CLEVELAND (AP) — Carlos Carrasco’s first pitch couldn’t have gone any worse, but he quickly took control Monday night.

Carrasco overcame Alex Gordon’s home run to throw six strong innings, and the Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals 8-3.

Lonnie Chisenhall drove in three runs for the Indians, who trail Texas by 4 1/2 games for the AL’s second wild-card spot. Cleveland, which has won 13 of 18, also got back to the .500 mark (71-71).

Carrasco (13-10) had a simple strategy after Gordon’s drive landed deep in the seats in right field, the only run he allowed:

“Right away, I was thinking those guys were going to be aggressive,” he said. “It made me feel more aggressive, so I went after them harder.”

“The first pitch of the game, you’re already like, `Here we go,” manager Terry Francona said. “But once he established and got into the game, and fortunately did it right after that, he started throwing one of the better breaking balls he’s had.”

The right-hander struck out nine in his second start since coming off the disabled list with a sore right shoulder.

Carrasco got some quick help when Jason Kipnis led off the Indians’ first with a home run.

“It’s always better to play with the game tied,” Francona said. “Three hours later, it may not make that big a difference. It’s just a better feeling.”

Giovanny Urshela hit a solo homer in the fourth for Cleveland.

Edinson Volquez (13-8) allowed four runs in five innings for Kansas City, which has lost eight of 10, while Gordon was 4 for 5.

“I thought he was OK,” Royals manager Ned Yost said of Volquez. “Tonight was just one of those nights. He couldn’t keep it going.”

Carrasco ran into trouble after striking out Alcides Escobar and Gordon in the sixth. Ben Zobrist walked, Lorenzo Cain singled and Eric Hosmer walked to load the bases.

Rookie shortstop Francisco Lindor backhanded Kendrys Morales’ sharp ground ball and threw to first, ending the inning.

“For the last few hitters I was feeling a little tired,” Carrasco said. “I was glad we got the ground ball.”

Run-scoring infield hits by Gordon and Ben Zobrist with two out in the seventh cut the lead to 4-3, but Bryan Shaw retired Lorenzo Cain on a fly ball to center.

Chisenhall’s RBI double gave Cleveland a 2-1 lead in the third. He added a sacrifice fly in the fifth and an RBI single in the seventh. Yan Gomes added a two-run double in the seventh, and Lindor had an RBI triple in the eighth.

ANOTHER FAN HIT

The game was delayed briefly in the seventh inning when a woman seated several rows behind the Indians’ dugout on the third-base side was struck by a ball hit by Lindor. Medical personnel and ushers quickly tended to the woman, who walked under her own power to a first aid station in the ballpark, where she received medical treatment. Several fans have been struck by baseballs and bats around the majors this season.

GRAND TOUR

Ray Mabus, the United States Secretary of the Navy, threw out the first pitch, completing the feat of doing so at all 30 ballparks in the majors.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: RHP Louis Coleman is listed as day to day after the back of his shoulder tightened up Sunday at Baltimore.

Indians: Francona said RHP Corey Kluber (strained right hamstring) will probably pitch Thursday against Kansas City. The reigning AL Cy Young winner threw a bullpen session Monday and will do fielding drills Tuesday. Kluber hasn’t pitched since Aug. 29.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Kris Medlen owns an 8-2 record and 2.21 ERA in 23 career appearances in the month of September.

Indians: RHP Josh Tomlin seeks to extend his five-game winning streak. He is 5-1 with a 2.85 ERA on the season.

— Associaed Press —

BALTIMORE (AP) — Chris Davis hit his league-leading 42nd home run, Jonathan Schoop added a pair of solo shots and the Baltimore Orioles took the three-game series against the Kansas City Royals with an 8-2 victory Sunday night.

The Orioles have won four of their past five as they try to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Royals lost seven of nine and dropped their third straight series for the first time this season.

Orioles left-hander Wei-Yin Chen (9-7) kept the Royals off-balance with his slider and changeup. He allowed two runs on six hits with two strikeouts over seven innings.

Schoop had three hits and has 14 home runs on the season. Adam Jones had two hits, including his 27th homer, with four RBI.

