KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Brad Miller stepped to the plate against one of baseball’s best closers in the ninth inning of a tied game, a sellout crowd rooting for him to fail.

Miller silenced them all with one swing of the bat.

The Seattle shortstop pounded a pitch from the Royals’ Greg Holland just inside the right-field foul pole, his homer breaking a 5-all tie and helping the Mariners to a 7-5 victory Friday night.

“That was honestly one of the best baseball games I’ve been a part of,” Miller said with a grin. “They’re one of the hottest teams in baseball and I was pumped.”

Logan Morrison drove in another run later in the ninth to provide some breathing room.

“What a swing by Miller. Oh my goodness,” he said. “He crushed it.”

Charlie Furbush (1-4) inherited a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the eighth, but the Mariners reliever calmly retired Mike Moustakas on a lazy popup to shallow right field. Furbush then struck out Alcides Escobar to silence a crowd of 38,475 and keep the game tied.

After Holland (0-2) coughed up the lead, Fernando Rodney allowed two singles in the ninth for Seattle. But the veteran closer bounced back to retire pinch-hitter Nori Aoki on a groundout, and then he struck out Alex Gordon on three pitches to earn his 19th save.

“They are big league baseball players. Big league ballplayers don’t miss mistakes too often,” Holland said. “I got up on (Miller) two strikes and didn’t get the slider where I wanted. I made a mistake. Sometimes you pay for them and I did tonight.”

Morrison added a two-run homer for Seattle, which overcame a subpar start from Hisashi Iwakuma to end the Royals’ five-game winning streak at Kauffman Stadium. Mike Zunino added a solo shot and Robinson Cano drove in two runs, extending his hitting streak to 21 games.

Moustakas hit a two-run shot to lead the Royals, who have dropped two in a row after winning 10 straight. Salvador Perez homered and drove in two runs for Kansas City.

“Listen, we ran into a buzz saw. These guys are hot and everything is going for them,” Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. “When you run into teams like that you have to play extremely well.”

Iwakuma went eight shutout innings in each of his two starts against Kansas City this season, and the right-hander was headed that way again with four scoreless frames to start the game. Along the way, Iwakuma struck out the side in the first inning on just 12 pitches.

Meanwhile, his offense was staking him to a 5-0 lead.

Cano, who has dominated James Shields throughout his career, drove in a run off him in the first inning and another during a three-run fifth that was capped by Morrison’s homer. Zunino’s solo shot came in the fourth inning, a no-doubt rocket over the bullpen in left.

The Royals finally broke through when Perez homered on a meaty 0-2 pitch in the fifth.

They didn’t stop there, either. Lorenzo Cain followed with a double, and Moustakas belted his eighth homer of the season over the wall in right to trim the Royals’ deficit to 5-3.

Iwakuma escaped the inning, but he quickly ran into more trouble in the sixth. Consecutive singles by Billy Butler and Gordon knocked him from the game, and reliever Dominic Leone gave up the lead when Perez hit an RBI single and Moustakas an RBI groundout to make it 5-all.

Iwakuma allowed nine hits and a walk in five-plus innings. It was his shortest start since July 9, 2013, when he allowed six runs and eight hits in three innings against the Red Sox.

Shields went seven innings and still has not lost since May 2, a span of nine starts.

“It was a great to see the crowd come out, obviously a sellout. We love it when the fans come out,” Shields said of the rare packed house. “We didn’t get a win for them tonight, but hopefully they keep coming out and we’ll get some wins here.”

— Associated Press —

DETROIT (AP) — With his team in need of a victory and an anxious crowd waiting, Joe Nathan took the mound and struck out the last three hitters of the game.

Any win would have meant a lot to the Detroit Tigers, but Nathan’s performance made this one a little more encouraging.

“It was still a matter of just coming to work and trying to get better, trying to figure out what’s going on,” Nathan said. “We’ve been grinding.”

Nathan breezed through the ninth inning, and the Tigers ended Kansas City’s 10-game winning streak with a 2-1 victory over the Royals on Thursday. J.D. Martinez hit a tiebreaking homer in the fourth for the Tigers, who avoided a four-game sweep and pulled within a half-game of the AL Central-leading Royals.

Anibal Sanchez (4-2) allowed five hits and a walk in seven innings, keeping the Kansas City offense quiet even though he failed to strike out a batter. Joba Chamberlain pitched the eighth, and Nathan finished for his 14th save in 18 chances.

