KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Twins had seen the scenario that faced them Thursday night play out seemingly countless times over the past few weeks: They rally down the stretch only to come up short in the ninth.

The outcome was far different this time.

Jorge Polanco drove in the go-ahead runs off ailing Kansas City closer Kelvin Herrera with two outs in the ninth, and Minnesota rallied to beat the Royals 4-2 on Thursday night in a game that could have massive implications on the American League wild-card race.

“It was really good to see us get over the hump in one of these games. We’ve been putting pressure on to the last out,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “Guys put together some really nice at-bats.”

Herrera, who has been dealing with a mild forearm strain, inherited a 2-1 lead before giving up a pair of singles and a walk. Brian Dozier hit a tying sacrifice fly to the warning track, and after Joe Mauer was walked intentionally, Polanco lined a single up the middle for the lead.

Trevor Hildenberger (3-2) earned the win with a scoreless eighth in relief of Twins starter Kyle Gibson, while Matt Belisle handled a perfect ninth to pick up his sixth save.

“Any time you can go seven innings without striking anybody out, your defense is playing good,” Gibson said. “And hats off to the offense. That’s why we won the game. The offense didn’t give up.”

Herrera (3-3) squandered a solid night from Sam Gaviglio, who was recently claimed off waivers from the Mariners, and the rest of the Kansas City bullpen. Gaviglio allowed only a homer from Robbie Grossman and three other hits in five innings before a trio of relievers got the game to the ninth.

“We had it lined up the way we wanted it to line up,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

The loss was especially devastating for the roller-coaster Royals given their place in the crowded AL wild-card race. They began the night 2 1/2 games back of the Twins with 24 games to play.

“That’s a tough loss right there in the last inning,” the Royals’ Alcides Escobar said. “Just come back tomorrow, keep playing hard and win the series.”

Gaviglio and Gibson matched each other through four scoreless innings before Grossman drove a 3-2 pitch from the Royals’ new starter into the bullpen in right field with one out in the fifth.

Alex Gordon singled in Escobar in the bottom half, and Whit Merrifield’s hard-hit single gave Kansas City a lead that would stand until the ninth.

Max Kepler started the Twins’ go-ahead rally with a single. Then, after Eduardo Escobar struck out, Jason Castro singled and Grossman walked to set up Dozier, whose deep fly ball tied the game.

Polanco followed with the eventual game-winning hit.

“It was a pretty big game,” Yost acknowledged. “It looked like we had everything lined up to win it but we just didn’t win it.”

STATS AND STREAKS

The Twins are 10-6 against the Royals this season. They were 4-15 against them last season. … Herrera has not recorded a save since Aug. 16 at Oakland. … Gibson has a 1.69 ERA in his last four starts. … Mauer reached safely five times for the second time this season.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins 3B Miguel Sano (left shin) did light running but hit off a tee rather than taking batting practice after experiencing soreness. He has been on the DL retroactive to Aug. 20. “We’ll see if he can get on the field (Friday),” Molitor said.

Royals 3B Cheslor Cuthbert was out of the lineup while dealing with a gallbladder issue. … LHP Danny Duffy (left elbow impingement) and RHP Joakim Soria (left oblique strain) threw off the mound. “Both did OK,” Yost said. “They’re making progress.” … 3B Mike Moustakas was the DH to give his achy right knee a rest. “He’s playable,” Yost said, “or he wouldn’t be in there.”

UP NEXT

Royals RHP Ian Kennedy and Twins RHP Ervin Santana meet in a rematch of last Sunday, when neither factored into Kansas City’s 5-4 victory. Kennedy allowed four runs, two earned, in 5 2/3 innings while Santana yielded four runs in 6 2/3 innings.

— Associated Press —

DETROIT (AP) — Salvador Perez homered twice as the Kansas City Royals broke open a close game to rout the Detroit Tigers 13-2 on Wednesday night.

