OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Frankie Montas pitched shutout ball into the eighth inning to win his third straight start since being called up from the minors and Khris Davis homered twice to lead the Oakland Athletics to a 7-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.

Dustin Fowler also homered and Jonathan Lucroy drove in three runs to help the A’s send the Royals to their sixth straight loss and drop them to a season-worst 22 games under .500.

Montas (3-0) was the beneficiary of the big night from Oakland’s bats even if he didn’t need much help. He followed up his eight scoreless innings in a win at Kansas City last Friday night with another sharp outing. He allowed six hits and held Kansas City scoreless until Mike Moustakas hit a two-run homer with two outs in the eighth.

Montas, who was 1-5 in nine starts at Triple-A Nashville before getting called up last month, is 3-0 with a 1.25 ERA in the big leagues this season.

Lou Trivino got four outs for his first save.

Davis gave Montas the early lead with his solo homer with two outs in the first against Jakob Junis (5-6) and added another to lead off the fourth for his 17th career multihomer game and second this year.

Fowler added a solo shot in the third and Lucroy had an RBI single in the fourth and two-run double in the sixth.

Junis allowed six runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings to lose his third straight start.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: RF Jorge Soler left the game in the second inning after fouling a ball off his left foot. He finished his at-bat and struck out before being replaced in the field by Abraham Almonte. Soler is day to day with a bruised left big toe.

Athletics: RHP Santiago Casilla was reinstated from the 10-day disabled list and RHP Ryan Dull was optioned to Triple-A Nashville. Casilla had a 3.32 ERA and one save in 16 relief appearances before going on the DL on May 26 with a strained right shoulder.

CELEBRATION

A’s manager Bob Melvin proved to be prophetic. He said before the game that he expected to hear a big cheer from the crowd around 8:30 p.m., signifying that the Golden State Warriors won the NBA title. At almost exactly that time, the crowd cheered as the basketball game ended. The Warriors actually drew a bigger crowd at their arena next door to watch the basketball game on TV, with more than 19,000 fans turning out for that, compared to 10,132 for the A’s.

UP NEXT

Danny Duffy (2-6) takes the mound for the Royals against Trevor Cahill (1-2).

— Associated Press —

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Matt Chapman doubled in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning to make a winner of Paul Blackburn in his first start of the season, and the Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals 4-1 on Thursday night.

Matt Olson hit his 13th home run, Stephen Piscotty singled three times and Marcus Semien added two hits and an RBI to help the A’s to their third win in four games against the Royals over the past seven days.

Blackburn (1-0) was reinstated from the disabled list before the game after missing the first two months of the season with a strained right forearm he suffered late in spring training. The right-hander yielded three hits, including Alcides Escobar’s home run in the third and induced 11 groundouts over six innings.

Kansas City’s Jason Hammel (2-6) matched Blackburn until Oakland broke through for three runs in the sixth.

After Hammel retired Jed Lowrie on a fly ball, Khris Davis singled and moved to second when Olson walked. Chapman then hit a towering fly ball that hit near the top of the wall. Royals center fielder Paulo Orlando appeared to have a good jump on it but got twisted around near the wall before the ball ricocheted off the fence, allowing Davis to score.

Semien and Piscotty followed with back-to-back RBI singles.

Lou Trivino and Yusmeiro Petit retired three batters apiece for Oakland. Blake Treinen pitched the ninth for his 14th save.

Oakland finished with nine hits. In doing so, the A’s avoided becoming the first team since the 1910 Chicago White Sox to go 14 consecutive games at home with seven or fewer.

Hammel allowed four runs on eight hits in six innings against his former club. He struck out six and walked one.

The Royals have lost five straight.

Olson’s home run off Hammel in the fourth extended his hitting streak to a career-high seven games.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: Orlando was recalled from Triple-A Omaha before the game and took the roster spot left vacant when Jon Jay was traded to Arizona in exchange for a pair of minor leaguers Wednesday.

Athletics: Catcher Bruce Maxwell was optioned to Triple-A Nashville. … OF Boog Powell (sprained right knee) was transferred to 60-day disabled list. … RHP Santiago Casilla (shoulder strain) is expected to come off the DL soon.

