KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jorge Soler had the tying RBI double in the eighth inning and Cheslor Cuthbert followed with the go-ahead run-scoring single to lead the Kansas City Royals to a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night.

Adalberto Mondesi started the rally with his third hit of the game, a double with one out off Daniel Stumpf, and scored on Soler’s ensuing hit off Victor Alcantara (2-1). Terrance Gore ran for Soler and stole third. He then scored on Cuthbert’s single between three fielders in right field to put the Royals ahead.

Scott Barlow (2-2) pitched a scoreless eighth inning to get the win, and Ian Kennedy got the last three outs for his fifth save.

The Tigers’ bullpen wasted a brilliant effort from Spencer Turnbull. He scattered four hits and two walks with five strikeouts over six innings. It was only the third time in 14 starts that Turnbull had not allowed a run.

Jakob Junis had a quality start for Kansas City, allowing two runs and five hits with five strikeouts in seven innings.

The Tigers got to Junis in the first on a 427-foot home run by Nicholas Castellanos to left-center. It was Castellanos’ 100th career homer, all with the Tigers.

Junis gave up a run in the first inning for the ninth time in 14 starts. His ERA in those first innings is 8.36, compared to 4.71 in the other innings.

Brandon Dixon hit a 447-foot homer in the fourth, into the fountains 20 feet beyond where Castellanos’ homer traveled, to put the Tigers up 2-0.

Following Turnbull’s departure, Ryan O’Hearn led off the seventh with his sixth home run of the season. He broke an 0-for-15 slump with his 439-foot blast to right.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals 3B Hunter Dozier was eligible to come off the 10-day injured list, but he is not close to being ready. He’s been on the IL since June 3, retroactive to May 31. Manager Ned Yost said, “We’re going to be working him back into it, making sure everything is functional and feeling good. We’ve got to make sure that he’s healthy, 100 percent. I don’t know if we’ll want to send him out on a rehab. When he’s ready to go we’ll make that decision.”

Tigers: SS Niko Goodrum was removed from the game following the top of the third after he fouled a pitch off his knee. He left with a right knee contusion. He finished the at-bat with a strikeout and was replaced by Gordon Beckham in the bottom of the third.

UP NEXT

The Tigers will send LHP Daniel Norris (2-5, 4.60 ERA) to the mound in the second game of the series. The Royals will counter with LHP Danny Duffy (3-3, 4.68 ERA). Duffy was hit on the right kneecap in his last start against Boston. The line drive bounced to third for the final out of the second inning. He came back out for the third but retired just one of six batters he faced in the inning before being pulled.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Once Reynaldo Lopez went one pitch at a time, things worked out fine.

Following three consecutive poor outings, Lopez pitched six effective innings against Kansas City on Sunday. And backed by a 471-foot homer from Eloy Jimenez, the Chicago White Sox defeated the Royals 5-2.

“The biggest difference was that I was able to clear my mind and be focused on the pitches I needed to execute,” Lopez said through a translator. “In the past, I was thinking about other pitches in the game, or my mechanics.”

“I was able to clear my and stay focused all through the game,” he said.

A day after Lucas Giolito shut down the Royals in a 2-0 victory, Lopez (4-6) allowed one run and four hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out eight.

Lopez had been struggling recently, giving up 19 earned runs in his last 13 1/3 innings over his previous three starts.

“All my pitches were good today,” he said. “I was able to command, execute and finish all my pitches the way I know I can do it.

“I know that this team needs me, and I need to perform at my best every time I’m out there. We’re fighting every day and we want to win every time we’re on the field. Today was a step forward to that purpose,” he said.

His manager appreciated the difference.

“He threw very, very well,” Chicago manager Rick Renteria said. “His curveball was working very well, and his slider was working well. He was using it for punchouts. He commanded his fastball a little better. All in all, much better in catching the strike zone and mixing in his secondary pitches.”

Yoan Moncada had four hits and an RBI for the White Sox, who lost the series opener but had back-to-back solid pitching performances to take the last two games.