Royals right-hander Johnny Cueto (2-6) lost his fifth straight start. He allowed a season-high eight runs on 11 hits with three strikeouts and one walk over 6 1/3 innings. He tied a career-high by allowing four homers and has given up 28 runs over his past 26 1/3 innings.

Cueto’s struggles began in the first when Manny Machado walked and Chris Davis singled before Jones delivered a towering 450-foot shot to center. The Royals pulled to within 3-2 in the second when Salvador Perez and Alex Rios hit a pair of two-out doubles followed by a single by Alcides Escobar.

Schoop responded by delivering solo homers in the second and fourth innings to boost Baltimore’s margin to 5-2. Cueto has given up three home runs in a game twice this season-both times against the Orioles.

Davis added the fourth homer against Cueto with another solo shot in the sixth and Baltimore led 6-2. Meanwhile, Chen retired 10 in a row before allowing a double to Perez in the seventh.

The Orioles added a seventh run that inning on a fielder’s choice by Machado that ended Cueto’s night. Louis Coleman entered and allowed an RBI-single to Jones.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: Right-hander Louis Coleman left with two outs in the eighth with an undisclosed injury.

Orioles: C Matt Wieters was behind the plate for the second straight night after missing the previous two games with a sore left wrist. It was just the third time this season Wieters caught back-to-back games.

ON DECK

Royals: Edinson Volquez opens the four-game series Monday at Cleveland looking to extend his team-leading 13 wins. The right-hander also has a 3.49 ERA with 130 strikeouts over 29 starts.

Orioles: Right-hander Kevin Gausman faces Boston’s Eduardo Rodriguez in the series opener between the AL East foes. Gausman is looking for his first victory since Aug. 1.

— Associated Press —

BALTIMORE (AP) — The Kansas City Royals kept getting on base in front of Mike Moustakas, and he repeatedly brought them home.

And that, quite simply, is how Moustakas amassed a franchise-record nine RBIs in a 14-6 rout of the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.

“It’s pretty special,” Moustakas said. “I was just able to get good pitches, and I didn’t miss them today.”

Moustakas hit a two-run single in the sixth inning, his second career grand slam in the seventh and, capping the unprecedented performance, a three-run homer in the ninth.

The previous team record for RBIs in a game was seven, by Billy Butler against Philadelphia on April 7, 2013.

“The guys got on base today, gave me opportunities to drive in some runs,” Moustakas said. “I was able to capitalize on that.”

The start was delayed by rain for 3 hours, 2 minutes, and the game lasted 3:40. By the time it was over, it was difficult for Royals manager Ned Yost to recall all that Moustakas accomplished.

“He sure had a great one today,” Yost said. “A grand slam, a three-run homer. I don’t know what else he did, that game was so doggone long. He had nine RBI? A four-hour game, I forgot about all of that.”

Salvador Perez had two hits and three RBIs for the American League Central-leading Royals, who won for only the second time in eight games.

“It was a big win. You can’t lose six out of seven like we had,” Yost said. “The good thing about it is their disposition, their focus, their intensity hasn’t changed through this.”

Yordano Ventura (11-8) allowed four runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings for Kansas City. The right-hander is 7-1 in his last 10 starts, including a pair of wins over Baltimore.

Adam Jones and Nolan Reimold homered for the Orioles, whose modest three-game winning streak ended. Baltimore has 21 games left to close a significant gap in the hunt for the second AL wild card.

Baltimore was betrayed by a bullpen that yielded 10 runs and 10 hits over the final 3 1/3 innings. The relievers weren’t sharp on Friday night either, when the Orioles rallied to win 14-8.

“We didn’t pitch well out of the pen, obviously,” manager Buck Showalter said. “A couple of games, I’m being nice when I say they weren’t crisp. Both of them.”

Kansas City trailed 4-1 before batting around in a five-run sixth against three pitchers. After Eric Hosmer chased starter Chris Tillman with a run-scoring single, Moustakas drove in a pair of runs with a single off Brian Matusz (1-4). Perez greeted Chaz Roe with an opposite-field, two-run single to right.

The Royals pulled away with a five-run seventh. The big blow was delivered by Moustakas, who drove an 0-2 pitch over the right-field wall after an intentional walk to Kendrys Morales filled the bases.

After Reimold got Baltimore to 11-6 with a two-run drive in the eighth, Moustakas connected off Steve Johnson in the ninth.