UP NEXT

RHP Frankie Montas (2-0, 0.64 ERA) pitches for Oakland on Friday night. Montas has allowed one run over 14 innings since being called up from the minors May 27. The Royals counter with RHP Jakob Junis (5-5, 3.62).

— Associated Press —

The Kansas City Royals have selected Brady Singer, a right-handed pitcher from the University of Florida, with their top selection in the First-Year Player Draft, 18th overall in the first round.

Singer, 21, a 6-foot-5, 180-pounder, went 11-1 with a 2.27 ERA (24 ER in 95.0 IP) and 98 strikeouts in 14 starts as a junior this season. He recorded at least 7.0 innings in 11 of 14 starts, including his first career shutout on May 4 at Texas A&M. He was the No. 2 ranked prospect in the Draft, according to MLB.com, and No. 4 according to Baseball America.

— Royals Press Release —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — When Matt Olson puts the barrel of the bat on the ball, they results are no-doubters.

Olson hit a three-run homer in the eighth as the Oakland Athletics defeated the Kansas City Royals 5-1 on Sunday to win the series.

Olson went 5 for 11 with three home runs, eight RBI and scored five times in the series. His shortest of the three homers was 428 feet on Friday.

The A’s are 9-2 in their past 11 road games. The Royals have lost 21 of 31 home games.

Olson drove a 3-0 pitch by Burch Smith 454 feet over the right-center field fence with Jed Lowrie and Chris Davis aboard. Lowrie’s single scored Dustin Fowler, who had three hits, with the first run of the inning to snap a 1-1 tie.

“I got the green light, and I think 3-0 you tend to get one of the best fastball counts nowadays,” Olson said. “So he threw one over the plate and I was ready for it.”

Olson upped his home run total to 12 and has four in his past four games.

“When he squares it up like that I don’t think it really matters,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said of the size of the park and the wind.

Smith walked two of the five batters he faced and has issued 18 free passes in 25 2/3 innings.

“It’s hit and miss,” Royals manager Ned Yost said of Smith’s command. “Today was definitely not good. He was behind on almost every hitter he faced.”

Royals starter Jakob Junis (5-5) was charged with three runs over 7 1/3 innings, allowing six hits and striking out a career-high nine.

“I threw some good fastballs, had my slider working and went with a good game plan,” Junis said.

The three KC hits equaled a season low.

“I just wish we could get Jake some runs, to give him something to protect,” Yost said.

Jon Jay snapped the longest active homerless drought in the majors for a non-pitcher with a third inning home run for the Kansas City run. He went 500 plate appearances between home runs. His previous was on July 5 a pinch-hit homer for the Chicago Cubs against Tampa Bay right-hander Erasmo Ramirez at Wrigley Field.

Mark Canha doubled down the left-field line and scored on Jonathan Lucroy’s single in the third for the initial Oakland run.

Starter Daniel Gossett limited the Royals to two hits over five innings, with the Jay homer his only hiccup. Gossett, who is 4-14 in 23 career starts, threw only 63 pitches before leaving with right elbow tightness. He is returning Monday to Oakland for a MRI.

“A little discomfort, pretty precautionary,” Gossett said. “I just wanted to get out of there, didn’t want to overextend anything. I didn’t want it lead to anything (that) might be worse.”

He was replaced by rookie Lou Trivino (3-0), who pitched two hitless innings to pick up the victory. Trivino has a 0.82 ERA, allowing two runs and 15 hits over 22 innings, while striking out 23.

BIG ROYALS DRAFT

The Royals own five of the first 58 picks in the major league draft, which begins Monday. The Royals have the 18th, 33rd, 34th, 40th and 58th selections. They gained first-round compensation picks for the loss of free agents Lorenzo Cain and Eric Hosmer, plus competitive balance picks. The Royals have been allotted $12,781,900 for signing bonuses, the largest pool in this year’s draft.

ERRORLESS STREAK ENDS

Shortstop Alcides Escobar committed a fielding error on Matt Chapman’s ground ball in the sixth, snapping the Royals’ seven-game errorless streak.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: OF Matt Joyce was not in the lineup Sunday after exiting in the fifth inning Saturday with back tightness. “It may be a couple of days,” Melvin said. “I’m glad we get the off day tomorrow. We do have the left-hander the first day in Texas, so hopefully we gain a little ground in the next few days, but I wouldn’t say he was great today. He talked to me during the game yesterday and we felt like it was the prudent thing to get him out. Hopefully it’s not too long before we get him back in the lineup.”