Nathan’s ERA is still an unsightly 6.31, but he’s been working with his pitching coach and catchers, and hopes some mechanical tweaking will help. He struck out Billy Butler to start the ninth — the Kansas City designated hitter argued the called third strike — and Salvador Perez then went down swinging. With the crowd on its feet, Nathan fanned Lorenzo Cain to end it.

“That looked like the Joe Nathan I’ve faced for years,” Butler said. “All those times with the Twins and then with Texas — the one with a few hundred saves and all those All-Star games. He’s had some tough moments in his career, but that looked like the same guy today.”

Detroit’s victory came a day after manager Brad Ausmus sarcastically told reporters that he beats his wife when his team isn’t playing well. Ausmus realized immediately his words were in poor taste and apologized, and he apologized again before and after Thursday’s game, saying Wednesday was his worst day since taking over the job before this season.

“I still feel awful about it,” Ausmus said. “There was nothing in my head that I wanted to hurt or offend anyone, and if I did, I still apologize. It was in poor judgment, and it won’t happen again.”

Butler gave the Royals a 1-0 lead with an RBI double in the first, but Miguel Cabrera drove in a run with a double of his own in the fourth. Cabrera was tagged out on a bizarre double play when right fielder Nori Aoki caught Victor Martinez’s flyball and threw back to the infield, where Cabrera was nonchalantly returning to second.

Shortstop Alcides Escobar caught the ball and made the tag. Cabrera was initially ruled safe, but the call was overturned on replay.

J.D. Martinez followed with a solo homer to right, his sixth of the year. He now has a nine-game hitting streak, with a .412 average in that span, and he hopes this win will end a stretch in which so much has gone badly for the Tigers. Detroit won for only the 10th time in its last 30 games.

“It’s funny, even talking to the umpires, they even chime in and say it. They’re like, `Dude, everything that’s going wrong just seems to be going wrong for you guys. You guys just got to grind through it,” Martinez said. “You see the breaks that we’ve been getting. We hit the ball hard, it gets caught. We hit it soft, it gets caught. We get on base, the ball goes to the backstop, comes back, gets thrown out, we’re out of an inning. It’s just kind of like, craziness.”

Sanchez went without a strikeout for the first time in his career, but his fielders helped him. Third baseman Nick Castellanos reached over the railing of the Detroit dugout to catch a foul popup in the sixth.

Danny Duffy (4-6) allowed two runs and three hits in seven innings for Kansas City. He walked one and struck out five.

The Royals were without outfielder Alex Gordon, who sat out because of flu-like symptoms. Detroit outfielder Torii Hunter (hamstring) did not play either.

— Associated Press —

DETROIT (AP) — Alex Gordon’s grounder up the middle looked like a routine out — until it hit second base and took a wacky bounce, allowing the game’s first run to score.

With breaks like that, it’s no wonder the Kansas City Royals have won 10 in a row.

Omar Infante added a solo homer and Jeremy Guthrie pitched impressively into the seventh inning, helping the Royals extend their longest winning streak in 20 years with a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday.

Kansas City has outpitched, outhit and outfielded the Tigers in taking the first three games of this series — so the Royals have no reason to apologize for a little luck along the way.

“Baseball’s a funny game — you’ve got to take full advantage of those,” Kansas City’s Eric Hosmer said. “We’re not complaining about it either.”

The AL Central-leading Royals have not won this many games in a row since a run of 14 in 1994. They extended their division lead over the Tigers to 1 1/2 games.

Guthrie (4-6) allowed four hits and struck out nine in 6 2/3 innings. Drew Smyly (3-6) nearly matched him, but the Detroit left-hander was victimized by Gordon’s fluky RBI single in the first inning and Infante’s homer in the fifth.

J.D. Martinez homered off Guthrie in the seventh, but the Kansas City bullpen got the last seven outs, with Greg Holland pitching the ninth for his 21st save in 22 chances.

Kansas City will try for a four-game sweep of the Tigers on Thursday. The Royals began the series by pounding star right-handers Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer, then Guthrie took the mound and breezed through the team that has won the last three division titles.

“This could be the best game he’s thrown all year,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. “He was fabulous. … We had to go back to our old way of doing things — pitching and defense.”

It was Guthrie’s second straight game with nine strikeouts — he also reached the mark June 13 against the Chicago White Sox. He had some help Wednesday from his fielders, as Gordon saved a run in the fourth with a diving catch in left-center.

