 with a sprained ankle, while Plouffe was sent down to Triple-A on June 2 after struggling badly at shortstop. Both returned on Thursday night to get the Minnesota Twins off to a good start in a critical home stand.

Plouffe hit a big two-run homer and Young had three hits to lead the Twins to an 8-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

“That’s the mentality I have now, just help the team anyway I can,” said Plouffe, who tore up the minor leagues with 15 home runs in 51 games. “I don’t know where I’m going to be playing, but it doesn’t matter. When I get in there, have good at-bats and play sound defense.”

Francisco Liriano (6-7) gave up three runs — one earned — on seven hits with four strikeouts in seven innings and Joe Mauer had two hits and two RBIs for the Twins.

Melky Cabrera had two hits, an RBI and threw a runner out at home from center field for the Royals, who watched their bullpen let a close game get out of hand.

Right-hander Blake Wood walked three and hit another batter while being charged with four runs in a disastrous seventh inning in relief of Bruce Chen (5-3).

Chen gave up four runs on nine hits with three walks in five innings for the Royals.

“Just a day, actually the first day all year where nobody was sharp,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

Alexi Casilla and Tsuyoshi Nishioka chipped in two hits each for the Twins, who have won seven of their last nine games.

The Twins went 24-11 in the final 35 games before the All-Star break, shaving 10 games off their deficit in the AL Central and started the night trailing Detroit by 6 1/2 games. It marked the start of a crucial stretch of 12 home games in a row, all against division foes.

“It’s a big mountain we put ourselves at the bottom of and we’re still working our way back up,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.

The Royals were showing some promise of finally digging out of the cellar early in the season, starting the year 20-17. They are 17-38 since then to fade out of contention, though youngsters like Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas are giving their long-suffering fans reason to hope that better days are around the corner.

It was ugly early for the Twins, who committed two errors in the first inning. Cabrera scored on a wild pitch and Alex Gordon hustled home from second base on the play after Mauer’s ill-advised pitch to Liriano at home plate skipped by him.

With a fastball that never topped 84 mph, Chen was somehow able to get through four scoreless innings. He stranded seven runners before the Twins finally got to him in the fifth.

Young hit his second double of the game to score Valencia and Plouffe’s two-run homer hit high off the foul pole in left field to give the Twins a 4-3 lead.

“After the Babe Ruth-like performance he put on when I was in Rochester with him, it was good to see him first game up here go deep,” Young said.

Plouffe, who was recalled from Triple-A to start this game, was initially slated to play first base. But Jim Thome was a late scratch with a left toe injury, so Plouffe was moved to DH.

Wood came out to start the seventh and walked Ben Revere with the bases loaded before hitting Casilla to make it 6-3. Mauer followed with a two-run single of Everett Teaford to cap the four-run inning.

— Associated Press —

Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As temperatures neared 100 and Justin Verlander’s pitch count mounted, Jim Leyland thought seriously about replacing his hard-working All-Star.

But with whom?

“No matter where I looked — my bullpen, their bullpen, in the stands — I couldn’t find anybody any better,” Leyland quipped. “So he’s going to be out there.”

With the heat index reaching 113 on the stadium concourse, Verlander threw 119 pitches in 7 2/3 innings and beat Kansas City 2-1 Sunday afternoon, vaulting Detroit into first place in the AL Central and making him the first Tigers pitcher in 24 years with 12 wins prior to the All-Star break.

“I knew it would be a grind out there, as hot as it was,” said Verlander. “I took my time between pitches and just tried to slow things down a little bit. I felt like that helped.”

The 28-year-old right-hander (12-4) threw 82 strikes in his 119 pitches and improved to 12-2 in 18 starts against the Royals. The first Tiger since Jack Morris in 1987 with 12 wins before the break, he struck out the side in the second and sixth and fanned nine altogether, raising his league-leading strikeout total to 147. He allowed six hits and did not walk a batter while getting charged with one unearned run. He has not allowed more than two runs in nine straight starts.

Verlander could remember only one game this hot.

“Maybe Atlanta a year or two ago. It was smoking hot there, too. I just tried to take all the time I could to get my breath and not let myself get in fast-forward mode and all of a sudden find yourself with a couple of guys on and you’re gassed.”

The Royals, who lost three of the four games against their AL Central rivals, went into the break with a league-worst 37-54 record. Eric Hosmer doubled leading off the ninth against Jose Valverde, but was cut down on a close play trying to steal third. That was the second out, then Mike Moustakas flied out.

