KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Eric Hosmer and Jorge Bonifacio hit two-run homers, and the Kansas City Royals snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 6-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Monday night.

Bonifacio homered with two outs in the fourth after Alex Gordon doubled. It was his second home run in eight games since being promoted April 21 from Triple-A Omaha.

Hosmer’s two-out homer in the seventh inning with Christian Colon aboard finished the night for White Sox rookie starter Dylan Covey (0-2).

Salvador Perez’s single in the fifth struck the third base bag and scored Alcides Escobar and Mike Moustakas with two outs.

Left-hander Jason Vargas (4-1) allowed one run on five hits and three walks over six innings to pick up the win. Vargas has a 1.42 ERA in five starts.

Peter Moylan, Joakim Soria and Scott Alexander worked three hitless innings, striking out five, after Vargas was removed after 96 pitches.

Covey was charged with six runs on nine hits in 6 2/3 innings, his longest major league outing.

Jacob May’s ground-ball single in the fourth scored Todd Frazier with the lone White Sox run. May was hitting .030, 1 for 33, at the time.

White Sox reliever Michael Ynoa walked Bonifacio, and Brandon Moss and hit Escobar to load the bases with one out before Colon grounded into a double play.

TRAINER’S ROOM

White Sox: OF Avisail Garcia, who leads the American League with a .368 batting average, was held out of the lineup after leaving the Sunday game with left groin tightness. “I’m just going to give him another day,” manager Rick Renteria said. “It’s a little cool out there today — precaution and another day to get it worked on.” . James Shields (right lat strain) threw on flat ground for the second time since being placed on the disabled list April 21.

Royals: OF Jorge Soler (strained oblique) went 2 for 2 with a walk and was hit by a pitch Monday while rehabbing for Triple-A Omaha in a 2-1 victory over Oklahoma City. Soler is hitting .308 with a .958 OPS in eight rehab games.

UP NEXT

White Sox: LHP Jose Quintana is 2-9 with a 4.27 ERA against the Royals.

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy is 8-0 with a 3.43 ERA since the start of the 2016 season at Kauffman Stadium.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Miguel Sano wrapped up April with another nice day. The young slugger is off to a great start with the Minnesota Twins.

Sano homered and drove in five runs, helping the Twins beat slumping Kansas City 7-5 on Sunday for the Royals’ ninth straight loss.

It was Sano’s fourth consecutive multihit game. He has 11 hits in his last 16 at-bats. He drove in nine runs in the two-game, rain-abbreviated series.

“I’ve been hot before in the minor leagues, but big leagues this is first time,” he said.

He finished April with seven homers and 25 RBI. Torii Hunter was the last Twin with more than seven homers in April with nine in 2002.

“Miggy had a heckuva trip,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “He’s been a big force for us. He’s tough to pitch to. He seems to be handling all quadrants of the strike zone.”

Sano connected in the third after Jason Hammel (0-3) walked Byron Buxton and Max Kepler. He added run-producing singles in the fourth and sixth innings.

It’s the longest slide for Kansas City since a 12-game skid in April 2012.

“It’s tough to go through a stretch like this, especially when I know we’re better than what we’re playing,” center fielder Lorenzo Cain said. “What can you do? Keep playing, keep battling. Hopefully we can come out of this.”

The Twins finished April 12-11. They did not get their 12th victory last season until May 25 in their 36th game.

“It was good trip, when you win four out of five,” Molitor said.

Minnesota right-hander Phil Hughes (4-1) got the win despite allowing 10 hits and four runs in 5 2/3 innings.

“He’s been doing a good job as far as keeping major damage down,” Molitor said.

Brandon Kintzler yielded Whit Merrifield’s two-out homer in the ninth before finishing for his seventh save.

Cain went deep for the Royals, belting a solo shot in the fifth for his first homer since Aug. 16. Salvador Perez went 3 for 4 with two doubles, a RBI and two runs scored. The Royals’ 12 hits were a season high.