UP NEXT

Athletics: They are off Monday before LHP Sean Manaea, who threw a no-hitter on April 21 against Boston, starts Tuesday at Texas. Manaea is 1-4 with a 7.18 ERA in his past six starts.

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy is the Monday probable in the first game of the series at the Los Angeles Angels. Duffy has a 1.32 ERA in his past two starts after allowing 30 earned runs in 30 innings in his previous six starts.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Tim Hill was happy to gain his first major league victory. The 28-year-old rookie left-hander could have done without his first blown save chance.

Jorge Soler hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning, and the Kansas Royals bounced back after wasting a four-run lead to defeat the Oakland Athletics 5-4 on Saturday for their third win in four games.

“I was kind of upset I gave up a run, and I kind of felt like I didn’t do my job,” Hill said.

Hill (1-1) entered with a 4-3 lead and allowed Chad Pinder’s tying single in the eighth. Soler hit his ninth home run on a curveball from Yusmeiro Petit (2-2) with an 0-2 count in the bottom half.

“I was just trying to make contact and make sure I didn’t strike out,” Soler said through a translator. “Every time I hit the ball like with one hand, I’m always running hard. I was making the turn at first base and looked up and saw everybody had just stopped. I figured out it was a home run.”

Kelvin Herrera pitched a perfect ninth for his 13th save in 14 chances.

Kansas City built a 4-0 lead on Salvador Perez’s two-run double in the first and a two-run second helped by a replay reversal. Ryan Goins was called out at first by Cory Blaser when he tried to bunt for a single, then was ruled safe on a video review. Alcides Escobar tripled on the next pitch and scored on Jon Jay’s double.

Oakland was coming off a 16-0 rout Friday.

“After yesterday’s pummeling we gave them, I think they were coming out ready to swing the bats,” A’s catcher Bruce Maxwell said.

Oakland closed on RBI singles by Jed Lowrie in the third and Bruce Maxwell in the fourth, and Maxwell led off the seventh with his first home run since Sept. 2.

Maxwell’s drive chased Jason Hammel, who allowed three runs and seven hits.

“Hammel should have got the win,” Hill said.

Hammel had won his previous two outings after going 0-5 in his first nine starts.

“Today a good effort overall, not my best, but they can’t all be pretty,” Hammel said.

Cahill, who pitched for the Royals last season, gave up four runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings. He has not won since beating the Chicago White Sox on April 17 in his first appearance this season.

“It was just one of those days when I wasn’t sharp,” Cahill said. “I just went out there and tried to get through it.”

ROSTER MOVE

Kansas City claimed OF Rosell Herrera off waivers from Cincinnati and optioned him to Triple-A Omaha. The 25-year-old hit .154 in 11 games this season for the Reds and .267 in 23 games with Triple-A Louisville.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: LF Matt Joyce (lower back tightness) left in the fifth inning. … RHP Paul Blackburn (right forearm strain) is to make a minor league rehab start Tuesday for Triple-A Nashville. He has a limit of 75 pitches.

Royals: RHP Nate Karns (right elbow inflammation) was transferred to the 60-day DL.

UP NEXT

Oakland RHP Daniel Gossett (0-3, 6.05) and Kansas City RHP Jakob Junis (5-4, 3.61) are to start Sunday’s series finale. Gossett is 0-2 with a 3.00 ERA in two starts since returning May 23 from the minors. Junis leads the Royals with 62 strikeouts in 67 1/3 innings.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Matt Olson and Dustin Fowler made lots of noise in Oakland’s lineup, combining for four home runs and nine RBI, while Frankie Montas silenced Kansas City’s bats.

Olson slugged two homers and drove in a career-high five runs, Montas pitched a career-best eight innings and the Athletics pounded out a 16-0 victory over the Royals on Friday night. Fowler also homered twice and had four RBI for Oakland, which leads the majors with 51 road home runs in 28 games.

Montas (2-0) made his second start since being called up from the minors last Sunday and limited the Royals to six hits and used groundball double plays to end the fourth and fifth innings. He lowered his ERA to 0.64.