The Royals are 0-6 in rubber games in 2019, continuing a streak that started early last season. Kansas City has lost 14 straight rubber games, dating to May 30, 2018, and is now 0-14-2 in its last 16 series.

They struck out 11 times, the 11th time in 16 games they’ve reached double-figures.

“We’re on a strikeout run here,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. “We’re striking out a bunch, but they’re not on strikes, generally. They’re on pitches down below the zone. Curveballs give us a bit of a problem here lately, and we keep swinging at them.”

Glenn Sparkman (1-2) gave up two earned runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Jimenez led off the second with the longest home run at Kauffman Stadium since Brandon Moss hit a 474-foot drive for the Royals against the Twins July 1, 2017. The White Sox added an unearned run later in the inning on Charlie Tilson’s double.

“Nah,” Jimenez said through a smile when asked if that was the farthest home run he’d hit. “In a game, I hit one 490 in spring training. This was my first in the majors in a game that counted.”

Jorge Soler hit a 445-foot shot homer in the fourth, snapping Kansas City’s 13-inning scoreless drought.

The White Sox got a run in each of the last three innings, on Moncada’s single that scored Tilson in the seventh, an eighth-inning double by Tim Anderson and an unearned run in the ninth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals 1B Lucas Duda continues on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Omaha. He’s 12 for 35 with one home run and three doubles in 10 games with the Storm Chasers. He’s been on the IL since April 26 with a lumbar strain.

ROSTER NEWS

White Sox RHP Dylan Covey was placed on the 10-day injured list with shoulder inflammation, retroactive to June 6. The White Sox recalled RHP Thyago Vieira from Triple-A Charlotte. Vieira is 1-0 with 2.08 ERA in three relief appearances with the White Sox this season. He was 3-1 with 17 saves and 24 strikeouts in 17 appearances in Charlotte.

UP NEXT

White Sox: Open a six-game, seven-day homestand Monday against the Washington Nationals. Renteria said the White Sox would make the decision on their starter Monday after talking to the players who may be affected by any roster moves. The Nationals swept a two-game series from Chicago on June 4-5, including winning on a walk-off home run by Trea Turner in the second game.

Royals: Will have Monday off before opening a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday. RHP Jakob Junis (4-6, 5.63 ERA) will start for the Royals against Spencer Turnbull (3-5, 3.01 ERA).

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Lucas Giolito hasn’t lost or given up more than three runs in a start since mid-April. The Royals have been striking out at an alarming rate.

Given those trends, Giolito’s latest dominant outing wasn’t much of a surprise.

Giolito worked into the eighth inning and had a career-high 11 strikeouts — all in the first five innings — to win his seventh consecutive start, outdueling Brad Keller as the Chicago White Sox beat Kansas City 2-0 on Saturday.

“Giolito’s tough on everybody right now,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He has changed his whole delivery over the last year and a half, two years. Now he’s shortened up his arm stroke and his changeup is dynamic. It’s a plus-plus changeup. He’s got great arm speed. His slider’s a plus slider. Anywhere from 93 to 96 (mph) with his fastball, with command. He’s just kind of come into his own and quite frankly has developed into one of the best pitchers in this league.”

Giolito (9-1) allowed three hits and two walks in 7 2/3 innings and lowered his ERA to 2.28. He has allowed no more than one run in six of his seven straight wins. Giolito went 10-13 with a 6.13 ERA in 2018, his first full season.

The hottest pitcher in baseball said he was merely executing catcher James McCann’s game plan.

“I threw a lot of fastballs and sliders, because I’m usually fastball/changeup heavy,” Giolito said. “They had some righties in the lineup, so we waited until the fourth inning. We were able to keep them off-balance and get a lot of weak contact.”

Or no contact at all.

Giolito recorded eight consecutive outs via strikeout from the start of the second inning until he retired Nicky Lopez on a foul pop to end the fourth. Then he struck out the side again in a perfect fifth.

The Royals have seen him more than anyone — he’s 3-0 with a 1.96 ERA in four starts against Kansas City this season.

“His numbers don’t lie,” Keller said. “He’s been throwing the ball really, really well. You know it’s going to be a low-scoring game. You just try to limit them as much as possible.”