The Royals broke a 2-2 tie with four runs in the seventh, then scored seven in the eighth. Perez drove in three runs, while Whit Merrifield had three doubles and three RBI. Alcides Escobar had four hits, falling a homer short of the cycle.

Jason Hammell (8-10) got the win, giving up two runs, nine hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out six while winning for the third time in four starts.

Tigers starter Matthew Boyd pitched six-plus innings, allowing four runs, seven hits and two walks while striking out four.

Perez gave the Royals a 1-0 lead in the second inning with his 23rd homer. The home run was Kansas City’s 169th of the season, setting a franchise record. Escobar made it 2-0 later in the inning with an RBI triple.

The Tigers got on the board after an error by third baseman Mike Moustakas in the fourth inning. With runners on the corners and one out, he misplayed what looked like an inning-ending double play ball, allowing James Hicks to score from third.

Ian Kinsler tied the game in the fifth, hitting his 15th homer. It was his 16th straight solo homer, with his last multi-run home run coming on Sept. 28, 2016, against Cody Anderson of the Cleveland Indians.

Escobar led off the seventh with a double and Alex Gordon blooped an RBI double down the left-field line, ending Boyd’s night. Warwick Saupold allowed a third straight double, this one to Merrifield, giving the Royals a 4-2 lead.

Lorenzo Cain singled home Merrifield, and Melky Cabrera doubled to move Cain to third and bring Jairo Labourt out of the Tigers bullpen. A passed ball gave Kansas City a 6-2 lead, but Labourt struck out Eric Hosmer and, after an intentional walk, got Moustakas to hit into an inning-ending double play.

Moustakas, who had been noticeably limping in the field, left the game after the inning with a sore knee. He’s listed as day to day.

The Royals put the game away with their seven-run eighth, including two runs on Merrifield’s third double and two more on Perez’s second homer. Tigers rookie Joe Jimenez gave up five runs in the inning while only recording one out.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: RHP Joakim Soria (oblique) and LHP Danny Duffy (elbow) both threw short bullpen sessions on Wednesday. If they have no soreness, they will throw again on Friday with the hopes of returning before the end of the regular season.

Tigers: RHP Anibal Sanchez (calf) could pitch this weekend against the Blue Jays. Sanchez left Tuesday’s start after being hit by a groundball on his fifth pitch of the night, so he could pitch with fewer than four days’ rest.

UP NEXT

Royals: Kansas City returns home Thursday to start a four-game series with the Minnesota Twins. Sam Gaviglio (3-5, 4.62) will make his Royals debut after being claimed on waivers from Seattle on Friday, while Kyle Gibson (9-10, 5.33) starts for Minnesota.

Tigers: Detroit is off on Thursday before starting a three-game series in Toronto on Friday. Buck Farmer (3-2, 7.18) starts for the Tigers against an undetermined Blue Jays starter.

— Associated Press —

DETROIT (AP) — JaCoby Jones and John Hicks hit two home runs and the Detroit Tigers had six homers in all in a 13-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night.

Tigers starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez threw only five pitches and was knocked out of the game in the first inning after getting hit by Whit Merrifield’s single in the right leg. Sanchez, who was charged with one earned run when Merrifield later scored, left the game with a calf injury.

Reliever Myles Jaye (1-0) replaced Sanchez and pitched 2 1/3 innings. He allowed one hit, two walks and a wild pitch, leaving in the third inning with the Tigers holding a 7-1 lead.

Jason Vargas (14-10) took the loss, allowing seven earned runs and six hits, a walk and a hit batter in two innings of work.

After the Royals took the 1-0 lead, the Tigers scored seven runs in the second inning. Jeimer Candelario had a two-run double, followed by Alex Presley’s RBI single, Jones’ two-run homer and Mikie Mahtook’s two-run homer.

Hicks’ two-run homer in the fourth made it 9-1 and Jose Iglesias’ solo shot in the fifth pushed it to 10-1. Jones had his second homer, a solo blast, in the seventh, and Hicks hit another home run in the eighth.