“I’m not that fast, but I can turn it on when I want to,” the Kansas City left fielder said.

Fortune seemed to favor the Royals throughout the afternoon. With a runner on second in the first, Gordon’s two-out bouncer up the middle looked like a groundout to the shortstop, but it ricocheted off second base for a hit, allowing Hosmer to come home.

In the second, Detroit’s Victor Martinez dropped a nice bunt against a shifted defense, only to have the ball roll foul inches before reaching third base.

J.D. Martinez homered in the seventh, and Nick Castellanos nearly tied it later in the inning with a two-out drive to left that bounced off the fence for a double. Kelvin Herrera relieved Guthrie and retired Don Kelly on a lineout to center.

Wade Davis struck out the side in the eighth, and Holland made it through the ninth after allowing a leadoff single to Miguel Cabrera.

Smyly allowed two runs and seven hits in seven-plus innings. He struck out six without a walk.

The Tigers have lost 20 of 29 to fall out of first place. During his postgame news conference, Detroit manager Brad Ausmus replied sarcastically to a question about how his mood is when he heads home after these tough defeats.

“I beat my wife,” Ausmus said, clearly trying to joke. “I’m just kidding around. No, luckily my wife and kids are fantastic. I do get a little mopey at home, but my wife and kids are good.”

About a minute later, without being prompted, Ausmus said he was sorry.

“I didn’t want to make light of battered women,” the first-year manager said. “I didn’t mean to make light of that, so I apologize for that if that offended anyone.”

— Associated Press —

DETROIT (AP) — It’s been over a decade since the Kansas City Royals were in first place this late in the season, and try as he might, manager Ned Yost couldn’t totally downplay the achievement.

He just wants it kept in perspective.

“It’s nice. We’ve got a lot of games to play. We don’t get all geeked up,” Yost said. “It’s better than the alternative, trust me.”

Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas homered as part of a seven-run second inning, and the Royals displaced the Detroit Tigers atop the AL Central on Tuesday night with an 11-4 victory, their ninth in a row.

Kansas City is in first place this late in the season for the first time since 2003, according to STATS. The Royals were leading the division in late August that year, only to finish third at 83-79. They have not made the postseason since winning the World Series in 1985.

“A lot of games left, so it really doesn’t matter, but to say you’re in first place, it feels pretty good,” designated hitter Billy Butler said. “Being in first place any time is good — even if it’s after the first game.”

Gordon and Moustakas hit two-run shots off Max Scherzer, and Kansas City has won the first two games of this four-game series emphatically. The Royals, who trailed the Tigers by seven games after a May 20 loss, now lead Detroit by a half-game.

Scherzer (8-3) yielded a career high-tying 10 runs in four-plus innings. The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner allowed the first eight batters of the second inning to reach base, with Kansas City scoring six runs before making an out.

“I’m just not putting guys away with two strikes. That’s my problem,” Scherzer said. “I’ve taken punches on the chin before, and I’ve come back. I’m not worried about that. I just have to get back to where I’m putting guys away.”

Scherzer did strike out five in the game.

Yordano Ventura (5-5) allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings.

Ian Kinsler hit a solo homer for Detroit.

After winning 86 games in 2013, Kansas City is hoping to unseat the Tigers, who have won the last three division titles. Detroit looked headed for a fourth straight year at the top after a 27-12 start, but now the Tigers are facing a surprising number of questions about their starting rotation, which was expected to be among the best in baseball.

Justin Verlander has slumped badly over the last month — he took the loss in Kansas City’s 11-8 victory in the series opener Monday. Scherzer threw his first career shutout last week, but the Royals tagged him for 10 hits in his next start Tuesday.

Gordon opened the scoring with his two-run drive to right field, and Moustakas’ homer made it 4-0. Omar Infante added a two-run single before Eric Hosmer finally made the first out of the second inning on a tapper to the pitcher. Some fans cheered sarcastically, even though another run came home on the play to make it 7-0.

Verlander and Scherzer combined to allow 17 runs in the first two games of this series. That’s the most ever by two teammates with Cy Young Awards in back-to-back team games, according to STATS.

Ventura allowed two runs in the second, but that was the first of three consecutive innings in which Detroit hit into a double play. With the Royals ahead 10-2 in the fifth, Ventura walked Miguel Cabrera with the bases loaded, but the hard-throwing rookie caught a break when a pitch to Victor Martinez sailed past catcher Salvador Perez.