It was the fourth career multihomer game for Moustakas, who turned 27 on Friday night.

“What did he have, seven RBI? Nine?” Baltimore’s J.J. Hardy said. “That’s a pretty good month — or week. What did we score? Not enough.”

Baltimore used a sacrifice fly by Gerardo Parra and a three-run shot by Jones to build a 4-1 lead after three innings.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: Reliever Wade Davis returned to action after being rested with shoulder soreness.

Orioles: C Matt Wieters was back in the starting lineup after missing three games with a sore left wrist. … The Orioles hope RHP Miguel Gonzalez (right shoulder tendinitis) can come off the disabled list before the season ends. “Best scenario, he gets some starts,” Showalter said. “It would certainly help his frame of mind.”

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Johnny Cueto attempts to snap a four-game losing streak in the series finale Sunday night. He is 2-5 with a 4.86 ERA in eight starts with Kansas City.

Orioles: Wei-Yin Chen beat the Royals on Aug. 26 and tries for an encore. The Taiwanese left-hander is 4-1 in his last nine starts.

— Associated Press —

BALTIMORE (AP) — The Baltimore Orioles earned a piece of history by becoming the seventh team in the modern era to hit two grand slams in the same inning.

Between those two home runs, Chris Davis got plunked with a pitch. And that is why Orioles manager Buck Showalter had to watch the second home run on television.

Nolan Reimold and Steve Clevenger both hit slams during a 10-run eighth, giving Baltimore a 14-8 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.

Since the start of the 20th century, six teams have hit grand slams in the same inning. The Orioles are the only ones to do it twice — they also pulled it off in 1986 — and no team had done it since the New York Mets in 2006, STATS said.

“Yeah, it was crazy,” Reimold said.

Baltimore trailed 6-4 in the eighth before a double, an error and an infield hit loaded the bases for Reimold, who lined a 2-0 pitch from Kelvin Herrera (4-3) high off the left-field foul pole.

Manny Machado followed with a solo shot off Franklin Morales. After Adam Jones singled, Morales hit Davis in the back with a pitch. Davis slammed down his bat, breaking it in two, as Showalter sprinted out of the dugout.

No one else emerged from either dugout during the potentially volatile situation, although Davis glared at Morales while taking his base.

“We hit a grand slam, another home run, a couple rockets,” Davis said. “It just didn’t look right, regardless of whether it was on purpose or not.”

Showalter thought it was, and was ejected for arguing that point.

Thus, he missed what happened next: Morales lasted one more batter before being replaced by Joba Chamberlain, who yielded Clevenger’s slam. Clevenger entered the game earlier in the inning as a pinch hitter.

Royals manager Ned Yost insisted that Morales was not throwing at Davis.

“You’re going to react like that because it does hurt,” Yost said. “But that pitch wasn’t on purpose. There was a lot of hullabaloo after that. But it wasn’t on purpose.”

Baltimore improved to 3-62 when trailing after seven innings. Kansas City is now 63-3 when leading after seven.

Lorenzo Cain hit two solo homers and Alex Rios also connected with the bases empty for the Royals, who have lost eight of 11.

“You go through stretches like this,” Cain said. “We can’t let it worry us. We understand we’re a good ballclub. We’ve just got to find a way to bounce back.”

The Orioles’ three-game winning streak comes on the heels of a stretch in which they lost 15 of 18.

Mychal Givens (2-0) got the win despite giving up two runs in the ninth. Fellow rookie Dariel Alvarez hit his first big league homer for Baltimore.

It was the Royals’ first visit to Baltimore since last October, when they opened the AL Championship Series with two straight wins at Camden Yards and completed the four-game sweep at home.

While first-place Kansas City appears poised for a return trip to the postseason, the defending AL East champion Orioles started play Friday trailing six teams for the league’s final wild-card spot. Baltimore must win 13 of its last 22 games just to finish .500.

The Royals’ early 3-0 lead dwindled to 4-3 before Rios led off the seventh with a drive off Brad Brach — his first home run since July 17. Davis countered in the bottom half with a run-scoring single to increase his RBI total to 105.

Salvador Perez restored the two-run cushion with an RBI single in the eighth, setting the stage for Baltimore’s grand comeback.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: Reliever Wade Davis was unavailable because of shoulder stiffness.