Rookie Eloy Jimenez hit a two-run homer in the second inning off Keller (3-8), who otherwise was nearly as good as Giolito. Jimenez’s blast snapped a 42-inning homerless streak for Keller, who worked eight innings, allowing two runs on five hits. He walked one and struck out four.

“Keller did a nice job minimizing damage, holding us to two runs,” White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. “It was a pitching duel on both sides. It was a nice game.”

The Royals reached double figures in strikeouts for the 10th time in their last 15 games. They have 149 Ks over that span. Ryan O’Hearn fanned in his first two at-bats, extending his streak of games with multiple strikeouts to five.

Yost was ejected for arguing a strike call to Alex Gordon in the sixth inning.

TRAINER’S ROOM

LHP Danny Duffy, who was hit by a line drive in Thursday’s start against Boston, is on track to make his next start against Detroit. “He’s feeling better. He’ll get an extra day because of the off day on Monday, but we’ll make the determination when we get closer,” Yost said.

UP NEXT

The White Sox will send RHP Reynaldo Lopez (3-6, 6.62 ERA) to the mound in Sunday’s series finale. RHP Glenn Sparkman (1-1, 3.77), who was ejected in the second inning on May 29 against Chicago when he hit shortstop Tim Anderson in the head with a changeup, starts for Kansas City. The Royals will try to win the rubber game of a series for the first time since May 30, 2018 — an 0-13 stretch in that situation.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mookie Betts is pretty good against Danny Duffy.

Betts hit a two-run homer off Danny Duffy in a four-run third inning and the Boston Red Sox defeated the Kansas City Royals 7-5 Thursday to complete their first series sweep in nearly a month.

Betts is 7 for 11 with five home runs against Duffy (3-3).

“I put some good swings on some good pitches,” Betts said.

Betts has six hits, five home runs and a walk in his last seven plate appearances against Duffy.

“I’ve got to a better job of not serving it to him on a platter,” Duffy said. “He’s got five bombs against me in 11 at-bats. … If you make stupid mistakes like that he’s going to capitalize.”

Boston outscored the Royals 23-8 over three games and extended its winning streak to four. The Red Sox swept a series for just the fourth time this year, the first since May 10-12 against the Chicago White Sox. The World Series champions are 27-16 following a 6-13 start and face the second-place Rays in a four-game weekend series at Fenway Park.

“We have some confidence going against a really good ballclub,” Betts said. “Ride the wave through this weekend.”

Kansas City has lost six straight and nine of 10, dropping to a big league-worst 19-43.

With a doubleheader coming up Saturday against Tampa Bay, Boston gave Ryan Weber his third start. He allowed two runs and five hits in 1 1/3 innings, and Colten Brewer (1-2) followed with two scoreless innings of two-hit relief.

Matt Barnes, Boston’s seventh pitcher, allowed Jorge Soler’s one-out RBI double in the ninth but got his fourth save in seven chances by striking out Ryan O’Hearn and Chelsor Cuthbert.

Duffy allowed four runs and four hits in 2 1/3 innings. Eduardo Nunez’s hard drive went off the inside of Duffy’s right kneecap and ricocheted to O’Hearn, who tagged Nunez for the final out of the second. Duffy retired one of six batters he faced in the third.

“It’s sore, but it didn’t affect me,” Duffy said. “If I go back out there it’s because I can. If I can, there are no excuses.”

Betts’ 10th home run tied the score, and Rafael Devers put Boston ahead with a two-run single.

Soler’s fifth-inning homer cut the deficit to 4-3, but Christian Vazquez hit a two-run triple in the seventh and scored on Scott Barlow’s wild pitch.

Cuthbert and Alex Gordon homered for the Royals.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Red Sox DH J.D. Martinez was removed in the fifth inning because of back spasms. … LHP Brian Johnson, on the IL since April 6 because of elbow inflammation, is to make his sixth minor league injury rehab appearance Sunday.

UP NEXT

Red Sox: RHP Rick Porcello (4-5, 4.76 ERA) starts Friday’s opener of a four-game series against visiting Tampa Bay.