The ball bounced hard off the backstop, right back to Perez, and Detroit’s Eugenio Suarez was caught between third base and home. Perez threw to third to catch Suarez retreating and end the inning.

— Associated Press —

DETROIT (AP) — Omar Infante showed the Detroit Tigers what they’re missing.

Infante hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning and had an RBI single in a four-run fifth against former teammate Justin Verlander, helping the Kansas City Royals beat the Tigers 11-8 Monday night.

Infante became expendable in Detroit last November when the franchise traded first baseman Prince Fielder to Texas for second baseman Ian Kinsler. The next month, Infante signed a $30.25 million, four-year contract with the Royals, and their manager is glad he did.

“I didn’t really think much about Omar last year with the lineup that they had,” Royals skipper Ned Yost acknowledged. “I would try to pitch around this guy and pitch around this guy to get to Omar, and Omar constantly just beat our brains in offensively. At about the midway point, I started realizing how really good he was.”

With 90-plus games left this season, the Tigers are finding out how vulnerable they are and how good Kansas City is in the tightly contested AL Central.

The Royals have won a season-high eight straight to pull within a half-game of Detroit atop the division. Kansas City has won 11 of 13 since trailing the Tigers by 6 1/2 games at the start of the month.

“We got on a nice little run here and we’ve made up some ground,” Yost said.

Detroit scored six runs in the ninth inning and pulled within three on J.D. Martinez’s two-out grand slam off Donnie Joseph. Michael Mariot struck out Austin Jackson looking for the final out.

Jason Vargas (7-2) gave up two runs on seven hits and two walks to win his third straight.

Verlander (6-7) allowed seven earned runs in consecutive starts for the first time in his career, giving up a season-high 12 hits and striking out two over six innings. He got off to a good start, retiring the Royals in order on 10 pitches in the first inning, and pitched four scoreless innings before getting roughed up.

The Royals took a 4-2 lead in the fifth inning when Billy Butler followed Infante’s RBI single with a three-run double off Verlander.

“Our confidence level is as high as it can get,” Butler said. “I don’t think it is as much him as it is we’re going really good right now.”

Infante cleared the left-field fences with his third homer this year with two on to make it 7-2 in the sixth, leading fans to boo Verlander, who is in the second season of his seven-year, $180 million deal.

“I don’t blame the fans for booing,” Verlander said. “They are frustrated with me, just like I’m frustrated with myself. I would have probably booed myself tonight. They’ve cheered me a lot of times, and they will cheer me again.”

The jeers kept coming in the next inning when Kansas City scored four runs — one earned — on four hits and two errors off Evan Reed, who failed to retire any Royals as their lead grew to 11-2. The Royals finished with a season high in runs and hits (17) on a steamy night in the Motor City.

Detroit hurt its chances of winning the opener of the four-game series early in the game.

Both teams lost a player to cramps.

Tigers outfielder Torii Hunter left the game in the fourth with a cramp in his right hamstring.

“It’s not a strain,” Detroit manager Brad Ausmus insisted.

Royals catcher Salvador Perez was replaced in the seventh because of cramps in both calves.

“He’s fine,” Yost said. “They made him drink a bunch of fluids and gave him an IV.”

— Associated Press —

CHICAGO (AP) — The Royals are complementing their solid defense and pitching with a potent offense.

Salvador Perez hit a three-run homer and Kansas City completed a three-game sweep of the Chicago White Sox with a 6-3 win Sunday.

James Shields (8-3) won his fifth straight decision and the Royals extended their season-high win streak to seven games.

Shields pitched out of trouble throughout his outing.

Shields allowed three runs and 10 hits in six innings. Greg Holland pitched a scoreless ninth for his 20th save in 21 chances.

The Royals haven’t lost with Shields on the mound since May 2, and he’s 5-0 in eight starts because of the Royals’ 42 runs of support.

Eric Hosmer also hit a two-run home run for the Royals.

“This series we played on all cylinders,” Shields said. “We pitched, we hit, we played some good defense. We drew our walks, we had good situational hitting and good timely hitting.

“I think this is the first series all year that we really hit on all cylinders, so it is nice to see.

Alejandro De Aza had a two-run double for the White Sox, who lost their fourth straight game. Starter Andre Rienzo (4-4) allowed six runs and six hits in six innings.