Orioles: Jones returned to the Baltimore lineup after missing two games with a sore right shoulder. He struck out three times. … Catcher Matt Wieters remained sidelined with a sore left wrist but hopes to return Saturday.

UP NEXT

Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura (10-8, 4.34 ERA) and RHP Johnny Cueto traded places in the rotation. Ventura will start Saturday afternoon and Cueto under the lights Sunday because he prefers to pitch at night, manager Ned Yost said.

Orioles: Chris Tillman (9-11, 5.15) owns a lifetime ERA of 6.17 against the Royals. The right-hander gave up four runs over six innings in a loss to the Royals on Aug. 27.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The longer Miguel Sano stayed in the batter’s box, the more confident Twins manager Paul Molitor felt that his big pinch-hitter would come through in the 12th inning Wednesday night.

Sano delivered with a two-out homer over the bullpen in left field, boosting Minnesota to a 3-2 victory over the AL Central-leading Kansas City Royals and a series win in their three-game set.

“Sano had a really good at-bat,” Molitor said. “He did what he can do, put a run up quickly.”

Sano was stuck in an 0-for-14 slump that included 11 strikeouts when he stepped to the plate against Franklin Morales (3-2), the Royals’ sixth reliever of the night. After he appeared to take strike three on a pitch plate umpire Greg Gibson called a ball, the big rookie took a mighty swing and sent his 16th homer of the year over just about everything in left field.

“(The umpire) missed it. The pitch was right there,” Morales said. “I tried to come back with the same pitch again. And I missed for my part and he got a homer.”

Blaine Boyer (3-4) pitched 1 2/3 innings of relief for Minnesota. Kevin Jepsen got three outs for his 12th save while Glen Perkins sat out again with a back injury.

Perkins received a second cortisone shot Wednesday and was still unavailable.

Kansas City had a chance to win in the 10th when pinch-runner Jarrod Dyson stole second and third, and Lorenzo Cain chopped a grounder back to the pitcher. Brian Duensing alertly threw home and the throw carried Kurt Suzuki into Dyson, who claimed the catcher was blocking the plate.

Royals manager Ned Yost also argued, and Gibson and crew chief Jim Joyce went to the headset for a review. The call was confirmed and Dyson was out.

Meanwhile, Suzuki was shaken up in the collision. He left with a bruised left knee.

“The doctor’s report is fairly optimistic,” Molitor said. “We’re hoping the initial diagnosis is accurate and there’s no ligament damage in there.”

Suzuki homered earlier in the game and Joe Mauer also drove in a run for the Twins, who had dropped four of six after a hot streak vaulted them into wild-card contention.

Ben Zobrist homered for the Royals. Cain drove in their other run with a sacrifice fly.

The late-inning theatrics transpired after Twins starter Mike Pelfrey and Royals counterpart Kris Medlen waged an entertaining pitchers’ duel through the first five innings.

Medlen retired the first 11 batters he faced and did not allow a hit until Suzuki went deep leading off the sixth. Medlen wound up allowing two more hits in the inning, including an RBI single by Mauer, and exited with the Royals in a 2-0 hole.

It was still a solid outing by Medlen, battered by the White Sox in his previous start.

“I thought he threw the ball great,” Yost said. “He was very efficient with all his stuff.”

Pelfrey got a double play in the second and another with Cain on third to end the fourth. The right-hander didn’t allow a run until the sixth, when Zobrist went deep with one out, and then was pulled after allowing a single to Alex Gordon and hitting Cain in the back with a pitch.

Neal Cotts got Eric Hosmer and Kendrys Morales to fly out, ending the threat in a game that was only just beginning.

“We went 12 innings for it,” Pelfrey said. “Our bullpen came in and did a great job, and we scored enough at the end.”

RECORD ATTENDANCE

The Royals set a franchise record for single-season attendance with 2,506,913 fans, and they still have six home dates to go. The previous record of 2,477,700 was set in 1989.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: RHP Phil Hughes (back inflammation) threw 45 pitches during a simulated game, then fielded bunts and did pitcher’s fielding practice. “He came out of it fine,” Molitor said. “Now it’s just a matter of seeing what the next step will be.”