Lorenzo Cain had a solo home run for the Royals in the sixth, making it 10-2.

TRAINERS ROOM

Tigers: Sanchez, who recently returned from the disabled list with a hamstring injury, tried to throw a few pitches after being hit in the first inning. He could not apply pressure to his leg, though. His injury was a right calf contusion and X-rays were negative.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Jason Hammel (7-10, 4.80 ERA) faces the Tigers on Wednesday.

Tigers: LHP Matthew Boyd (5-8, 5.92) takes on the Royals.

— Associated Press —

DETROIT (AP) — Since joining the Kansas City Royals in 2007, Alex Gordon has made a practice of coming to Comerica Park and robbing the Tigers of hits and runs.

Monday’s 7-6 victory might have been his best defensive effort yet in the Detroit outfield.

Gordon ran down James McCann’s fourth-inning line drive in the left-center field gap, taking away a potential RBI double, but that wasn’t his best play of the inning.

After Jeimer Candelario singled to put runners on the corners, Mikie Mahtook hit a fly ball that appeared destined for the Tigers bullpen. Gordon, though, got back to the wall, jumped and reached over the fence to take away a three-run homer.

“When he hit it, I didn’t think I had a chance, but I knew I needed to get back to the fence as fast as I could,” Gordon said. “At that point, it was just a matter of timing my jump and reaching as far as I could.”

Gordon wasn’t the only defensive star for Kansas City. Lorenzo Cain’s sliding catch took two RBI away from Jose Iglesias in the sixth.

Those plays turned out to be crucial when the Tigers rallied with three runs in the ninth.

“Those plays were a huge part of this win,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “In a one-run game, they were the difference.”

Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez and Alcides Escobar homered for the Royals.

Since trading Justin Verlander and Justin Upton on Thursday, the Tigers are 0-5 and have been outscored 36-11.

The Tigers trailed 7-3 going into the ninth, but Nicholas Castellanos hit a three-run homer off Brandon Maurer with one out. Maurer struck out Efren Navarro before McCann and Candelario singled to put the potential winning run on base.

Scott Alexander replaced Maurer and retired Mahtook for his third save in five chances.

“I knew they didn’t want to use me, because I’ve pitched in a lot of games lately, but I felt great,” Alexander said. “I just wanted to attack the bottom of the zone.”

Jake Junis (7-2) improved to 5-0 in his last seven starts, giving up three runs on seven hits in five innings. He struck out three without walking a batter.

Artie Lewicki (0-1) pitched five innings in his major league debut, allowing five runs on 11 hits and a walk. He struck out one.

“Anything four inches above the knee is too high here, and that’s where I lived most of the day,” he said. “I paid for it.”

The Royals took a 1-0 lead in the first and then scored four in the third. Whit Merrifield and Cain started the inning with singles, and both scored on Melky Cabrera’s double. Eric Hosmer followed with his 23rd homer to make it 5-0.

The Tigers had a chance to get on the board in their half of the third, but Andrew Romine was thrown out at the plate while trying to score from second on an infield single.

Gordon’s catch in the fourth was within a couple feet of the spot where Mahtook spiked Jose Ramirez’s ball over the wall on Sunday.

“In that same inning, he gets the ball off McCann’s bat, then you add in robbing the home run,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. “I guess you could say he hurt us a little with his defense.”

The Tigers came back with three runs in the fifth. Romine and Jose Iglesias led off with back-to-back doubles, making it 5-1, and Alex Presley’s triple scored Iglesias. Castellanos hit a sacrifice fly.

Kansas City’s defense struck again in the sixth, with Cain grabbing Iglesias’ sinking liner off the grass with runners on second and third.

“Our defense prides itself on stealing as many runs as we score,” Gordon said. “Plays like that can really deflate an offense.”