“The sinker was really working for me and, really, I was just trying to execute pitch by pitch,” Montas said through an interpreter. “I know that both starts, I’ve done well, but I can’t get my guard down. I have to keep working and keep doing what I’m doing.”

Olson hit a 428-foot solo shot in the third and a 456-foot three-run blast in a seven-run third — both off Ian Kennedy — for his third career multihomer game and first this season.

“They still count the same, but yeah, I just got a pretty good hold of all of those,” Olson said. “But honestly, just happy to be putting consistent at-bats together and barreling some stuff up.”

He also drew a bases-loaded walk from Brian Flynn in the ninth to score Matt Chapman.

The A’s sent 10 men to the plate in the third against Kennedy (1-6) and the first six reached, including Fowler’s solo home run. Fowler also added a three-run homer off Jason Adam in Oakland’s seven-run ninth for his first multihomer game.

Khris Davis, who came off the disabled list Thursday, singled in two runs in the third, and Jed Lowrie walked with the bases loaded.

Kennedy threw 46 of his 71 pitches in the third, his last inning. He gave up eight runs and seven hits with two walks. Since August 20, 2016, Kennedy is 1-12 with a 5.77 ERA in 26 starts at Kauffman Stadium.

“The big one was just the fastball I threw right down the middle to Olson,” Kennedy said. “Before that, I was putting guys in hitter’s counts. For the most part, it’s been a grind for the last four, five whatever starts it is now.

“I felt like this was the best week of work I’ve had. I felt good going into it, like I was really positive. I was working on things out of my delivery. I had zero to show for it and that’s what the really frustrating thing is.”

Whit Merrifield had three of the Kansas City’s eight hits. Jon Jay went 0 for 4, ending his 12-game hitting streak.

“Ian was really good in the first inning and not bad in the second,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He gave up a home run on a high fastball and really started struggling. It was almost a 50-pitch third inning. It’s just one of those nights where we really didn’t pitch very well.”

The Royals have lost 20 of 29 home games.

MILESTONE HIT

A’s catcher Jonathan Lucroy singled in the sixth for his 1,000 hit. He had three hits and scored three runs.

“It’s been eight years,” Lucroy said. “It’s been a long time. I’m grateful I can be in this game that long and be able to even have the opportunity to get a thousand hits, so it’s, very blessed to be on that side of it. A lot of fun and even more better when you get a win out of it.”

ROSTER MOVE

Oakland reinstated Marcus Semien from the paternity list. He entered in the ninth at shortstop. INF Franklin Barreto was optioned to Triple-A Nashville.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: LHP Brett Anderson (left shoulder strain) will play catch Saturday, the first day he’ll throw since placed on the disabled list on May 19. RHP Liam Hendriks (right groin strain) will throw again Saturday for the Sounds. He pitched a scoreless inning Thursday at Round Rock.

Royals: 1B Lucas Duda (right foot plantar fasciitis) and 3B Cheslor Cuthbert (lower back strain) remain on the disabled list. Royals manager Ned Yost said they are not close to going on a rehab assignment.

UP NEXT

Athletics: RHP Trevor Cahill, who had an 8.22 ERA in 10 appearances last season with Kansas City, will start against his former club.

Royals: RHP Jason Hammel is 2-0 with a 0.73 ERA in his past two starts.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Mike Moustakas homered, doubled and drove in four runs in the first two innings, Jorge Soler went 4-for-5 with a home run, but the Kansas City Royals nearly blew a nine-run lead before holding on for a 11-8 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night.

Moustakas’ double in the first scored Jon Jay and Alcides Escobar.

Moustakas’ 12th homer was a towering two-run shot that just made it into the front row of the right-field seats and barely fair.

According to Statcast, it had a 46-degree launch angle, the highest in the majors this season, and carried 339 feet.

The Royals sent 11 men to the plate in a seven-run second. Soler nearly had a two-run homer in the inning, but after a review it was changed to a run-producing double. The second inning also included Ryan Goins’ two-run triple.

Every Royals starter had scored in the first two innings for a 9-0 lead, but it almost was not enough.

The Twins chipped away at the Royals’ lead, including bases-empty home runs by Brian Dozier and Ehrie Adrianza in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively.

Miguel Sano hit a two-run double in a four-run Twins’ sixth and scored on Eduardo Escobar’s two-out single, cutting the Royals’ lead to 9-8.