Royals: Gordon has been swinging a hot bat since his return from the DL following a groin injury, though Yost said he will continue to replace Gordon on defense late in games.

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Ervin Santana pitches against the White Sox in Chicago on Friday night.

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy opens a series in Baltimore on Friday night.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After watching the Royals lose four straight, Edinson Volquez was so focused on helping them out of their funk that the starting pitcher forgot something rather important.

“Tickets for my wife,” he said with a grin.

Good thing he remembered while warming in the bullpen. She got to watch Volquez bounce back from a lousy start to go seven sharp innings in a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.

Eric Hosmer hit a three-run double and Kendrys Morales added an RBI double in the first inning, and that was all Volquez (13-7) and the Kansas City bullpen needed. Wade Davis pitched a perfect eighth inning and Greg Holland tossed a flawless ninth for his 30th save.

The only runs Volquez allowed were consecutive RBI hits by Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer.

“I thought he was great,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “His last start he was out of whack, all over the place. He was much more mechanically sound tonight.”

Kyle Gibson (9-10) recovered from a brutal start to last eight innings for his first career complete game, but the Twins’ offense was unable to bail him out. Gibson’s first six batters reached, and Hosmer and Morales staked Kansas City to an early 4-0 lead.

“You can lose it in the first, but you can’t win it in the first. Those are situations that kind of speed up on you,” Gibson said. “I’m trying not to get too emotionally up in what happened, just take it one batter at a time and move on.”

The streaking Twins, who began the day just 1 1/2 games back of Texas for the final AL wild card, tried to mount a comeback after the Royals took their early lead.

Byron Buxton singled with one out in the third, later scoring on Dozier’s base hit, and Mauer followed with an RBI double to make it 4-2. But using some veteran guile, Volquez managed to get Trevor Plouffe to ground out and preserve his lead.

Plouffe also grounded into inning-ending double plays in the first and sixth, as the Twins failed to get a runner to second base the rest of the night.

Kansas City was suddenly having a similarly difficult time against Gibson, who allowed only two hits after his disastrous first inning. Both of them were to Alex Gordon, a two-out double in the second and a single in the fifth.

“I think that’s the first time I’ve been attacked like that,” Gibson said of the first inning. “Most teams come out taking, seeing if my sinker is going to stay in the zone.”

Gibson allowed six hits and walked two while throwing 101 pitches.

“This guy has arguably one of the best two-seamers in the league, and it wasn’t there in the first inning,” Yost said. “It was there in the second inning through the eighth.”

HOLIDAY SPIRIT

Royals pitcher Danny Duffy chose the postgame music in their clubhouse. First up was Frank Sinatra crooning, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” which got a thumbs down from Volquez — “This is bad,” he said. Jose Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad” got better reviews.

STATS AND STREAKS

The attendance was 31,384, which means the Royals need just 3,074 fans to break the franchise’s single-season record Wednesday night. They still have six home dates after that. … Hosmer has a career-best 81 RBI. His previous high was 79 in 2013. … Gordon is 9 for 18 since returning from the disabled list. He had been out with a groin injury.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: LHP Glen Perkins (back) is considering a second injection after seeing a spinal specialist in the Twin Cities, manager Paul Molitor said. He last pitched Sept. 1. … RHP Phil Hughes (back) will throw a 45-pitch simulated game Wednesday.

Royals: Yost bristled when asked whether RHP Johnny Cueto was healthy after another poor start. “How many times am I going to answer this?” Yost asked. “He’s absolutely fine. … I’m not worried about Johnny. He’s completely healthy.”

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Mike Pelfrey gave up seven runs in four innings his last start at Houston.

Royals: RHP Kris Medlen gave up seven runs in 5 2/3 innings his last start vs the White Sox.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Tommy Milone pitched so poorly in April that the Minnesota Twins sent him to the minors in May.

Milone is pitching confidently in September, helping keep the Twins in the playoff hunt.

Milone pitched seven effective innings and Eduardo Escobar reached base four times and drove in three runs as the Twins beat the struggling Kansas City Royals 6-2 on Monday night.

“You like the fact he’s an experienced guy,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “He trusts in what he does. He hasn’t been that way the whole year. We talked about it earlier in the year of getting back to being more aggressive. I think he’s tried to keep that philosophy.”