Kansas City jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second. Perez doubled in Eric Hosmer and scored on Brandon Moss’s two-out single.

But Sano’s seventh homer put Minnesota ahead to stay, and Kepler had a run-scoring fielder’s choice in the Twins’ two-run fourth.

Eddie Rosario’s fourth-inning single extended his hitting streak to a career-high 11 games. Jorge Polanco drove in Minnesota’s last run with an infield hit with two out in the ninth.

Hammel failed to get out of the fourth for his second straight start, allowing five runs and six hits with three walks. Hammel’s ERA climbed to 6.65.
“I’m making the same mistakes, basically walks,” Hammel said. “I’ve got to clean up the walks. I’m throwing too many pitches per at-bat. Full counts every at-bat. Seventy pitches through three innings; that’s just not acceptable, so I’ve got to clean up the mistakes. It’s ridiculous. It’s amateur stuff that I’m doing right now, just trying to do too much.”

Rain delayed the start of the game 63 minutes.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: SS Ehire Adrianza (right oblique strain) went 1 for 3 with a walk with Triple-A Rochester. He is hitting .304 in six rehab games.

Royals: RHP Seth Maness, who signed a minor league contract in February after he had elbow surgery last August, was activated by Triple-A Omaha. Maness is 17-10 with a 3.19 ERA in 244 career relief appearances with St. Louis.

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Ervin Santana will start Tuesday against Oakland after an off day Monday.

Royals: LHP Jason Vargas will face the White Sox on Monday after losing to them last week in Chicago.

— Associated Press —

CHICAGO (AP) — After 99 pitches over six innings, Jose Quintana gave the Chicago White Sox a chance to win.

Then Avisail Garcia gave him the rest of the afternoon off.

Garcia’s two-run home run in the sixth inning broke a tie and lifted the White Sox to a 5-2 victory Wednesday, completing a series sweep of the reeling Kansas City Royals, who finished their trip 0-7.

“I wanted to stay in the game and go back in the seventh inning, but (manager Rick Renteria) said if we take the lead, you stay. If we’re tied, you go back,” Quintana said. “(Garcia) hit a bomb at the right time and it was big time. He told me that’s for you, and I’m happy with that.”

Quintana (1-4) got the run support he needed after receiving only four runs in his first four starts combined. The left-hander had a season-high 10 strikeouts. He allowed five hits and two runs — one earned — and walked two.

Renteria dispatched relievers Dan Jennings, Tommy Kahnle, Nate Jones and David Robertson for three scoreless innings, with Robertson converting his fifth save in five tries.

“They’ve been the epitome of a solid bullpen,” said Renteria, who knocked on a wooden table twice when talking about the unit, which has combined for a 1.96 ERA, second in the majors. “In the end, once you go ahead and put the club ahead, which those guys did, there’s no need to push the envelope with (Quintana) any further. We could get it with the other guys.”

Garcia’s two-run homer, his fourth of the season, went to deep center field to give Chicago a 4-2 lead.

Leury Garcia added a solo home run in the seventh inning for the White Sox, who earned their fourth straight win.

Chicago’s Jose Abreu and Todd Frazier had consecutive two-out RBI doubles in the first inning to open the scoring.

Jorge Bonifacio scored Alcides Escobar on an RBI single in the fifth inning, and Escobar’s groundout scored Alex Gordon to tie it at 2 in the top of the sixth.

Right-hander Nathan Karns (0-2) took the loss, allowing four runs in six innings for the Royals, who stranded 11 runners.

“We hit some balls right on the nose, we just couldn’t find holes with them,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “I’m encouraged by what I saw.”

The teams will meet again for a four-game series starting Monday in Kansas City, part of a 10-game home stand for the Royals.

HURTING JOSE

Abreu left the game with an injury after flubbing a slow ground ball in the fifth inning. The first baseman was moving to his right for the ball hit by Cheslor Cuthbert, but dropped it and had to leave the game with a mild right hip flexor strain.