Royals: RHP Homer Bailey (4-6, 6.05 ERA) takes the mound Friday at home against the White Sox.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chris Sale strode to the dugout after the seventh inning Wednesday night, and Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora asked his lanky left-hander whether he could keep going on a hot, humid night in Kansas City.

“I’ll finish this off,” Sale replied.

Did he ever.

Sale struck out the side on nine pitches in the eighth for his second immaculate inning this season. Then the seven-time All-Star breezed through the Royals in the ninth, wrapping up an 8-0 win for his third career shutout.

“Any time you can finish a game, that’s what you sign up for,” said Sale, who allowed just three hits while striking out 12 without a walk. “I’ve never started a game I didn’t intend to finish.”

Sale (2-7) has rebounded from a dismal April to put together a series of solid starts. His seventh double-digit strikeout game of the season was punctuated by that perfect eighth, when even Royals fans roared as he mowed through Kelvin Gutierrez, Nicky Lopez and Martin Maldonado.

Sale also had an immaculate inning May 8 against Baltimore, making him the second pitcher with two in one season since strikeout records have been kept. Lefty Grove did it in 1928.

“That was one of his best,” Cora said about Sale’s outing.

Boston’s ace had plenty of help: Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a three-run double during a four-run fifth that broke the game open, and Rafael Devers homered and finished with three RBI.

“We did a lot of good things offensively,” Cora said, “but we can still be better.”

Hard to imagine. The Red Sox have won three straight, scoring eight runs in each game. They’ve also won five straight at Kauffman Stadium dating to last season.

They jumped ahead against Royals starter Jakob Junis (4-6) with two runs in the first. And after the young right-hander settled down for a while, stranding runners at the corners in the second, Andrew Benintendi’s leadoff double in the fifth sparked the Red Sox onslaught.

By the time they loaded the bases later in the inning, and Bradley proceeded to empty them, Junis was headed for the showers and Boston was headed for another easy win.

“First inning didn’t go great, but I battled and made pitches when I needed to I felt like,” said Junis, who allowed six runs on eight hits and three walks in 4 2/3 innings. “It wasn’t all as bad as it looked tonight, I think. I made some better pitches than the scoreboard shows.”

Still, it was the fifth straight loss for Kansas City, which fell to 19-42 — the second-worst start through that many games in club history. Twenty-three defeats have come in games the Royals at one point led, including the series opener against Boston on Tuesday night.

“It was just one of those nights where we couldn’t do much,” manager Ned Yost said.

STATS AND STREAKS

The Red Sox have homered in 22 of their last 25 games. … Sale was making his 300th big league appearance. He also won his fifth straight in Kansas City. … Benintendi and Brock Holt each had three hits. Holt also drove in a run. … Junis has allowed first-inning runs in eight of 13 starts. … Kansas City has been shut out three times this season. … First base umpire Dan Iassogna twice had calls overturned by replay. The combined time of the delays was just 1 minute, 23 seconds.

FEELING DRAFTY

The Red Sox concluded the first-year player draft with a couple of notable picks, including 1B Ryan Berardino in the 34th round. His grandfathers are longtime minor league manager Dick Berardino and former Boston outfielder Dwight Evans.

The Royals went heavy on college players in the draft. Among those chosen on Day 3 was UC Irvine right-hander Jonah DiPoto, the son of Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto, and Indiana State third baseman Jake Means, whose brother John pitched for Baltimore on Wednesday night.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Red Sox: 1B Mitch Moreland (lower back) will likely be activated for Friday night’s series opener at Tampa Bay, Cora said. Moreland has been hitting off a tee the past couple of days.

UP NEXT

The Red Sox will go with Ryan Weber (1-1, 4.50 ERA) as an opener with Michael Shawaryn backing him up in Thursday’s series finale. The Royals counter with Danny Duffy (3-2, 4.05).

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Alex Cora kept watching the Red Sox hammer pitches right at the Kansas City Royals during the first few innings Tuesday night, and the Boston skipper was confident that eventually some of them would find their way through.