Milone (8-4) held the Royals to six hits and two runs, while striking out four and walking one. He is 2-0, allowing two runs and nine hits in two September starts.

“A lot of it is pitching games in September that are meaningful ones,” Milone said. “It kind of motivates me to go out there and pitch well. It’s a lot more fun.”

The Twins are 1 1/2 games behind Texas for the AL’s second wild card.

The Royals have been outscored 31-9 in dropping four straight, matching their longest losing streak of the season.

“We haven’t played up to our standard,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “I think our starting pitching hasn’t been exceptionally sharp through this run, and offensively, we’ve faced some tough pitching.

“Milone tonight did a great job. He was consistently strike one on everybody, he was commanding the low outside part of the plate and the up and inside part of the plate for strikes, really good changeups, and mixed in good curveballs.”

Escobar contributed an RBI-single in a three-run sixth and drove in two runs with a two-out single in the seventh off Joba Chamberlain, who was making his Royals’ debut.

Yordano Ventura (10-8), who was 4-0 with a 1.13 ERA in his five previous starts, yielded four runs, eight hits, five walks and two wild pitches in 5 1/3 innings, striking out eight.

“I wasn’t getting ahead of hitters, and this is the big leagues; if you don’t get ahead of hitters, you’re going to struggle,” Ventura said with coach Pedro Grifol acting as his interpreter.

Aaron Hicks hit Ventura’s third pitch for his second career leadoff homer.

The Twins broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth when Torii Hunter, Kurt Suzuki and Escobar opened with singles and all scored.

Suzuki scored on the first of two wild pitches by Ventura in the inning. Joe Mauer’s sacrifice fly brought home Escobar.

Kendrys Morales’ ground out in the first scored Lorenzo Cain and hiked his RBI total to 100, becoming the 28th player in Royals’ history to reach that milestone.

Salvador Perez’s sacrifice fly scored Morales in the seventh for the other run off Milone. Mike Moustakas was out at home to end the inning, attempting to score on Paulo Orlando’s double.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: LHP Glenn Perkins (back spasms) was not with the club. … RHP Phil Hughes (lower back inflammation) will throw his second simulated game Wednesday.

Royals: RF Alex Rios and Herrera were in uniform after being out nine days with the chicken pox.

STRIKEOUTS CONTINUE

Twins rookie DH Miguel Sano struck out twice in three at-bats and has struck out in 11 of his past 13 at-bats. He did draw two walks.

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Kyle Gibson, who went to the University of Missouri, starts the middle game of this series.

Royals: RHP Edinson Volquez lasted just three innings, matching the shortest outing of his career, in his previous start, allowing six runs and eight hits to the Tigers.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — It is probably too late for the Chicago White Sox, but they are back on a hot streak.

Adam Eaton homered and scored three times, and the White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 7-5 on Sunday for their fourth straight win.

“Yeah, it’s good to win in general, but Kansas City’s a high-quality baseball team,” Eaton said. “It’s good to take three from a very, very good team.”

The White Sox had lost their first six games at Kauffman Stadium before sweeping the Royals.

“It shows kind of our inconsistency this year,” Eaton said. “This last month of the season, we’ve got to empty whatever’s left in the tank and I hope this three-game series can kind of foresee what we can do for the rest of the month.”

David Robertson worked a flawless ninth to log his 29th save and has retired 25 straight batters.

“We’re the streakiest team I’ve ever been on in my life,” Robertson said. “We go from winning five or six to losing five or six. I don’t know why we do that. It just seems to happen. Hopefully we can continue to win. There’s still a chance for us to sneak in there.”

Eaton collected three more hits and is batting .517 (15 for 29) in his last seven games.

Erik Johnson (1-0) pitched six innings of three-run ball in his first major league appearance of the season, allowing three solo homers.

“Since he’s been back, even from spring training, we’re seeing a confident guy, even from the solos,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “When you have a lead you can get away with some solo homers. You’d rather do that than sit there and walk everybody. I thought he was fantastic.”

The AL-leading Royals were swept at home for the first time this season. Johnny Cueto (2-5) was pulled after three innings in his fourth straight loss.

Kansas City pulled within one with two runs in the seventh. But Eaton doubled and scored on Jose Abreu’s sacrifice fly in the ninth, and David Robertson got three outs for his 29th save.