Sano had a RBI single in the third and has hit in 17 consecutive games with 30 RBI in that span.

Hunter Dozier led off the Kansas City seventh with his first career home run. Soler homered in the eighth for his fourth hit, matching his career high.

Kevin McCarthy (4-2), the fifth of seven Kansas City pitchers, retired all four batters he faced and earned the victory.

Kelvin Herrera protected the lead with a spotless ninth for his 12th save in 13 opportunities.

Twins rookie right-hander Fernando Romero (3-2) retired only five of the 15 batters he faced. Romero allowed eight runs and nine hits, a walk and a sacrifice fly. His ERA jumped from 1.88 to 4.51.

Jay singled in the seventh to extend his hitting streak to 12 games. Jay finished May with a .368 average and leads the majors with 43 hits in the month.

ONE MORE OUT

Several Royals players began walking off the field in the fifth after turning a double play. The only problem was the inning was not over.

ROSTER MOVES

Twins: RHP Aaron Slegers was recalled from Triple-A Rochester. He came in after Romero’s early exit and allowed two runs and six hits over 5 1/3 innings.

Royals: RHP Trevor Oaks was recalled from Triple-A Omaha. He gave up three runs and five hits and a walk over 1 2/3 innings in his second big league appearance.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: CF Byron Buxton (fractured left toe) went back on the disabled list with the toe still impeding his game. … RHP Ervin Santana (hand) was recalled from his minor league rehab assignment with swelling and having trouble gripping the ball. He will be re-examined.

Royals: RHP Blaine Boyer (strained back) was placed on the 10-day disabled list. Boyer was 2-0, but had an 11.76 ERA in 20 relief appearances.

“When he’s right, he’s a productive bullpen piece,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “From the beginning on, it’s just been a struggle for him. He’s been dealing with foot problems and with back problems and continuing to try to pitch through it. We got to the point, where the best thing is just get Blaine healthy because he can help us when he’s healthy.”

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Jake Odorizzi is the scheduled starter as the Twins open a four-game series with AL Central leader Cleveland at Target Field. RHP Shane Bieber will start for the Indians, making his big league debut.

Royals: They have Thursday off before beginning a three-game series Friday with Oakland. Kansas City RHP Ian Kennedy will start the series opener.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Alcides Escobar homered with two outs in the 14th inning to give the Kansas City Royals a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.

Escobar hit a 3-1 pitch from Taylor Rogers (1-2) to left field, ending a game that took 4 hours, 12 minutes. Rain also delayed the start by 24 minutes.

Scott Barlow (1-0) worked four hitless innings, striking out five straight batters during one stretch, to earn his first major league win.

Matt McGill, the fourth Minnesota pitcher, went 3 1/3 hitless innings before Rogers was brought in with one out in the 14th.

The Royals tied it in the eighth when Addison Reed walked Jorge Soler with the bases loaded to score Jon Jay, who led off the inning with a single.

The Twins loaded the bases in the 10th against rookie Jason Adam, but came away empty. Adam hit Miguel Sano with a pitch and walked Max Kepler and Robbie Grossman. Byron Buxton flied out after Adam had thrown nine straight balls. Adam threw only seven strikes in 21 pitches.

Twins right-hander Kyle Gibson, who hasn’t won since March 31, pitched seven scoreless innings in a no-decision. Gibson, the team’s 2009 first-round draft pick out of Missouri, gave up five hits, walked one and struck out eight.

Gibson worked out of jams in the third, fifth and sixth as the Royals went 0 for 9 with runners in position and stranded nine overall.

In the third, Jay had a bunt single, extending his hitting streak to 11 games, and stopped at second on Whit Merrifield’s single, but Gibson struck out Mike Moustakas to end the inning.

Alex Gordon singled and moved to second on Escobar’s groundout in the fifth. Jay walked with two outs before Gibson struck out Merrifield.

Moustakas led off the sixth with a double and went to third on a passed ball with one out, but Gibson struck out Soler and retired Hunter Dozier.

Royals left-hander Danny Duffy yielded one run and four hits with four walks over six innings. Duffy, who fanned four, has allowed two earned runs and eight hits over 13 2/3 innings in his past two starts to lower his ERA from 6.88 to 5.71.