Abreu hit two doubles for his fourth straight multi-hit game. He will be re-evaluated in Detroit ahead of Friday’s game against the Tigers and is day to day.

STINGY SOX

Despite trading ace Chris Sale in the offseason and Quintana’s early struggles, Chicago is leading the league with a 2.92 ERA. Quintana’s ERA is 5.22.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: No Royals have gone on the DL since opening day. OF Jorge Soler (strained left oblique) is on a rehab assignment in Triple-A Omaha. He was injured in spring training.

White Sox: RHP Juan Minaya was activated from his rehab assignment and optioned to Triple-A Charlotte. He was suffering from a strained right abdominal muscle.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Ian Kennedy (0-2, 2.08 ERA) will open a three-game home series on Friday against Minnesota and RHP Kyle Gibson (0-3, 9.00).

White Sox: RHP Mike Pelfrey (0-1, 4.15) will face the team that cut him in spring training on Friday, as the White Sox open a three-game weekend series in Detroit. LHP Matthew Boyd (2-1, 3.86) pitches for the Tigers.

— Associated Press —

CHICAGO (AP) — Todd Frazier drove in three runs, Leury Garcia had three hits and the Chicago White Sox beat Kansas City 10-5 Tuesday night in their second straight one-sided win over the Royals.

A night after beating the Royals 12-1 and outhitting them 15-2, the White Sox outhit Kansas City 14-8. Chicago scored 10 or more runs in consecutive games for the first time since May 26-27, 2012.

Kansas City is 0-6 on a seven-game trip, its longest skid since losing eight consecutive games last June. Last in the AL Central at 7-13, the Royals are off to their worst 20-game start since opening 6-14 in 2012, when they finished 72-90.

Frazier’s sacrifice fly tied the score in the third inning, and Chicago took a 4-2 lead in the fourth against Danny Duffy (2-1) when Omar Narvaez and Garcia hit consecutive doubles, and Tim Anderson followed with an RBI single.

Frazier had a run-scoring double in the fifth and scored on Yolmer Sanchez’s triple, and Narvaez hit a two-run single off Chris Young in the seventh for an 8-2 lead following a throwing error by third baseman Mike Moustakas on Sanchez’s two-out grounder. Frazier and Avisail Garcia had consecutive RBI doubles off Young in the eighth that made it 10-2.

Dan Jennings (2-0) retired all five batters he faced to win in relief of Dylan Covey, who threw 86 pitches over four innings in his third big league start. He allowed two runs and three hits.

Duffy gave up six runs and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings. He had been 6-2 against the White Sox.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: OF Jorge Soler (strained left oblique) hit his second homer in five games during an injury rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Omaha. “He’s feeling good,” manager Ned Yost said.

White Sox: RHP Juan Minaya (strained right abdominal muscle) was sent to Triple-A Charlotte on a rehab assignment. He has been on the disabled list since April 2.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Nathan Karns (0-1, 6.35) is to start Wednesday’s series finale. He is 0-1 with a 4.96 ERA in three starts versus the White Sox.

White Sox: LHP Jose Quintana (0-4, 6.17) has averaged 0.8 runs per start.

— Associated Press —

CHICAGO (AP) — Matt Davidson has made the most of his 38 at-bats so far.

He leads the White Sox in home runs with four, and his 14 RBI ties him for tops on the team. About the only thing he hasn’t done is crack the everyday lineup, which is why Chicago manager Rick Renteria was asked — again — after a 12-1 win over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night what the 26-year-old has to do to earn more playing time.

“He doesn’t have to do anything more than what he’s doing right now,” Renteria said. “Fortunately for us, every time he gets in there, he seems to do something pretty impactful for us as a team.”

Davidson had two hits and three RBI in an eight-run sixth, Chicago’s highest-scoring inning in five years. The White Sox DH set a career high with three hits and tied his single-game best with four RBI.

Miguel Gonzalez (3-0) lowered his ERA to 2.00, allowing an unearned run and two hits in eight innings.