Eduardo Nunez finally solved the problem by depositing a pitch over the fence.

His pinch-hit, three-run homer in the eighth inning broke open what had been a nip-and-tuck game, and the Red Sox went on to beat the Royals 8-3 to open a grueling stretch of 17 games in 16 days.

“We were swinging the bat well. I know we didn’t score early, but that was the hardest we’d hit the ball all season,” Cora said. “Eventually we got some results.”

Rafael Devers also drove in a pair of runs for the Red Sox, while Eduardo Rodriguez (6-3) kept the Royals at bay over 5 2/3 innings. He allowed just six hits while striking out seven, his only mistake a pitch in the second that Cheslor Cuthbert sent to left field for a two-run homer.

Glenn Sparkman matched Rodriguez most of the way, but he left a runner on base when he was lifted with one out in the sixth. Scott Barlow (1-2) promptly gave up the lead with a miserable relief outing, and Nunez’s homer off Jake Diekman in the eighth inning was merely the finishing touch.

The Red Sox improved to 9-1 in Rodriguez’s last 10 starts.

“I think the only pitch I missed was the one that he hit the homer,” Rodriguez said. “Everybody believes in this offense. We’ve just got to keep the game close when we’re out there.”

Meanwhile, the woebegone Royals lost for an AL-leading 20th time when they had the lead.

Even more frustrating for Kansas City: Sparkman was slicing up Boston’s lineup, allowing just two hits through five innings. But after Mookie Betts’ leadoff double in the sixth, and Andrew Benintendi’s flyout, Sparkman was yanked by manager Ned Yost despite having thrown just 80 pitches.

“I felt really good,” Sparkman said, “but I hadn’t gone that high, so 85 was probably the limit.”

Barlow entered the game and the spark went out of the Royals.

J.D. Martinez delivered an RBI triple, Devers drew a walk and Xander Bogaerts added a sacrifice fly to knot the game 2-all. Brock Holt followed with a double to give the Red Sox their first lead.

“Cuthbert’s home run was good. We took a two-run lead going to the sixth there,” Yost said. “Sparkman’s high-water mark was 68 pitches, so we were going to take him to 80 or around there. He got right to the 80 mark. We decided to bring in one of our most productive relievers.”

It was still 3-2 in the eighth when Nunez connected for Boston’s second pinch-hit homer this season.

“It was a matter of having good at-bats,” Cora said, “and getting to the bullpen.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Red Sox 1B Mitch Moreland (low back strain) hit off a tee and could return when he’s eligible this week, Cora said. He went on the injured list retroactive to May 26. … 1B Steve Pearce (low back strain) is still not doing any baseball activities. He went on the IL on Saturday.

Royals 3B Hunter Dozier (strained oblique) was placed on the IL before the game, though the move was retroactive to last Friday. Yost was optimistic Dozier will be back in about a week.

DRAFT UPDATE

The Red Sox made a couple of convenient picks when the first-year player draft resumed Tuesday. In the third round, they selected big Kansas right-hander Ryan Zeferjahn. Two rounds later, they took his battery mate in catcher Jaxx Groshans.

The Royals focused on college pitching on Day 2 of the draft, grabbing five more to go with right-hander Alec Marsh, their compensatory pick out of Arizona State. The Royals likewise stockpiled college arms in last year’s draft, using their first five picks on them.

UP NEXT

Left-hander Chris Sale (1-7, 4.35 ERA) tries to bounce back from three straight shaky starts when he takes the mound for Boston on Wednesday night. RHP Jakob Junis (4-5, 5.35) starts for Kansas City.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY – As expected, the Royals used their No. 2 pick in the Draft to select Texas high school shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., the son of former Major League pitcher Bobby Witt.

Witt, from Colleyville, Texas, hit .489 this year with more home runs (15) than strikeouts (11).

General manager Dayton Moore said in a conference call that the Royals scouted Witt for virtually every inning he played during his senior year. Moore also said he spent two days with Witt and his family about a month ago.

“Very impressed with his makeup,” Moore said.

Witt said that he and his father teared up after the Royals made the pick.