Perez hit his 22nd homer off Daniel Stumpf in the seventh, making it 6-3, and Alcides Escobar hit his fourth off Drew VerHagen in the eighth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: RHP Kelvim Herrera (forearm strain) was not available for Monday’s game, but could pitch later in the three-game series.

Tigers: RHP Jordan Zimmermann (neck strain) became the latest Tigers starter to go down with an injury. He will consult a specialist about the injury, which has been a problem since last season, and could be out for the year. In the last month, four members of Detroit’s rotation — Zimmermann, Michael Fulmer, Daniel Norris and Anibal Sanchez — have sustained injuries. The fifth, Justin Verlander, was traded.

“We hope for the best,” Ausmus said of Detroit’s makeshift rotation. “If they struggle, we have a lot of arms in the bullpen.”

TOUGH DEBUT

Since 1913, only one Tigers starting pitcher has allowed more hits in his major-league debut than Lewicki’s 11. On April 19, 1921, Carl Holling gave up 13 hits (and 12 runs) in his debut against the Cleveland Indians. Holling’s career ended the next year after 40 games, including 12 starts.

UP NEXT

Sanchez (3-3, 6.95) will return to Detroit’s rotation for the first time since straining a hamstring on Aug. 16 in Texas. He faces Jason Vargas (14-9, 3.87). Although Vargas is having the better season, he is 3-5 with a 6.03 ERA in 11 career starts against Detroit, while Sanchez is 6-5 with a 2.94 ERA in 16 appearances against the Royals.

— Associated Press —

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Given a second chance after a check swing call went his way on a two-strike pitch, Lorenzo Cain gave the Kansas City Royals’ playoff hopes a lift.

Cain hit a go-ahead, two-run triple in the seventh inning Sunday in a 5-4 win over the Minnesota Twins.

Kansas City trailed 4-3 and had two on with two outs when Cain fouled off his first four pitches from rookie reliever Alan Busenitz (1-1). Cain took a fastball up, then checked his swing on an outside curveball in the dirt.

First base umpire Mike Muchlinski ruled no swing.

“Every time when I check swing, I kind of drop my whole body into it,” Cain said. “I think it was the right call, and I appreciate him doing that because I needed that.”

Plate umpire Marty Foster ejected Minnesota manager Paul Molitor, who was still in the dugout. Molitor then came out to argue.

“Obviously I thought he went too far,” Molitor said. “Game on the line, I thought he went plenty far enough to get that call, but we didn’t get it. But we didn’t get make pitches after that.”

Cain fouled off another pitch, then drove a fastball over Byron Buxton and off the center-field wall. Cain ran through third base coach Mike Jirschele’s hold sign and tried for an inside-the-park home run, but was thrown out at the plate, with right fielder Max Kepler tossing to second baseman Brian Dozier for the relay to catcher Chris Gimenez.

With Kansas City leading 3-2, Cain dropped Joe Mauer’s one-out fly to short center. Buxton hit a two-run single with two outs.

“I wanted to come through for the guys, especially after dropping that ball in the outfield,” Cain said. “o come through with a big hit right there was much needed, not only for me but for this team, as well.”

Scott Alexander (4-3) pitched a scoreless inning in relief of Ian Kennedy.

Alex Gordon, a four-time Gold Glove winner, allowed Eduardo Escobar’s leadoff fly to the left-field warning track to deflect off his glove for an error that allowed Escobar to reach second. Brandon Maurer struck out Gimenez, then retired Ehire Adrianza on a flyout and Dozier on a popup for his 21st save in 25 chances.

Minnesota, which leads Baltimore and the Los Angeles Angels by 1 1/2 games for the second AL wild card, lost for the second time in seven games. The Royals closed within 3 1/2 games of the Twins and are a half-game behind Seattle and Texas.

“We had to get this one today,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “It was a game that we absolutely had to have. It just shows the character of our team, flushing that game yesterday.”

Melky Cabrera hit a two-run homer for Kansas City, which rebounded from a 17-0 loss Saturday.