Melky Cabrera, Todd Frazier and Tyler Saladino drove in two runs each for the White Sox, who outhit the Royals 15-2. Chicago put together its high-scoring inning since a nine-run fifth against Texas on July 3, 2012.

The Royals have lost five straight and scored a major league-low 47 runs.

“We got two hits,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. “Not much going on right now. Of course, (the players) are frustrated. Until we get through it … You’re trying to keep them from not getting frustrated to the point where it takes longer to get out of something like this. But, yeah, they’re frustrated with it.”

Jason Vargas (3-1) gave up four runs — three earned — and seven hits in five innings. His ERA rose from a big league-best 0.44 to 1.40.

Davidson, who didn’t start the previous four games, put Chicago ahead in the second with his fourth homer of the season, a solo drive.

Frazier booted Whit Merrifield’s two-out grounder to third for an error in the third and scored on Mike Moustakas’ double just in front of a diving Avisail Garcia in right.

Tim Anderson reached second on a throwing error by Moustakas at third base in the bottom half, stole third and scored the go-ahead run on Jose Abreu’s single. Cabrera’s two-run single boosted the lead to 4-1 in the fifth, and Davidson sparked the big sixth with an RBI double against Peter Moylan, then capped the scoring with a two-run single off Travis Wood.

Davidson, who’s batting .368, would love more playing time but is happy in his part-time role for now in his first extended major league experience.

“It’s a whole lot better being here than in (Triple-A) Charlotte, so I’m enjoying every single day,” he said. “Obviously, I want to play, but being in Chicago and being around these guys is a dream come true.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: C Salvador Perez (neck stiffness) was 0 for 3 after missing the previous two games.

White Sox: LHP Carlos Rodon, rehabbing from bursitis in his left biceps, arrived in Chicago to be evaluated. “His visit was just to make sure that everything was moving in the right direction,” manager Rick Renteria said. “It is.”

STAYING LOOSE

The Chicago offense provided Gonzalez with his biggest challenge on Monday. The right-hander struggled to stay loose during the lengthy bottom of the sixth and went inside to throw a few pitches as his teammates sent 12 batters to the plate.

“We all know it’s not easy,” he said. “I understand we scored eight runs and that’s huge for our team.”

PITCH PERFECT?

With the Royals struggling to score, Vargas was asked if he felt pressure to be perfect.

“That’s not how I ever take the mound,” he said. “I can’t control anything other than what I’m able to do, so to factor that in would just be hazardous in my preparation.”

UP NEXT

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy (2-0, 1.32 ERA) is to start the middle game of the three-game series. He is 6-2 in 14 starts and two relief appearances against Chicago.

White Sox: RHP Dylan Covey (0-1, 7.84 ERA) makes his third start and is still looking for his first major league win.

— Associated Press —

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Yu Darvish didn’t get pulled early this time, and didn’t have to try to explain a puzzling loss for Texas.

The Japanese right-hander pitched eight innings in his longest outing since elbow surgery two years ago and the Rangers scored the tying and go-ahead runs without a hit, completing a four-game sweep with a 5-2 win over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday.

The 30-year-old Darvish retired 15 of 16 batters after giving up three consecutive hits in the third. Two of those were back-to-back solo home runs from Mike Moustakas and Jorge Bonifacio, whose first big league homer came two innings after he singled for his first career hit.

Darvish was coming off a 4-2 loss to Oakland when he imploded in the sixth and was yanked without a chance to work out of trouble with the score tied. He responded with his highest pitch count (113) since Tommy John reconstructive surgery during spring training in 2015.

“He told me since I took him out at 82 that I owed him a lot of pitches,” pitching coach Doug Brocail said. “I said, `OK, I’ll add 20-25,’ and you could see him doing the math. That’s only 102. He was bound and determined to throw eight and 100-plus and he got us there.”