Sano, who has a hit in 16 consecutive games against the Royals, had a broken-bat single to left field with the bases loaded in the third to score Ehire Adrianza. Sano has 27 RBI in those 16 games.

Brian Dozier attempted to score from second, but Gordon threw him out at home for his 84th career outfield assist.

ROSTER MOVE

The Twins sent RHP Myles Jaye to the Indians for cash. Jaye was 3-3 with a 4.25 ERA in eight starts with Triple-A Rochester. He went 1-2 with a 12.08 ERA in five games last year with Detroit. The last time the two teams made a trade was August 2011 and it involved Jim Thome.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: RHP Ervin Santana (finger surgery in February) went 3 1/3 innings, allowing one run and two hits, in his second minor league rehab start with Class A Fort Myers at Clearwater. He threw 59 pitches, 33 for strikes. He walked one, struck out three, hit a batter and had a wild pitch. . RHP Michael Pineda (elbow surgery) threw a bullpen at Target Field. … 1B Joe Mauer (neck strain) stood in to track some pitches with Pineda on the mound. “We’ve been pleased on almost a daily basis that his activity has increased, including more intensified baseball work,” manager Paul Molitor said of Mauer. “Today the reports were good. He hit, he took grounders, he ran.”

Royals: RHP Nathan Karns (right elbow inflammation) is on a throwing program at the club’s complex in Arizona.

UP NEXT

Twins: Rookie RHP Fernando Romero is coming off his first career loss, a 2-1 decision at Seattle, where he allowed two runs on five hits and two walks over seven innings.

Royals: Rule 5 draft pick Brad Keller will make his first career start after going 1-1 with a 2.01 ERA in 21 relief appearances.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Miguel Sano belted a two-run homer, Eddie Rosario hit a three-run double and the Minnesota Twins snapped a four-game skid with an 8-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.

Lance Lynn (3-4) pitched six effective innings to win his second consecutive start after a dreadful stretch in his first season with the Twins.

Sano extended his hitting streak against the Royals to 15 games. He is batting .373 with six home runs and 26 RBI in those 15 games.

The slugger drove a 1-1 pitch from Jakob Junis out to center field with Brian Dozier aboard in the fifth inning.

Rosario drilled a three-run double in the eighth off Burch Smith. Dozier’s sixth-inning single scored Mitch Garver, who added a two-run double in the ninth.

Lynn allowed two runs and six hits. He’s given up two runs and 11 hits over 12 2/3 innings in his past two outings.

The right-hander worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the second by striking out Alcides Escobar and retiring Ramon Torres on a grounder. The Royals went 4 for 19 with runners in scoring position and stranded 12 overall.

Fernando Rodney got four outs for his 11th save in 14 chances. He gave up a ninth-inning homer to Jorge Soler.

Jon Jay had four hits for Kansas City, including three doubles, to extend his hitting streak to 10 games.

Junis (5-4) permitted three runs on six hits and walked a career-high four. He struck out seven.

The Royals tied it at 2 in the fifth when Mike Moustakas’ double scored Jay and Whit Merrifield, who walked.

Kansas City got two runs in the eighth. Zach Duke’s throwing error on Jay’s bunt single allowed Escobar to score. Merrifield’s single knocked in Torres with the second run.

NOT SO SWEET AT HOME

The Royals have lost 19 of 26 at Kauffman Stadium.

ROSTER MOVES

Twins: Claimed INF Taylor Motter off waivers from Seattle. Motter has a .197 batting average in 132 games over three major league seasons with the Mariners and Rays. He will report to Triple-A Rochester.

Royals: RHP Scott Barlow was recalled from Triple-A Omaha, where he was 1-1 with a 3.94 ERA in seven games. LHP Eric Stout, who yielded two homers and three runs in one-third of an inning Sunday at Texas, was optioned to Omaha.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: RHP Ervin Santana (right middle finger surgery) will make his second minor league rehab start Tuesday for Class A Fort Myers. . 1B Joe Mauer (neck strain) has been taking batting practice and grounders at Target Field. “He hasn’t had any setbacks,” manager Paul Molitor said. “We don’t want to get too excited about the potential of him being ready sooner than later.” Mauer could be activated Thursday when the Twins return home.