Escobar hit his third homer in two days.

BUXTON BACK

Buxton had a scare last week after a bone bruise in his hand, but the speedy outfielder only missed one game and the layoff hasn’t stopped his strong second-half run.

Buxton had two hits, including his fifth triple, driving in two runs with a bloop in the sixth to give Minnesota a lead. He’s 5 for 7 the last two games and is hitting .348 since Aug. 1.

SECURING A STARTER

After another disappointing outing by Dillon Gee on Friday, Minnesota start rookie right-hander Aaron Slegers on Wednesday at Tampa Bay.

Slegers will be recalled from Triple-A Rochester to make his second major league appearance. He allowed two runs in 6 1/3 innings in doubleheader start as the 26th player against the Cleveland Indians on Aug. 17.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: Yost said LHP Danny Duffy (left elbow impingement) threw from 60 feet on Saturday. There’s still no timetable on Duffy’s return, and Yost said it’s possible RHP Sam Gaviglio would start on Thursday in Duffy’s turn.

Twins: C Jason Castro was activated from the concussion DL. He had been out since Aug. 24 after taking multiple foul tips off his mask. … Molitor said 3B Miguel Sano (stress reaction in his left shin) is feeling better but won’t make the upcoming trip.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Jakob Junis (6-2, 4.41 ERA) starts the opening game Monday in Detroit. Junis beat Tampa Bay in his last outing, allowing one run in 5 2/3 innings while striking out eight. The Tigers will start RHP Artie Lewicki, who will be making his major league debut.

Twins: RHP Jose Berrios (12-6, 3.80) starts Monday at Tampa Bay. He pitched seven scoreless innings against the Chicago White Sox in his last outing.

— Associated Press —

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Joe Mauer went 4 for 4 with two RBI and Eduardo Escobar hit two home runs while driving in six runs, as the Minnesota Twins erupted for a 17-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night.

Brian Dozier added a three-run homer and Byron Buxton went 3 for 5 with three runs, making starter Kyle Gibson (9-10) as comfortable as possible over six scoreless innings to help the Twins improve to 21-10 since Aug. 2. They took a 1 1/2-game lead for the second AL wild card spot into the night.

Dozier, Mauer, Buxton, Jorge Polanco and Escobar, the first five batters in the lineup, combined for 13 hits in 21 at-bats with 13 runs and 15 RBI.

The Royals fell to 11-20 since July 31. They’ve been shut out 15 times this season, five in the last nine games.

Royals starter Onelki Garcia (0-1) had a forgettable first major league start. He gave up a walk to Dozier, a double off the wall to Mauer, a standup triple to Buxton and a double to Polanco before recording his first and only out. Mitch Garver’s first major league RBI ended his night in the four-run first inning.

The Twins tacked on six more runs in the second. Mauer moved above the .300 mark for the first time since May 11, 2016. The three-time AL batting champion has not finished above .300 since 2013, when his season was cut short by a concussion.

The Twins are averaging almost 6 1/2 runs per game since Aug. 2, with a plus-76 scoring margin over those 31 games.

MORE MAUER

Mauer tied old friend Justin Morneau for fifth place on the team’s all-time list with 860 RBI. He has a hit in 11 straight games and in 22 games since Aug. 10 is batting .448 (39 for 87).

AND ANOTHER ONE

Niko Goodrum replaced the second baseman Dozier in the sixth inning, becoming the 13th player to make his major league debut for the Twins this season. Goodrum, the team’s second-round draft pick in 2010, also became the 51st player used by the Twins in 2017.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: RHP Kelvin Herrera, who was pulled from his appearance as the closer Friday with forearm tightness, was diagnosed with a mild strain and will be held out for at least a few days.