Darvish (2-2) struck out eight with one walk as the Rangers finished their second four-game sweep of Kansas City in as many seasons. Texas has won 10 straight against the Royals, who have lost five of six since a four-game winning streak.

Jason Hammel (0-2) came out after starting the fourth inning with a walk, two hit batters and another walk to force in the tying run.

The second hit batter, Robinson Chirinos, got plunked on the right wrist on a check swing, and the ricochet hit home plate umpire Eric Cooper on the right leg. Both hobbled away from the plate, with Cooper ruling a foul ball. It was quickly overturned by replay.

Jurickson Profar walked for a 2-2 tie, forcing Hammel out of the game. Carlos Gomez then gave Texas the lead with an RBI grounder.

“I’ve just got to trust the stuff, let it work,” Hammel said. “For whatever reason, I shifted into trying to make the perfect pitch and overthrowing and really got myself and us in trouble.”

Matt Bush pitched a perfect ninth for his first save this season and the second of the 31-year-old reliever’s career.

Joey Gallo, the first hit batter in the fourth, connected in the sixth for his team-leading sixth homer, an opposite-field drive to left. Robinson Chirinos homered in the eighth, his fourth long ball in 18 at-bats.

DROUGHT CONTINUES

Kansas City has a majors-low 46 runs after scoring just five in 40 innings in the series, which included a 1-0 loss in 13 innings in the opener. Manager Ned Yost juggled the lineup, moving Alex Gordon out of the leadoff spot for the first time this season with his .176 average and putting Bonifacio third even though he started the game without a big league hit. Yost gave Lorenzo Cain (team-leading .333 average) the day off.

POWER OF ELVIS

Texas shortstop Elvis Andrus, with a surprising three homers already to put him at 38 for his nine seasons, hit cleanup for the first time in his career. He’s now hit in all nine spots in the order. He had an RBI single for the first Texas run in the third. He struck out twice with runners at first and second. “I didn’t do that bad. Got an RBI at least,” Andrus said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: C Salvador Perez missed his second straight game with neck stiffness. Manager Ned Yost said he was still day-to-day.

Rangers: RHP Sam Dyson, on the 10-day DL with a right hand contusion after losing his job as closer, will pitch an inning each Monday and Tuesday on a rehab assignment at Triple-A Round Rock. He can return to the Rangers on Friday.

UP NEXT

Royals: LHP Jason Vargas (3-0, 0.44 ERA) makes his 200th career start in the opener of a three-game series at the White Sox. He’s 3-0 for the first time since his rookie season in 2005 and has just two walks with 23 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings.

Rangers: LHP Martin Perez (1-2, 3.60 ERA) pitches the opener of a three-game home series against Minnesota. He’s 1-1 with a 2.38 ERA in two home starts, including 5 1/3 scoreless innings in an 8-1 win over Oakland.

— Associated Press —

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Elvis Andrus hit an RBI single with one out in the ninth inning and the Texas Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals 2-1 on Saturday night.

It was the second time in three games that the Rangers won in their final at-bat against Kansas City.

Rougned Odor led off the ninth with a sharp single off Travis Wood (0-2), who didn’t face another batter before Peter Moylan took over. After Odor stole second base, Andrus hit a sharp single to left field.

Matt Bush (1-0) threw a scoreless ninth with a strikeout.

Mike Napoli homered for the Rangers, who have won three straight games for the first time this season. They go for a four-game sweep on Sunday.

Wood was also the loser in the series opener Thursday night when the Rangers won 1-0 in 13 innings. Up until then, Wood had made 105 consecutive appearances without a loss and was tied with Moylan for the longest active streak in the majors. Moylan is now at 107 consecutive appearances without being charged with a loss.

Both starting pitchers, Ian Kennedy for Kansas City and Nick Martinez for the Rangers, allowed one run on four hits over seven innings.

Martinez was called up from Triple-A Round Rock for a spot start after A.J. Griffin was put on the 10-day disabled list because of gout in his left ankle. Martinez matched his longest appearance in 51 major league starts, and took a no-hitter into the sixth.