Johnson, who was the International League most valuable pitcher after going 11-8 with a 2.37 ERA with Triple-A Charlotte, allowed five hits, including homers to Salvador Perez, Jarrod Dyson and Mike Moustakas.

Cueto, who was acquired in a July 26 trade with Cincinnati, was charged with five runs and seven hits. It was his shortest outing since June 28, 2013, when he left after one inning at Texas and went on the disabled list the next day.

Cueto is 0-4 with a 9.45 ERA during his losing streak, yielding 21 earned runs and 37 hits in 20 innings.

“I’m not frustrated at all, but I’m a little bit disappointed I haven’t been able to help the team the way I was supposed to help this club,” Cueto said with coach Pedro Grifol acting as his interpreter.

The White Sox scored three runs before making an out. Jose Abreu singled in Eaton, and Avisail Garcia drove in two runs with a base hit.

Chicago tacked on two more runs in the third on Adam LaRoche’s RBI single and Rob Brantly’s sacrifice fly.

Eaton added his 12th homer with one out in the sixth. The speedy leadoff hitter had six career homers in 211 games coming into the year.

Perez’s second-inning homer was his team-leading 19th. Dyson and Moustakas went deep in the sixth.

TRAINER’S ROOM

White Sox: Eaton is dealing with shoulder discomfort. “He’s had something nagging him here and there, but it’s nothing to keep him out of the lineup,” Ventura said. He acknowledged trainer Herm Schneider is doing some “maintenance” work on Eaton.

Royals: RHP Ryan Madson (arm fatigue) pitched for the first time since Aug. 22 and gave up a run in the ninth. … Moustakas (hamstring pull) started for the first time since Aug. 30.

UP NEXT

White Sox: LHP Chris Sale (12-7, 3.29 ERA) gets the ball on Monday afternoon in the opener of a three-game series at home against Cleveland. He has struck out 10 or more in 13 starts, the most in a single season since Randy Johnson recorded 13 such starts in 2004.

Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura (10-7, 4.24 ERA) starts Monday in the opener of a three-game series against Minnesota. Ventura is 4-0 with a 1.13 ERA in his last five starts.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — John Danks loves it in Kansas City.

The Royals might prefer the city barred the White Sox left-hander from future visits.

Danks continued his mastery over the Royals with a complete game and Adam Eaton matched his career high with four hits, including a three-run homer, as the Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 12-1 Friday night.

Alexei Ramirez also had four hits — tying his career high — drove in two runs and scored three times. Tyler Flowers also hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning.

Eaton went back-to-back with Jose Abreu, his 25th, in a five-run eighth off Jeremy Guthrie.

Danks (7-12), who snapped a personal four-game losing streak, owns a 10-2 record in 21 career starts against the Royals. Three of his seven victories this season are over the AL Central-leading Royals, and he has a 2.14 ERA career at Kauffman Stadium.

“I’ve always enjoyed coming here in general,” Danks said. “This is one of my favorite cities to come to in the course of the summer. I’ve spent a lot of time in this ballpark.”

The Royals managed just seven hits off Danks after scoring 27 runs and notching 34 hits in crushing Detroit the previous two games.

Royals manager Ned Yost has no explanation for why Danks, who has a career record 18 games below .500, dominates the Royals.

“If you figure it out, let me know, because I have not figured it out,” Yost said. “I mean seriously I haven’t. Certain players have certain teams that they do really well against. It’s like certain players have certain pitchers that they do well against and other guys that they don’t and there’s just no explanation for it. I don’t know.”

The White Sox scored three runs in the first off Kris Medlen (3-1), with Ramirez contributing a two-run single. Avisail Garcia singled home Jose Abreu with the first run of the inning.

Medlen, who had allowed just six runs and nine hits over 11 1/3 innings in his first two starts, was roughed up for seven runs on 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings.

The Royals avoided a shutout when Kendrys Morales’ sacrifice fly in the ninth scored Alcides Escobar.