Twins: C Jason Castro, who has missed the last nine games because of a concussion, likely won’t need a rehab stint. He could be back in the lineup next week.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Ian Kennedy (4-10, 5.47 ERA) pitches Sunday afternoon. He’s coming off a season-worst start, a 12-0 loss to Tampa Bay with 2 2/3 innings finished.

Twins: RHP Ervin Santana (14-7, 3.27 ERA) takes the mound in the series finale. The Twins won five of his six turns in August, when he went 3-0 with a 2.95 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 39 2/3 innings.

— Associated Press —

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — With Kansas City’s closer on the mound and a three-run lead, odds were pretty good that Scott Alexander could watch the final inning from the bullpen.

Instead, he got his second save of the year.

Alexander replaced an injured Kelvin Herrera and struck out Eddie Rosario with the bases loaded in the ninth inning as the Royals held off the Minnesota Twins 7-6 Friday night.

Mike Moustakas homered for the first time since mid-August, Brandon Moss also went deep for the Royals, who won for just the second time in eight games. Melky Cabrera tied a season-high with four hits.

Up 7-4, and with two outs, Herrera walked No. 9 hitter Zack Granite and hit Brian Dozier.

“That’s when I started thinking, `All right we better keep an eye on this,” said manger Ned Yost. “The velocity wasn’t dropping, but I got Scotty up just in case and it just started getting more and more and more wild.”

Herrera gave up a two-run single to Joe Mauer and fell behind 3-0 to Jorge Polanco — who ultimately walked — before being removed with low forearm tightness. Yost is unsure when Herrera will be available.

Alexander had a simple plan against Rosario.

“When you get the bases loaded and there’s no room to pitch around anybody you’ve just got to go after him,” Alexander said. “I knew what I wanted do to with him, just try to execute.”

He’s done it before.

Alexander got the final out Aug. 22 with the bases loaded after Herrera left with a similar injury.

“You never expect someone to get hurt in the middle of the inning like that or have to come out, so it happens real quick and you just try to gather yourself as much as you can and try to focus in on what you got to do,” he said.

Minnesota scored two runs in the ninth Thursday, the last on a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded, to beat Chicago 5-4.

“We hung in there until the last round and made it interesting,” said Twins manager Paul Molitor. “Almost for the second day in a row to pull something out like that.”

The Twins remain one game behind New York — which lost 4-1 to Boston — for the top AL wild card spot. Minnesota entered the night leading Los Angeles, which played at Texas, by 1 1/2 games for the second spot. Kansas City is now 3 1/2 games behind.

Royals’ starter Jason Hammel (7-10) allowed Polanco’s two-run home run in the first and a run in the third, before retiring 12 straight. He allowed four earned runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings.

Moustakas hit a three-run, line-drive homer to right for a 5-2 lead in the third. It was his 36th of the year and first in 13 games since Aug. 15. He tied Steve Balboni for the most by a Kansas City player in a season. Moustakas is one of four players trailing New York’s Aaron Judge by one for the AL lead.

“Once it got to 35 it kind of started creeping in my head a little bit, but that’s when I tried to do a little too much,” he said. “Today, I was kind of relaxed.”

Making his fourth start of the season, Minnesota’s Dillon Gee (1-2) allowed five earned runs in 2 2/3 innings.

Moss hit a two-run home run of Tyler Duffey in the sixth to make it 7-3.

CLOSING A CAREER

Former closer Joe Nathan signed a one-day contract with Minnesota Friday to retire as a Twin.

Nathan, 42, saved 260 games for the Twins during seven seasons — including a career-high 47 in 2009. He also pitched for the Giants, Rangers, Tigers and Cubs during a 16-year career. The six-time all-star, drafted by San Francisco as a shortstop, ranks eighth on the all-time saves list with 377.

“(This was) a ride that I could not have imagined I could have gone down,” he said during an emotional new conference.

TRAINERS ROOM

Royals: LHP Brian Flynn (left groin strain) was transferred to the 60-day disabled list … RHP Trevor Cahill (right shoulder impingement syndrome) was reinstated from the 10-day disabled list.