Kansas City’s first hit was on No. 9 hitter Drew Butera’s single through the left side of the infield with one out in the sixth. The ball ricocheted off the glove of diving third baseman Joey Gallo and then a diving Andrus at shortstop. That was the first of three singles in a four-batter stretch, including Mike Moustakas driving home Butera .

Napoli led off the second with his third homer of the season, an opposite-field shot that barely cleared the wall in the right-field corner.

Andrus had a defensive gem in the fifth inning. He went way to his right to backhand a grounder, then made the throw with his body falling away from first base to get Whit Merrifield by a step.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: C Salvador Perez was scratched from the starting lineup because of neck stiffness. … OF Jorge Soler (strained left oblique) hit a three-run homer in the first game of his injury rehab assignment with Triple-A Omaha on Friday. Manager Ned Yost said there is no timetable for Soler’s return.

Rangers: RHP Sam Dyson (bruised right hand) threw live batting practice and is expected to make a couple of rehab appearances in the minors next week. “His slider was sharper, his sinker was late,” pitching coach Doug Brocail said. Dyson lost his closer role with three blown saves and a 27.00 ERA this season. “I’ve really allowed the last few weeks to overwhelm me in the sense of sitting trying to overanalyze everything,” he said.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Jason Hammel (0-1), who pitched in the NL for the Chicago Cubs the last 2 1/2 seasons, is winless in his last 16 road starts against AL teams. His last road win against the AL was May 5, 2013, when pitching for the Orioles at the Angels. He got a no-decision April 6 at Minnesota in his only road start since joining Kansas City as a free agent last winter.

Rangers: RHP Yu Darvish (1-2) is 1/3 with a 5.93 ERA in his last five home starts.

— Associated Press —

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Delino DeShields is stuck in a crowded platoon for playing time in left field. In one of his rare starts for the Texas Rangers so far this season, he had the biggest hit.

DeShields had an RBI single with one out in the 13th inning, sending Joey Gallo home from second base as the Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals 1-0 on Thursday night, the deepest a game has ever gone in the Texas ballpark before a run was finally scored.

“Joey had a great at-bat … I wanted to be able to be the one to get the job done,” said DeShields, who started for only the fourth time this season, the third time in left.”

It was only the third game in the 24 seasons of the Rangers’ ballpark to go to extra innings scoreless. This was the longest of those games, all 1-0 wins for Texas.

Gallo pulled a double into the right-field corner off Travis Wood (0-1), the third Royals reliever after starter Danny Duffy went 7 1/3 innings. DeShields, just 1-for-13 on the season to that point, then hit a sharp single to left on the 10th pitch of his at-bat — only a few pitches after slicing a ball just foul down the right-field line.

“I felt like I was on everything. If anything, he probably didn’t know what to throw. He probably thought he could get lucky or something,” DeShields said. “I was locked in.”

Gallo’s double was the first hit for Texas since Jonathan Lucroy’s leadoff double in the fifth.

“He is going to strike out some, but that was a big at-bat for him,” manager Jeff Banister said. “Every time he steps up to the plate there is a competitiveness in him that he wants to get a job done.”

That was also the first hit in the game since Royals leadoff hitter Alex Gordon’s one-out single in the eighth.

“I think what you saw tonight was two struggling offenses facing off against some pretty darn good pitching, on both sides,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

Kansas City (7-8) has scored a majors-worst 41 runs so far this season.

While the Rangers (6-10) have now scored 73 runs, the two-time defending AL West champs have an AL-low .206 batting average and were coming off a 3-6 West Coast Road trip that dropped them to the bottom of the division standings.

Dario Alvarez (1-0), the seventh Texas pitcher, struck out three in two innings after walking the first batter he faced on four pitches.

Andrew Cashner , the first Texas-born Rangers starter since 2008, pitched six innings in his first home start. Six relievers then combined for 11 strikeouts and one walk while allowing only one hit over seven innings.