The White Sox have lost 10 of their past 11 home games against the Royals been outscored 53-20 in them.

“Obviously they’re playing good baseball and we’re scuffling a little bit,” Gordon Beckham said.

“You know, it’s part of (the game). It’s frustrating, but we played a pretty good game today. Grinding out at-bats, try to do some good things. It just didn’t go our way.”

With one out in the first inning, Hosmer connected on a 1-2 pitch for a two-run shot to center. It was his fourth of the season.

“We’re getting off to early leads,” Hosmer said. “We’re giving our pitchers breathing room early. The way they have been throwing for us all year they have been lights out. Now to give them nice breathing room early and get some leads and not let them to be fine with their pitches and let them go out there and let the defense work.”

With the Royals up 2-1 in the third inning with two outs, Billy Butler was hit by Rienzo’s pitch. Alex Gordon drew a walk then Perez followed with a home run to left, giving the Royals a 5-1 lead. It was Perez’s seventh of the season.

Mike Moustakas scored from second on Jarrod Dyson’s RBI single in the fourth inning after he was initially ruled out on a force at second base. The call was overturned after a challenge.

Adam Eaton led off the first inning with a hard grounder that went underneath Hosmer’s glove at first. Eaton wound up with a stand-up triple.

One pitch later, Shields appeared to have Eaton picked off at third base, but plate umpire Paul Emmel ruled that Shields did not step off the rubber and awarded Eaton home.

Royals manager Ned Yost argued the balk and was tossed by Emmel as he was headed back to the dugout. Yost then confronted Emmel for another animated conversation before leaving the game.

“I said something when I was walking away that made me sit in this office,” Yost said. “I don’t think I ever got kicked out before the first out in the bottom of the first. I just felt really strongly that was a good play.”

De Aza had a two-run double off Shields in the fourth inning.

— Associated Press —

CHICAGO (AP) — Danny Duffy couldn’t help but think about his last start at U.S. Cellular Field.

The Kansas City Royals’ left-hander matched a career high with nine strikeouts and scattered five hits over seven-plus shutout innings in a 9-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday.

His previous outing in Chicago didn’t go well at all. Duffy injured his elbow in the first inning on May 13, 2012. Soon after he had Tommy John surgery and missed about a year.

“I’ve been waiting to come back here for a long time,” Duffy said. “It’s just nice to come out and do my job in this city and in this setting.”

The victory was the sixth straight for the Royals while the White Sox dropped their ninth in 10 games against Kansas City.

Royals manager Ned Yost said there was a lot to like about Duffy’s complete effort.

“For four innings he was really efficient, he really kept his pitch count down,” Yost said. “He had everything working: his fastball, his breaking ball, had a good changeup and had a really, really good defense behind him.”

Mike Moustakas homered among his three hits as the Royals won their second straight in this weekend series.

The Royals scored five times in the fourth — four with none out — to chase Chicago starter Hector Noesi (2-5).

Noesi allowed five runs — two earned — and eight hits while walking one and striking out four.

“To be able to put five runs on the board was big,” Yost said. “We’ve and a couple of big innings the last week or 10 days. Early in the year we get something going we get one or two out of it. Now that we’re swinging the bats better we’re getting four or five.”

Duffy last struck out nine on June 19, 2011, at St. Louis. He’s now 2-0 against Chicago.

Duffy departed in the eighth inning after a leadoff single by Adam Eaton.

White Sox designated hitter Paul Konerko spoiled the shutout with a homer off Michael Mariot to open the ninth.

Two runs scored in the five-run fourth when third baseman Leury Garcia bobbled Lorenzo Cain’s grounder for an error.

Moustakas then singled to shallow center for another run.

Alcides Escobar’s base hit extended his hitting streak to a career-high 12 games and loaded the bases for the second time in the inning.

The Royals’ fourth run came on Nori Aoki’s double-play grounder. Omar Infante lined a two-out single to left, driving in Moustakas for a 5-0 lead.

Noesi was chased in favor of right-hander reliever Javy Guerra with two outs in the fourth.

“Hector, he’s been good for us and he’s always given us a chance, but we have to help him out on occasion,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “If we’re not helping him on defense, it’s going to make a difference. That’s a recipe to lose a game in a hurry.”

Moustakas’ homer in the eighth inning was his sixth of the season. He finished with two RBIs and two runs scored.