Royals: LHP Eric Skoglund (Grade 1 UCL strain) was relieved after an MRI revealed he won’t need Tommy John surgery. “They said the UCL looks strong, it was just the fluid buildup,” Skoglund said. “It’s exciting news that nothing was going on with the UCL. Just kind of get strong now in that area and let that fluid get out and get back to work. I was freaking out when I was in Texas. It wasn’t a good feeling, especially when I found out it (surgery) was a possibility.”

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Kyle Gibson, a Missouri product, is 6-4 with a 3.46 ERA in 16 career starts against the Royals.

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy is coming off his best outing of the year, when he allowed one run in a season-high 7 2/3 innings to beat the Rangers.

— Associated Press —

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jason Hammel is starting to look more like the pitcher who won 15 games with the World Series champion Chicago Cubs two years ago. On Sunday, he was helped by a bullpen that had just enough to deliver the win.

Hammel struck out 10, Drew Butera and Salvador Perez homered, and the Kansas City Royals held on to beat the Texas Rangers 5-3.

Hammel pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings. He gave up four hits, including three doubles, and two walks.

“A tip of the cap to the bullpen for coming in and covering those innings,” Hammel said. “For a very aggressive team like that, you can get quick outs and get deep into a game if you can execute early.”

Perez and Butera each homered off Cole Hamels (3-5), who allowed five runs on eight hits and three walks in 6 1/3 innings with a season-low two strikeouts.

Hammel (2-5) left with runners on the corners and one out. Jurickson Profar grounded into an inning-ending double play on Tim Hill’s second pitch.

Kelvin Herrera, the last of five Royals relievers, pitched a scoreless ninth inning after allowing a leadoff single for his 11th save in 12 chances.

When Hammel held St. Louis to one run in seven innings to win last Wednesday, it ended a string of 13 winless starts for the 35-year-old. He went into Sunday’s game leading the American League in hits allowed with 71.

“His record doesn’t indicate the way he’s pitched,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “Days that he’s gotten beat, it’s been on two or three pitches. He’s been around the plate extremely consistently the last two.”

The Rangers’ runs came on seventh-inning homers by Joey Gallo, his 15th of the season with one on, and Robinson Chirinos, his seventh.

Texas went 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position, 0 for 7 during the first three innings. In the eighth inning, Jason Adam put runners on the corners with one out before striking out Gallo and getting Rougned Odor to pop to third.

“It’s about being able to calm yourself down, put together a quality at-bat,” Texas manager Jeff Banister said. “But today, Hammel, their guy, I thought made some quality pitches in those situations.”

SELF-INFLICTED TEXAS HEAT

Hamels didn’t allow more than two earned runs in any of his previous five starts. He blamed himself for not having adequate “mound presence” Sunday, not moving on and forgetting the previous batter.

“Haven’t had games like that in a while where you let the emotions get the best of you,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll probably have to issue some apologies for the language that I was probably using. I’ll probably deal with that with my father.”

HAPPY HOMECOMING

Royals rookie Hunter Dozier, who grew up about 45 miles north of Globe Life Park in Denton, Texas, had a two-out, two-run single in the first inning. The 2013 first-round draftee had his third straight multihit game and first multi-RBI game.

“This is a dream come true,” said Dozier, who’s playing first base with Lucas Duda on the disabled list. “It was cool I was able to make this trip, see the family and stay at home.”

SHORT HOPS

Jon Jay has hit in nine straight games and 18 of his last 19. … Nomar Mazara’s two-out walk in the bottom of the first was the first issued by Hammel in 62 consecutive batters. … Hamels’ 11 combined hits and walks were his most this season. … Shin-Soo Choo extended his on-base streak to 14 games.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: With LHP Eric Skoglund (left UCL sprain) placed on the 10-day disabled list Saturday, rookie RHP Brad Keller will make his first major league start Wednesday vs. Minnesota.

Rangers: LHP Matt Moore (right knee) will be activated off the 10-day DL and start Wednesday at Seattle.

UP NEXT

Royals RHP Jakob Junis (5-3) has 14 wins in his first 30 career appearances, tied for the most in franchise history with Rich Gale (1978) and Jose Rosado (1996-97).

Rangers RHP Doug Fister (1-4) has allowed 15 earned runs in his last four starts, raising his ERA from 2.88 to a season-high 4.22.

— Associated Press —