Both Verlander and Leyland said they thought he was safe until seeing the replay. Then they thought Brandon Inge blocked him off.

Hosmer still thinks he was safe.

“I know I got my hand in there 100 percent,” he said. “You know, it’s a tough call for him, but it’s a shame it’s the last inning and the game ended like that. It was a tough way to lose.”

The Tigers, winners of four of their last five, moved a half-game ahead of Cleveland, which lost to Toronto 7-1.

“That doesn’t really mean anything,” Leyland said. “That means we’ve played a half a game better than somebody else the first half. This is going to be up for grabs. The Twins and White Sox are right there. Cleveland’s right there. It’s better than being down, behind. But I’m proud of the guys. Unbelievable effort. Guys are tired.”

Jeff Francis (3-10) took the loss even though he had one of the his best outings of the season, going six-plus innings and surrendering two runs on just four hits, with one walk and six strikeouts, matching his season high.

“There’s been a lot of games we could have won and haven’t,” said Francis. “But you know, you put it behind you. We still have a half to go to turn things around, make some adjustments and play better baseball.”

Verlander lost the shutout in the eighth when Alcides Escobar singled, went to third on Chris Getz’s single and scored with two outs when Inge threw high to first on Alex Gordon’s slow roller to third. Joaquin Benoit relieved and struck out Billy Butler with two on and two out.

“That was the biggest out of the game,” said Leyland. “And probably nobody will notice it.”

Valverde earned his 24th straight save. He saved all three of the victories against KC.

It was 95 degrees with a heat index of 105 when the game started and 97, 112 by the sixth inning.

Francis retired the first nine Tigers but Casper Wells doubled leading off the fourth and made it 1-0 on an RBI single by Brennan Boesch. In the sixth, Wells walked, went to second with his first career steal and came home on Magglio Ordonez’s RBI single.

Verlander, as usual against KC, was dominant most of the hot, sticky afternoon.

After Butler singled leading off the second, struggling rookie Moustakas broke an 0 for 21 streak with a two-out single into right. But Verlander ended the threat by striking out Brayan Pena. Jeff Francoeur singled to start the Royals fifth, went to second on a wild pitch and to third on Moustakas’ roller to first. But Verlander kept him there by striking out Pena and retiring Escobar on an easy infield grounder.

“It was a really well-pitched game. We just matched up against a really good pitcher,” said Royals manager Ned Yost. “We did what we wanted to do, we wanted to keep it close and have a chance to win it late, we just couldn’t push the run across.”

Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chris Getz reached base three times. Melky Cabrera pushed his hitting streak to eight games. Alex Gordon belted a long three-run homer, and Billy Butler added three hits and a pair of RBIs.

Pretty nice production from the top of the order.

The Kansas City Royals finally generated some offense Saturday night, and their bullpen carried the load after Luke Hochevar was chased in the fourth inning of a 13-6 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

“The top four guys in our lineup today produced a lot of offense,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We had eight or nine hits, a bunch of RBIs — the majority of the RBIs. Billy swung the bat really, really well tonight, as did Melky, and Gordo with the big three-run homer was key.”

Alcides Escobar also drove in three runs and scored three times for the Royals, who built a seven-run lead against Charlie Furbush (1-3) before Hochevar gave much of it away.

The right-hander was battered for six runs before he was yanked with two out in the fourth. Greg Holland (3-1) wiggled out of trouble to earn the victory, and Everett Teaford tossed three shutout innings in his return from the minors to finish off a game that lasted 3 hours, 24 minutes.

“I’m really glad I was able to finish it out just so tomorrow we’re that much more fresh out there,” Teaford said, “and then heading into the All-Star break we’ll be real good to go.”

Brennan Boesch had three hits and drove in a pair of runs for Detroit, which could have moved ahead of Cleveland and into first place in the AL Central with a victory.

The Tigers were done in by a pair of errors that led to eight unearned runs.

“When you have a bad game like we did tonight, that’s what happens. You don’t get out of it,” Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. “You don’t expect the pitcher to get out of it all the time.”

Especially when your pitcher is struggling anyway.

The 25-year-old Furbush, making his second career start, gave up nine runs in 2 2/3 innings — though just four of them were earned. He was optioned to Triple-A Toledo after the game.

“Rough one,” Furbush said. “This was a rough one.”

Hochevar said pretty much the same thing.