“It was emotional,” Witt said in a conference call. “This is something I’ve dreamed about. I’m super-excited. I’m at a loss for words right now.”

The only other times the Royals had the No. 2 pick, they chose Alex Gordon (2005) and Mike Moustakas (2007).

Witt, 18, is six feet and 180 pounds, and was ranked the No. 2 overall Draft prospect by MLB Pipeline. He was the Gatorade 2019 national high school player of the year.

“Alex Rodriguez is the best shortstop prospect I’ve seen, but Bobby Witt Jr. certainly belongs right up there,” a longtime scout, now with a NL club, recently told MLB Pipeline. “He can match up with guys toolswise, and what he also has is a high baseball IQ. People lose sight of it because the tools are so strong, but he’s a really good player to go with it.”

The Royals also view Witt as a versatile player who could be moved around defensively, perhaps even to the outfield. The Royals have budding star Adalberto Mondesi at shortstop, Nicky Lopez at second base and Hunter Dozier at third base for the foreseeable future.

“I feel like I can play any position they want me to play,” Witt said. “That’s up to them.”

“He is a very versatile player, no doubt,” Moore said.

As the No. 2 pick, Witt’s assigned slot value will be $7,789,900.

The Draft continues on Tuesday with Rounds 3-10.

— Jeffrey Flanagan MLB.com —

Royals third baseman Hunter Dozier, who is leading the Kansas City with a .314 batting average, went on the 10-day injured list Monday due to a chest injury.

The move was retroactive to Friday. Dozier hasn’t played since leaving Thursday’s game with what was described by the team as “right-sided thorax tightness.”

The 27-year-old Dozier is having a breakout season after hitting .229 with 11 home runs in 101 games last season.

In addition to batting average, he leads the Royals in on-base percentage (.398) and slugging percentage (.589), and he ranks second in home runs with 11 in 52 games.

The Royals open a nine-game homestand Tuesday, when the Boston Red Sox visit to begin a three-game series.

— Field Level Media —s

ARLINGTON, Texas — Adrian Sampson struck out a career-high 11 in seven innings and earned his first major league win as a starter, leading the Texas Rangers over the Kansas City Royals 5-1 Sunday.

Texas won three of four in the series. The Royals ended a 1-6 trip that left them with a major league-worst 8-23 road record.

Sampson (4-3) posted his previous three victories in relief of an opener. He gave up one run and eight hits, and walked none.

Texas reliever Jesse Chavez pitched a scoreless ninth to run his shutout streak to 18 1/3 innings.

Brad Keller (3-7) allowed three runs in seven innings. The American League leader in walks with 42 didn’t walk anyone but had two wild pitches, one that scored a run.

Texas took a 1-0 lead in the third on three opposite-field singles and added two runs in the fifth, the second on an opposite-field single by Nomar Mazara.

Sampson escaped a jam in the fifth in which the Royals used bunt singles by Terrance Gore and Billy Hamilton to load the bases with none out. He retired Whit Merrifield on a liner, Adalberto Mondesi on a swinging third strike and Alex Gordon on a called third strike.

Jorge Soler hit his career-high 15th home run in the sixth inning for Kansas City’s run.

The Royals loaded the bases in the eighth inning with two outs, but Shelby Miller got Cam Gallagher to fly out to center field.

GALLO TO IL

Rangers CF Joey Gallo, who’s tied with three others for second place in the AL with 17 home runs, was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left oblique strain that happened in Saturday’s game and will probably miss about two weeks.

“Hopefully it’s going to be a quick trip,” he said.

SHORT HOPS

Texas scored a second run on a third wild pitch, in the eighth inning by Jake Diekman. … Mondesi hit his major league-leading eighth triple, breaking a tie with Merrifield. . Royals 3B Cheslor Cuthbert had his second career three-hit game.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: C Martin Maldonado, who left Saturday’s game in the sixth inning with right forearm tightness, was available but given the day off.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Glenn Sparkman (1-1, 4.21) will open a home series against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday. His previous start lasted two batters into the second inning, when he was ejected for hitting the Chicago White Sox’s Tim Anderson.