Twins: CF Byron Buxton, who missed Thursday’s game with a bone contusion on his left hand, pinch ran in the ninth. . LHP Hector Santiago was moved to the 60-day disabled list. Out since July 3 with an upper back strain, he is scheduled to make his second rehab start Sunday at Triple-A Rochester.

UP NEXT

Minnesota’s Kyle Gibson (8-10, 5.59) is scheduled to face Kansas City’s Onelki Garcia (0-0, 7.94) Saturday in game two of the weekend series.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Logan Morrison, Steven Souza Jr. and Adeiny Hechavarria each went deep and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Kansas City Royals 5-3 on Wednesday night for their latest series victory.

The Rays took two out of three and have won three consecutive series. The Royals lost 18 of 28 games in August, including six of seven to end the month.

Morrison, who was born in Kansas City, has four home runs, eight RBI and six runs in the first six games of Tampa Bay’s current road trip. Morrison hit his 33rd homer with two outs in the fifth against Jason Vargas (14-9).

Souza hit his 29th earlier in the fifth, snapping a 3-3 tie.

Rays right-hander Jake Odorizzi (7-7), who failed to make it out of the fourth inning in his previous two starts, allowed three runs and four hits over five-plus innings.

Hechavarria homered with one out in the Rays’ three-run third. The inning also included Souza’s RBI single and Evan Longoria’s sacrifice fly.

Whit Merrifield hit a three-run homer in the third to account for all of the Royals’ runs.

Vargas gave up five runs and seven hits, including the three home runs, over six innings. The All-Star left-hander started the year 12-3 with an AL-leading 2.22 ERA, but is 2-6 with a 7.20 ERA over his past 10 starts.

Alex Colome gave up a single in the ninth, but picked up his major league-leading 40th save in 45 chances.

GORDON SITS

Royals left fielder Alex Gordon, who is hitting .199 with five home runs and 37 RBI, was not in the lineup for the second straight game.

SWEET 16 CLUB

Six Royals have 16 or more home runs — Merrifield, Jorge Bonifacio, Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez, Mike Moustakas and Brandon Moss. That matches the 1977 team for a club record with six players hitting at least 16 homers. George Brett, Hal McRae, Amos Otis, Darrell Porter, Al Cowens and John Mayberry accomplished it that season.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: RHP Trevor Cahill (shoulder impingement syndrome) threw all of his pitches in a 30-pitch bullpen series and said he felt good. He could be activated Friday when rosters can expand to 40.

UP NEXT

Rays: After a day off Thursday, LHP Blake Snell will start Friday at the White Sox. He held the Cardinals to four hits and two runs over seven innings Saturday in a no-decision in his prior start.

Royals: RHP Jason Hammel will start Friday in the series opener at Minnesota after a travel day Thursday.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Whit Merrifield finally put the Kansas City Royals back on the scoreboard.

Merrifield, Jorge Bonifacio and Eric Hosmer homered as the Royals snapped a 45-inning scoreless streak on their way to a 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night.

Merrifield’s 16th home run with two outs in the third ended Kansas City’s drought, three innings shy of the major league record. The 1906 Philadelphia Athletics and 1968 Chicago Cubs share the mark with 48 scoreless innings in a row.

“Excitement, relief,” Merrifield said. “It seems to build and build and build. It’s nice to end it. It’s a 0-0 game and to put us on the board for the first time in a long time, it was a good feeling. I knew once we got one that things would pick up and they did.”

Royals rookie Jake Junis (6-2) did not allow a hit until a one-out single in the fifth. He struck out a career-high eight and walked none over 5 2/3 innings. Junis is 4-0 in his last six appearances.

“I had that slider working today and was throwing my fastball to both sides of the plate,” Junis said. “I was throwing a lot of strikes and just attacking hitters.”

Hosmer’s three-run homer, his 22nd, in the seventh off left-hander Dan Jennings gave the Royals a cushion.