He mowed through the Tigers on seven pitches in the first inning, but wound up allowing nine hits in his shortest start of the season. The dismal performance came one start after he gave up five runs in just 4 1/3 innings at Colorado.

“We swung the bats extremely well tonight, played great defense and then the bullpen came in and pitched well,” Hochevar said, “but for my part I need to find a way to get back to helping the team.”

Eric Hosmer’s run-scoring fielder’s choice gave Kansas City a first-inning lead, and Escobar added another run in the second on another fielder’s choice. The Royals then put runners on second and third before Furbush hit Gordon to load the bases for Butler, who came through with a two-run single through the left side after squandering a couple of key chances the previous night.

The Tigers trimmed Kansas City’s lead to 4-2 in the third on two-out singles by Boesch and Miguel Cabrera, but Getz limited the damage by leaping up to snare Victor Martinez’s liner to second.

The Royals piled on with two outs in the third after Ramon Santiago’s error on an easy grounder to shortstop allowed the inning to continue. Getz and Cabrera each hit an RBI single, and Gordon hit the first pitch he saw over the wall in center.

“That’s what the top of the lineup is there for,” Butler said. “You don’t get it every night.”

Detroit started to rally by loading the bases with none out in the fourth, and Don Kelly scored when Escobar made an error with two outs. Santiago and Boesch each drove in a run, and Cabrera and Martinez reached on walks to force in another one.

But the Royals’ bullpen took over from there, and their offense tacked on four more runs.

“Bullpen has been great all year long and that’s been the strength of our club,” Yost said. “We can get past the fifth inning with the lead, we feel real good about what we have down there.”

Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Magglio Ordonez’s two-run home run just six pitches into the game staked Rick Porcello to an early lead and got the Detroit Tigers rolling toward a 6-4 victory Friday night over Kyle Davies and the reeling Kansas City Royals.

Davies (1-8) lost his seventh straight decision and the Royals sank to 5-14 in their past 19 games.

Only one of the three runs the Royals scored off Porcello (8-6) was earned. The lanky right-hander went 5 1/3 innings and allowed six hits. He struck out five and walked just one — the 14th time in 17 outings he has allowed two or fewer walks.

Davies, making his second start since returning from the disabled list with inflammation of the right rotator cuff, gave up a leadoff double to Andy Dirks, who had three hits.

One out later, Ordonez hit the struggling right-hander’s first offering over the fence for a 2-0 lead. Davies went six innings and allowed five runs and nine hits, with three walks and four strikeouts.

The Royals closed to 5-4 in the seventh when Melky Cabrera doubled home a run off reliever David Purcey. But with two outs, shortstop Jhonny Peralta made a standout play running to his right to stop Billy Butler’s hard-hit grounder and nip the heavy-footed DH at first.

All-Star Jose Valverde labored through the ninth for his 23rd save in 23 opportunities. He loaded the bases with two outs with a single and two walks and went to 2-0 on Billy Butler before retiring him on a fly ball.

The Tigers loaded the bases with none out in the second on a walk and two soft singles but got only one run, on Dirks’ infield grounder with one out.

Ryan Raburn, who had singled and was on first, went piling into shortstop Alcides Escobar to break up the attempted double play as Peralta crossed the plate.

The Royals bounced back with two unearned runs in the bottom of the first after Chris Getz reached leading off on third baseman Brandon Inge’s fielding error.

After Cabrera’s single, Alex Gordon rifled an RBI single into center with one out, Jeff Francoeur brought in a run with a sacrifice fly.

Victor Martinez’s infield grounder brought in Ordonez from third base with another Detroit run in the third and then Peralta made it 5-2 with an RBI double.

Porcello, after striking out the side in the third, gave up three straight singles starting the fourth, including Butler’s RBI single. Porcello escaped by getting Eric Hosmer on a fielder’s choice grounder and Francoeur and Mike Moustakas on fly balls.

The Tigers added a run off Tim Collins in the ninth on Brennan Boesch’s fielder’s choice grounder.

Getz, a three-year veteran, was ejected for the first time in his career for arguing with first base umpire Tom Hallion after he was called out on a close play ending the fourth.

Associated Press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Max Scherzer wasn’t happy to see Tigers manager Jim Leyland marching toward the mound.

The right-hander was clinging to a one-run lead against the Kansas City Royals with two outs in the seventh inning, and a pair of singles had put runners on first and second. The bullpen gate was swinging open and Scherzer knew that his night was done.