NUMBERS AND STATS

The White Sox won their first game at Kauffman Stadium after dropping the first six. … Ramirez’s four-hit game was the 14th of his career, while Eaton accomplished it eight times. … Royals CF Lorenzo Cain went 0 for 3, snapping his season-high 11-game hitting streak. … Danks threw a season-high 121 pitches, two shy of career high.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: 3B Mike Moustakas (hamstring strain) was out of the lineup for the fourth consecutive game. … RHP Kelvin Herrera and OF Alex Rios worked out in the morning at Kauffman Stadium for the first time since contracting chickenpox. They left before the rest of the team arrived.

UP NEXT

White Sox: LHP Jose Quintana has a 5.63 ERA in four no-decisions against the Royals this season.

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy is 5-2 with a 3.08 ERA in his past 11 starts after going 2-4 with a 5.44 ERA in his first 10 starts.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals skipped their normal batting practice before Thursday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers, a prudent move considering how hot they have been at the plate lately.

They wound up getting plenty of swings in during the game anyway.

Lorenzo Cain hit a three-run homer, Paulo Orlando added a two-run shot and Kendrys Morales drove in four as Kansas City routed Detroit 15-7 to wrap up another series win.

Ben Zobrist drove in two runs for the Royals, whose 15 runs and 20 hits were their most since piling up 21 hits in a 16-8 victory at Colorado on July 3, 2011.

“It was definitely a long game,” Cain said, “but we’ll take that kind of win.”

Chris Young (10-6) got the victory with two scoreless innings in relief of Edinson Volquez, who yielded six runs, eight hits and a walk in three innings — but still put on a smile.

“It’s just part of the game,” he said. “Just a bad day.”

Not as bad as Matt Boyd’s day. The Tigers starter was hammered for six runs before getting the hook four batters into the second inning. The last batter he faced was Cain, whose skyscraping homer barely cleared the wall in left field on its descent for his second in as many nights.

“I just couldn’t throw stuff where I wanted to,” Boyd said.

Reliever Kyle Ryan (1-3) was tagged with the loss as Detroit pitchers allowed 61 runs during a 1-5 trip through Toronto and Kansas City, two teams in the thick of the playoff hunt.

“You better learn from it,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. “You better try to get better `cause if it gets any worse, I don’t know what we’ll do. This was a very tough road trip for the pitching staff. We do have some young guys, but we’ve got to work to get them better.”

Nick Castellanos drove in three runs for the Tigers while James McCann drove in two.

After dropping the series opener, the Royals managed 34 hits and 27 runs in taking the next two games. That allowed the AL Central leaders to extend their unbeaten streak to eight series.

Perhaps coincidentally, their offense came alive in the two games that Jonny Gomes started after his arrival in a trade from Atlanta. Gomes had an RBI double on Wednesday night and two hits on Thursday night, including another run-scoring double.

All told, the teams combined for 34 hits while leaving 18 on base in a game that lasted 3 hours, 58 minutes. The first inning alone included 76 pitches — 38 each side — along with seven hits, five runs and two visits from pitching coaches during a 46-minute marathon.

Detroit scored three times in the first, including Anthony Gose’s leadoff homer, only for Kansas City to answer with two runs in the bottom half. The Royals scored four in the second, and the Tigers knotted the game 6-all by stringing together a series of hits in the third.

Both starting pitchers had been discarded by that point, and it came down to which team had the better bullpen. The Tigers kept faltering while Kansas City buckled down.

“They came in above the call of duty to get us through,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

ROSTER MOVES

The Tigers optioned RHP Guido Guido Knudson to Triple-A Toledo and recalled LHP Jeff Ferrell and INF Dixon Machado after the game. Machado will replace SS Jose Iglesias for a few days after Iglesias fouled a pitch off his finger while attempting to bunt Thursday night.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Tigers: RHP Anibal Sanchez (rotator cuff strain) reported no problems throwing from 90 feet before the game. He will try from 120 feet on Friday. “Baby steps,” Sanchez said.

Royals: The Royals have had no more cases of chickenpox after RHP Kelvin Herrera and RF Alex Rios were diagnosed last weekend, Yost said. Both are doing better.

UP NEXT

Tigers: LHP Kyle Lobstein makes his first start since late May in the opener of a three-game set against Cleveland. He had been out with a sore left shoulder.

Royals: RHP Kris Medlen continues his quest for a spot in Kansas City’s postseason rotation in the opener of a three-game series against the White Sox.

— Associated Press —