“DJ is in a little bit of a rut right now,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Homers got him now twice lately and that’s unfortunate, but I have confidence he’ll get over that and we’ll move past it.”

Bonifacio connected with two outs in the sixth off Alex Cobb (9-9).

Kansas City remained three games behind Minnesota for the second AL wild card.

“We’re getting down to the end right now, so each game is huge for us,” Hosmer said.

Cobb gave up a run on three singles and three wild pitches in the fourth. Hosmer scored on Mike Moustakas’ single, but the Royals stranded runners at second and third.

“The streak, the whole thing is pretty mind-blowing,” Cobb said. “That’s a team that’s got a really good offensive squad. You’re not going to get a team like that to slump for that many games in a row. Honestly, the pitch to Whit was a good one. If I could throw it again and know that it would end up in that location again, I would. It was just, he put an unbelievable swing on it. It was on the chalk, inside the batter’s box.”

Junis was removed after giving up Evan Longoria’s single. Scott Alexander yielded a run-scoring single to Logan Morrison and walked Steven Souza Jr. to load the bases. Corey Dickerson’s groundout ended the inning.

“I was hoping we could hold on there and just get the win,” Junis said. “We needed that game really bad.”

Brad Miller homered off Brandon Maurer in the seventh, cutting Kansas City’s lead to 3-2.

CHALLENGE KINGS

The Royals won three replay challenges in the first six innings. The first two reversals in the first and fifth gave Lorenzo Cain infield singles after he had initially been called out. In the sixth, Lucas Duda struck out swinging on a pitch that hit him. Kevin Kiermaier stole second on the play, but after a review was sent back to first because the ball was ruled dead after hitting Duda in the foot.

KUNTZ IN DUGOUT

Royals first base coach Rusty Kuntz is having vision problems after eye surgery and will be in the dugout the rest of the season setting outfield alignments. Kansas City manager Ned Yost said Kuntz never saw three balls hit toward right field Monday, including one that missed him by about 5 feet. “It’s just getting to a point now where it’s just dangerous for him to be out there,” Yost said. “We don’t want to take a chance of having anything serious happening.” Catching coach Pedro Grifol replaced Kuntz in the coach’s box at first.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals LHP Brian Flynn was placed on the disabled list after one outing. He strained his left groin Monday. LHP Eric Skoglund was recalled from Triple-A Omaha.

UP NEXT

Rays: RHP Jake Odorizzi, who starts the series finale, has failed to get out of the fourth inning in his last two starts.

Royals: All-Star LHP Jason Vargas is 2-5 with a 6.69 ERA in his past eight starts.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals extended their scoreless streak to a franchise-record 43 innings, getting shut out for a fourth straight game in a 12-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night.

The Royals haven’t scored since the second inning of a 3-2 loss to Colorado last Thursday. Kansas City was blanked three times over the weekend by Cleveland. The 1968 Chicago Cubs and 1906 Philadelphia Athletics hold the major league record at 48 scoreless innings, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The 1992 Cubs were the last team to be blanked in four straight games, and it hasn’t happened in the AL since the 1964 Washington Senators — nine years before the adoption of the designated hitter. No team has been shut out in five straight games since at least 1913, according to information gathered from baseball-reference.com.

The Royals were two games out of first place on July 28 after a nine-game winning streak. Since then, they have lost 19 of 29 and are 10 games behind AL Central-leading Cleveland and three games back of Minnesota for the final AL wild card.

Austin Pruitt (7-4) pitched six one-run innings for Tampa Bay, and Matt Andriese allowed one more hit while getting a three-inning save, his first this season.

Lucas Duda, Wilson Ramos and Logan Morrison went deep for Tampa Bay, with Duda getting his 25th and Morrison his 32nd of the season. Evan Longoria and Morrison hit back-to-back doubles after Duda’s shot in the third off Ian Kennedy (4-10).

— Associated Press —