“I want the ball,” Scherzer said after watching the Detroit bullpen hang on for a 3-1 victory on Thursday night. “In that situation, I still had plenty in the tank. I understand why he made the move, he wanted the lefty-lefty matchup, but of course I want the ball.”

Instead, Phil Coke sprinted in from right field to retire Mike Moustakas and end the threat.

Joaquin Benoit survived a leadoff single by Brayan Pena in the eighth inning, Don Kelly homered in the bottom half to give the Tigers a two-run cushion, and All-Star closer Jose Valverde hung tough through a wild ninth inning for his 22nd save in 22 chances.

“It is what it is,” said Scherzer (10-4), who finally joined teammate Justin Verlander in reaching the double-digit win plateau before the All-Star break. “I want the ball, and really, that’s the way it’s got to be. If I don’t want the ball in that situation then something’s wrong.”

Leyland said he was simply trying to protect Scherzer, who had thrown only 88 pitches.

“I wasn’t going to let him get hurt,” Leyland said. “After pitching that good, I wasn’t going to let him make one mistake and somebody hits a three-run homer.”

Valverde gave up a two-out walk to Eric Hosmer and an infield single to Jeff Francoeur in the ninth inning, but the animated reliever came back to retire Moustakas with the tying run on second base, marching off the mound with an emphatic fist pump after Detroit’s second straight win.

Moustakas went 0 for 4 after a 0-for-11 series against the Chicago White Sox.

“I’ve been putting some good at-bats together lately. I’m just not getting the results I want right now,” said the rookie third baseman. “The time’s going to come when these fly balls will start turning themselves into line drives and then home runs, hopefully, and the RBIs will start coming.”

The Royals’ inability to score squandered the best start of Danny Duffy’s young career.

The 22-year-old left-hander, who many pundits consider a future ace, allowed two runs and four hits over six stellar innings. Duffy struck out six and walked only one while throwing 65 of 102 pitches for strikes — but still lost for the fourth time in his first five big league decisions.

“He threw the ball great tonight. Really did a nice job,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

In fact, the only major mistake he made was a 1-2 delivery to Raburn with two outs in the second inning that went soaring into the Kansas City bullpen. The two-run shot brought home Miguel Cabrera and gave Scherzer and the Detroit bullpen just enough run support.

“It was down but he went and got it. It just must have been the exact coordinates on the map that he was thinking it was going to be at that point in time,” Duffy said. “I wasn’t finding the zone very well in that inning. It was just a tough inning. It’s a shame it happened the way it did.”

The Royals optioned Duffy to Triple-A Omaha after the game so that he could keep pitching on a regular schedule during next week’s All-Star break.

“He kept us in the game,” Yost said. “He did what we want.”

The Royals just couldn’t help him out at the plate.

They scored their only run in the fifth, when Hosmer shot a pitch down the left-field line for a leadoff double. He advanced to third on Francoeur’s fly ball before scoring on Moustakas’ groundout.

“It’s nice,” Scherzer said. “It’s nice for the team to come in and win the first game of the series.”

Associated Press

Bruce Chen used an assortment of pitches, changed delivery angles and even let one pitch go at 90 mph. The veteran left-hander kept the Chicago White Sox guessing and had them off-balance for most of the day.

The result: a 4-1 Kansas City Royals’ victory Wednesday that allowed them to win two of three at U.S. Cellular Field.

Kansas City scored some early runs and helped the 34-year-old Chen get his first win in two months.

“Those four runs early in the game made the whole difference. I was able to relax and go after the hitters,” Chen said.

He didn’t give up a hit until the fourth inning when he was able to pitch out of a small jam. But his best inning was the sixth when he faced a no-out, bases loaded predicament and escaped with just one run scoring.

“I made good pitches when I needed to. I didn’t have a very high pitch count, so that helped me,” Chen said. “I kept making pitches and got out of that situation with a win, so that was good for us. … I just gave everything I had.”

Chen, who was making his third start since coming off the DL, got his first victory in two months, since beating Baltimore on May 5.

“Chen threw the ball pretty good, you give up one run in a big jam, you cannot take anything away from him,” said White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen, who said before the game he might want an at-bat against Chen because the pitcher had experienced trouble against left-handed batters.

But the White Sox are having problems against all types of pitching.

“We continued to struggle at the plate with people in scoring position. We cannot get the big hit,” Guillen said.