LONG SCORELESS

In those other extra-inning home wins for Texas after being scoreless through nine innings, Robinson Chirinos had an RBI single in the 12th inning to beat the Houston Astros on April 11, 2014; and Rusty Greer’s RBI single in the 11th inning was the difference in a win over Toronto on Aug. 25, 2000.

GOOD PITCHING OR BAD HITTING?

“It’s a little bit of both,” Royals 3B Mike Moustakas said. “Obviously they’ve got some good arms and they’ve got some good pitchers over there. … When your pitchers give you that kind of performance, we’ve got to do whatever we can to tack one across.”

NOT MUCH AT THIRD

Before Gallo scored, the only runner to reach third base had been Lucroy. The Texas catcher advanced to third on a deep flyout by Carlos Gomez before getting stranded there in the fifth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: Yost said OF Jorge Solor, who strained his oblique muscle during the final week of spring training, is close to starting a rehab assignment in the minor leagues.

Rangers: 3B Adrian Beltre took some grounders and his throws to first base were caught by Banister. “He looked much better today than last time he went through this exercise,” the manager said. … Demoted closer Sam Dyson, on the 10-day DL with a bruised right hand, threw a simulated inning.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Nate Karns has a 1.54 ERA through his first two starts, allowing two earned runs in 11 2/3 innings without getting a decision in either of those games.

Rangers: Cole Hamels makes his fourth start of the season still without a decision. The lefty has exited all of his starts in position for a win, but the Rangers have lost each of those games.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jason Vargas has a new ligament holding together his crucial left elbow.

He’s getting the same spectacular results.

The veteran dazzled for the third straight start, the Royals finally scored off Giants ace Madison Bumgarner and Kansas City beat San Francisco 2-0 on Wednesday night to split their two-game set.

It was the 12th straight start Vargas (3-0) had allowed two runs or fewer, extending his own franchise record for a left-hander. And it’s a streak that began prior to Tommy John surgery that kept him on the sideline until the tail-end of last season, when he returned as if nothing was amiss.

“I think he’s even better now,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “I think his command is better. I think the action is as sharp as can be. I think he’s pitching fantastic.”

Vargas scattered four hits over seven innings with nine strikeouts and no walks before turning it over to Joakim Soria, who pitched a perfect eighth. Kelvin Herrera worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth to earn his third save and wrap up a 5-3 homestand for the Royals.

“It’s definitely nice to see some results for the work that’s been put in,” said Vargas, who is also unbeaten in his last eight home starts. “My command has been really good thus far.”

Bumgarner (0-3) matched Vargas pitch for pitch until the fifth, when Paulo Orlando managed a one-out single. He stole second, took third on a groundout and went home when Mike Moustakas hustled down the line to beat out an infield hit, his first with runners in scoring position this season.

That ended Bumgarner’s streak of 18 scoreless innings against the Royals, dating to the 2014 World Series opener. That run of dominance included a brilliant start later in the Series and five innings of scoreless relief in Game 7, when Bumgarner earned the save that finished the championship.

“I felt like I made pretty good pitches. I just missed here and there,” he said. “I had a lot of traffic I had to work through. It was just one of those days where I had to grind it out.”

Bumgarner allowed one run, seven hits and a walk while striking out four but was done in by another poor night by San Francisco’s offense. The lanky left-hander has only received five total runs of support in his first four starts, including one run or none in three of them.

Salvador Perez added an RBI single in the eighth, the third run surrendered by Giants relievers in the past nine games, and one that gave Herrera some breathing room in the ninth.

“We just couldn’t score a run,” Giants bench coach Ron Wotus said. “We couldn’t get a key hit tonight and they did.”

STATS AND STREAKS

Vargas is 3-0 for the first time since his 2005 rookie season with the Marlins. … Herrera has pitched 19 2/3 scoreless innings in interleague play dating to June 18, 2015. … Human attendance was 24,402 and canine attendance was 382 for “Bark at the Park.” … Eight of the Giants’ 10 losses this season have been by two runs or fewer.