Rangers: LHP Drew Smyly (1-3, 6.98) will start Tuesday’s series opener at home against the Baltimore Orioles on five days’ rest unless manager Chris Woodard decides to move up LHP Mike Minor (5-4, 2.74).

— Associated Press —

ARLINGTON, Texas — Joey Gallo’s power helped produce another Texas Rangers win. When he’ll return to the plate is in question.

Gallo hit a tie-breaking home run for the second straight game before leaving in the fifth inning due to injury as the Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals 6-2 Saturday.

Gallo was removed because of tightness in his left oblique while batting. He had an MRI and passed some strength tests after the game.

“If there’s something in there, we’ll find out,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. “I guess we’ll plan accordingly after that.”

The Rangers have won 12 of 17 and improved to 19-9 at home.

Lance Lynn (7-4) allowed both runs. He yielded six hits and a hit batter, striking out seven for his fifth straight quality start.

The Royals have lost five of their last six games and have the worst road record in the majors at 8-22. Kansas City was 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position.

Gallo broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning, hitting a 1-0 pitch from Homer Bailey (4-6) over the home bullpen in right-center for his 17th of the season, good enough for a tie with four others for the American League lead. On Friday night, Gallo hit a grand slam in the sixth inning in a 6-2 win over the Royals.

Woodward said Gallo initially felt the pain earlier in the game when throwing. In the dugout before batting in the fifth inning, Gallo told Woodward it didn’t feel like a “muscular thing . like a chiropractor popped him the wrong way.”

Woodward went up to the plate along with trainer Matt Lucero after Gallo’s first swing only to be assured he felt fine.

“He basically lied to me,” Woodward said. “Then on the next pitch he swung and felt something. And I just said, `OK, you’re out.”

Bailey gave up four runs on six hits and two walks in 3 2/3 innings for his fourth straight start without a victory. He allowed only a first-inning single to Nomar Mazara before Hunter Pence led off the fourth with an opposite-field ground single to right ahead of Gallo’s homer.

Martin Maldonado and Cam Gallagher, who replaced Maldonado behind the plate in the sixth inning, had RBI doubles. Maldonado was pulled as a precaution with right forearm tightness.

The 25-year-old Gallo went into Saturday’s game with the AL’s best ratio of at-bats to home runs (10.6) and OPS (1.048). He’s hitting .276 after batting .209 and .206 with 41 and 40 homers, respectively, during his two previous full major league seasons.

“He’s more disciplined this year,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He’s kind of coming into his own here.”

DIFFERING PERSPECTIVES

The Rangers are 29-27, good enough to be the conversation for a wild-card playoff berth at this point, after losing 95 games last season.

“I would take it,” Woodward said. “It’s a great spot to be in.”

Lynn’s opinion of where his club stands?

“Average — pretty close to .500,” he said. “We need to be better.”

SHORT HOPS

Pence and Royals RF Whit Merrifield each had two hits for the second straight game. Merrifield has hits in 10 of his last 11 games. … Rangers C Jeff Mathis had a sacrifice fly for his third RBI of the season in 31 games, his first since April 24. … Five of Texas’ six hits off Bailey were by left-handed hitters. The 33-year-old right-hander entered the game holding left-handed batters to a .213 batting average. … Rangers RHP Jose Leclerc struck out both batters he faced and has 21 strikeouts in 9 2/3 innings over his last nine appearances. … Maldonado has a .327 career batting average at Globe Life Park. … Texas placed RHP Jeanmar Gomez on unconditional release waivers after designating him for assignment last Sunday.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: 3B Hunter Dozier (right thorax tightness), who left Thursday’s series opener in the fifth inning, probably won’t return before Tuesday.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Brad Keller (3-6, 4.56) leads the AL with 42 walks. Keller allowed only one last time out — but also 10 hits — in giving up four runs in six innings in a loss to the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday.

Rangers: RHP Adrian Sampson (3-3, 4.53) has won his last three outings, each following an opener. Sampson will make his first true start since May 12 and sixth of the season.

— Associated Press —