“Obviously it’s frustrating when you come out and every inning you think you’re going to score a bunch of runs and you don’t. It’s been like that for a little while. You try to look for the answer and you can’t find it.”

Chen (5-2) allowed four hits and a run and departed after walking A.J. Pierzynski to start the bottom of the seventh. He retired the first nine batters before Juan Pierre singled leading off the bottom of the fourth.

Greg Holland pitched two shutout innings and Joakim Soria worked the ninth for his 15th save in 20 chances.

“Bruce is that pitcher that I’m sure they’re kicking themselves over there for losing to because his stuff isn’t going to overwhelm you, he makes you put the ball in play,” said the Royals’ Jeff Francoeur, who had two RBIs.

The Royals scored in the first off Edwin Jackson (5-7) as Chris Getz walked, stole second, held at third on Melky Cabrera’s single and scored when Alex Gordon grounded into a double play. Eric Hosmer hit his eighth homer leading off the second on a ball that just went over the glove of Chicago center fielder Alex Rios at the wall.

Francoeur delivered a two-out RBI single in the fourth after Gordon led off with a single and advanced on a grounder, making it 3-0. Francoeur hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth after singles by Gordon and Hosmer and Jackson’s wild pitch, extending the Royals’ lead to 4-0.

Jackson allowed eight hits and four runs in seven innings.

After Pierre singled in the fourth and after Adam Dunn walked, he stole second. But Paul Konerko grounded into an inning-ending double play.

The White Sox put together a rally in the sixth, loading the bases with no outs on singles by Rios and Gordon Beckham and a bunt single by Pierre on a close play a first. Dunn drew a one-out walk to force in a run. But Chen slipped a third strike past Konerko — who hopes to make the All-Star team via online voting — and got Carlos Quentin — already on the AL team — to pop out to end the threat.

“He threw well all day. He basically did everything. I felt good going into the game, so anything I did poorly after that was probably a result of the way he threw the ball. You’ve got to give him credit,” Konerko said.

“Sometimes, it’s easier to face a right-hander that has a 95 mph fastball and a real hard slider. Those aren’t fun, either, but at least you know it’s one of the two pitches and you just have to be right on one of them. He was throwing five different pitches in four different areas, so that makes for a lot of different looks.”

Chen finally got his first win against the White Sox in 11 career appearances. He is now 1/3 in those outings, including six starts.

Associated Press

CHICAGO — Felipe Paulino struck out nine in six innings for his first victory in more than a year and the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox 5-3 on Tuesday night.

Alcides Escobar hit a two-run triple and Matt Treanor had a tiebreaking single for the Royals, who beat Jake Peavy to win for the fifth time in 19 games.

Paulino (1-2) was acquired from Colorado for cash on May 26 after starting the season 0-5. He allowed three runs and scattered nine hits while walking two on 120 pitches.

It was Paulino’s first win since June 4, 2010, against the Chicago Cubs. He finished last season 1-9.

For the second time in a week, the White Sox failed to break the .500 barrier. They have not been above .500 since April 15, when they were 7-6.

Paul Konerko hit a solo home run and had three hits for the White Sox, who are 7-12 against AL Central opponents. On Monday night, they started a string of a 19 straight games against teams in their own division.

Royals reliever Louis Coleman pitched two scoreless innings and Joakim Soria worked a scoreless ninth for his 14th save in 19 chances. With runners on first and second, pinch-hitter Alexei Ramirez hit into a hard fielder’s choice to end the game.

Peavy (4-2) allowed five runs and six hits over six innings. He struck out four and walked two. The right-hander was roughed up for three runs in the second.

With the score tied at 3, Billy Butler led off the sixth inning with a single and, one out later, Jeff Francoeur reached on a bloop single. Butler and Francoeur advanced when Mike Moustakas struck out on Peavy’s wild pitch. Treanor then hit a two-run single to left, giving the Royals a 5-3 lead.

Peavy allowed back-to-back walks to start the second inning. After Francoeur’s fielder’s choice, Moustakas gave the Royals an early lead with a sacrifice fly. With two outs, Escobar tripled to center to make it 3-0.

Konerko got a run back for the White Sox in the second with a solo shot to left. It was his 22nd homer of the season.

With one out in the third, Juan Pierre singled and Brent Morel reached safely on a bunt. After Adam Dunn struck out, Konerko hit an RBI single. Carlos Quentin drove in Morel with a single that tied it 3-all.