NICE SOUVENIR

Giants DH Buster Posey gave a fan a nice keepsake when he whiffed on a pitch in the seventh and his bat flew from his hands. It wound up finding a hole in the netting behind the plate and struck a fan, and Posey motioned to him to keep it. Posey proceeded to strike out.

GIANTS LOOK AHEAD

Wotus said manager Bruce Bochy is still on track to rejoin the team Friday night in Chicago. Bochy missed the series after a minor heart procedure. Wotus also said Posey would likely return to catching Friday after coming off the concussion list and spending two games as the DH.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Giants OF Mac Williamson (quad) began a rehab assignment at Class A San Jose on Wednesday, while OF/1B Michael Morse (hamstring) was batting cleanup as the DH.

UP NEXT

San Francisco gets a day off Thursday before RHP Johnny Cueto takes the mound to begin a three-game series at Colorado. Cueto has won his first three starts this season.

Kansas City LHP Danny Duffy tries to improve to 3-0 in the opener of a four-game series at Texas on Thursday night. Duffy has 17 strikeouts through 20 innings this season.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Joe Panik hit an RBI single with two outs in the 11th inning, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Kansas City Royals 2-1 on Tuesday night to begin their two-game interleague set.

Nick Hundley doubled off Scott Alexander (0-1), the Royals’ fifth reliever of the night, before Panik’s sharp liner dropped in front of center fielder Lorenzo Cain to score the go-ahead run.

Derek Law (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings of relief for San Francisco, and Mark Melancon struck out Raul Mondesi with runners on first and second in the 11th for his third save of the year.

The Giants, back at Kauffman Stadium for the first time since their 2014 World Series triumph, were without manager Bruce Bochy, who underwent a minor procedure to correct his heart rhythm.

Bochy is expected to return to the team Friday at Colorado.

The Royals had several chances to end the game earlier, leaving the bases loaded in the eighth, two aboard in the ninth and two more on base when Eric Hosmer grounded into a double play in the 10th.

San Francisco also left two runners aboard in the 10th when Buster Posey, fresh off the seven-day concussion list, struck out. Posey already had three hits on the night.

The Giants’ Matt Cain and the Royals’ Jason Hammel waged a nip-and-tuck duel of starters, each taking advantage of double plays and nifty defense to escape sticky situations.

Cain left two aboard in the first, and also stranded runners in the second and fourth, before he threw a mistake that Whit Merrifield deposited into the right-field seats. Cain walked the next batter, but set down the next seven to leave after seven innings with the game knotted at 1.

Hammel was perfect through four before getting into trouble in the fifth, then allowing Hunter Pence’s run-scoring single in the sixth. He got through that inning and allowed the first two batters to reach in the seventh, but relievers Peter Moylan and Travis Wood bailed him out of that fix.

BOCHY RECOVERING

Bochy said in a text message to The Associated Press that he was doing well following the procedure in San Diego. Bochy also underwent a heart procedure in February 2015 and was hospitalized last summer with an undisclosed illness. Bench coach Ron Wotus filled in for him in Kansas City.

POSEY RETURNS

Posey was experiencing concussion-like symptoms after he took a 94 mph fastball off the helmet from Arizona’s Taijuan Walker last week. The Giants cleared space on the roster for him by designating backup catcher Tim Federowicz for assignment shortly after batting practice.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals OF Jorge Soler (left oblique strain) felt some tightness on Saturday and his rehab work was shut down for a couple days. He resumed swinging before Tuesday night’s game.

UP NEXT

Giants LHP Madison Bumgarner makes his first start at the K since Game 7 of the 2014 World Series, where he memorably pitched in relief to help San Francisco close out the series.

Royals LHP Jason Vargas tries to continue his hot start. He is 2-0 with a 0.66 ERA in his first two outings, and tossed 7 2/3 scoreless innings against Oakland his last time out.

— Associated Press —