Eric Hosmer had an RBI double to left to start a three-run ninth. Butler’s one-out homer to right made it 9-0.

Despite giving up an eighth inning single to Eaton, Duffy’s shutout was preserved after Eaton was thrown out at home on a throw by Aoki in a play overturned following a review.

— Associated Press —

CHICAGO (AP) — Lorenzo Cain had a two-run double to highlight a five-run first inning, Jeremy Guthrie pitched into the sixth inning and the Kansas City Royals extended their winning streak to five games with a 7-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Friday night.

Guthrie (3-6) allowed two runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings to snap an 11-game winless streak. Guthrie’s last win was on April 9, against Tampa Bay.

Eric Hosmer and Billy Butler of the White Sox each had two RBIs, including a run-scoring single in the first inning.

Jose Quintana (3-7) never recovered from the slow start, allowing six runs and eight hits in six innings.

Jose Abreu went 1 for 4 with an RBI for the White Sox.

The Royals staked Guthrie to a five-run lead before he took the mound.

The first four batters — Nori Aoki, Omar Infante, Hosmer and Butler — all singled to make it 2-0 and fifth-place hitter Alex Gordon followed with a double to right field to make it 3-0.

After Quintana struck out Salvador Perez for the first out of the game, Cain stroked a double to left to drive in two more and made it 5-0.

The White Sox got a run back in the bottom of the first on a sacrifice fly by Abreu. The Royals got it back in the top of the second on a sacrifice fly by Hosmer.

Chicago loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom half of the inning as Alexei Ramirez and Dayan Viciedo singled and Alejandro De Aza walked, but the White Sox pushed across just one run — on a walk to Adam Eaton — to make it 6-2.

Guthrie struck out Tyler Flowers with no outs and then struck out Gordon Beckham with one out following the walk to Eaton. Conor Gillaspie then flied out to center to end the inning.

The starters then settled down and neither team scored over the next four innings. Kansas City added a run in the seventh on Hosmer’s run-scoring single to make it 7-2.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The hallmark of a good team, at least in Royals manager Ned Yost’s opinion, is the ability to wedge open the smallest of openings that an opponent provides.

His club sure did that against Cleveland on Wednesday.

The Royals scored all their runs by tying a franchise record with four sacrifice flies, and Yordano Ventura dominated the Indians over seven stingy innings in a 4-1 victory.

“It’s finding a way to win a ballgame that’s important,” said Yost, whose team has won four straight. “Good teams find ways to score those runs, and we did it four times today.”

In doing so, the Royals became only the second team to score four runs all on sacrifice flies since it became an official stat in 1954. The Expos managed to do it against the Cubs on May 28, 1980, according to STATS, although that happened in an 8-4, 14-inning loss.

“See?” Yost said. “We made history.”

Ventura (4-5) allowed six hits while striking out three without a walk to win back-to-back starts for the first time. The only run he allowed came in the sixth, when he gave up consecutive singles to start the inning and Carlos Santana hit an RBI single.

By then, Indians counterpart Trevor Bauer (1-3) had already allowed sacrifice flies to Jarrod Dyson, Omar Infante and Alcides Escobar. Billy Butler added another sacrifice fly off reliever John Axford in the seventh to complete the scoring.

“Usually I’m able to strike out guys in situations like that,” Bauer said. “I made a couple of good pitches today, but they fouled them off and put them in play. So it is unusual.”

The Indians loaded the bases off Wade Davis with nobody out in the eighth, but two strikeouts and a groundout ended the threat. Greg Holland worked a perfect ninth for his 19th save.

The Royals (33-32) moved over .500 for the first time since May 18. They also jumped over Cleveland into second place in the AL Central as they embark on a trip that begins with the White Sox and concludes with the division-leading Detroit.

Lonnie Chisenhall had a pair of hits for Cleveland, extending his hitting streak to a career-best nine games. He’s had at least two hits in his last five.

Prior to the game, Indians manager Terry Francona recalled with disdain the last time his club faced Ventura — the young flamethrower’s debut last September. Ventura allowed one run over 5 2/3 innings, and at one point threw a pitch to Yan Gomes clocked at 102 mph.

“He’s got pretty special stuff,” Francona said. “Kind of hope we don’t see that today.”

Turns out he did. Ventura kept the ball down in the strike zone and forced the Indians to chop into a series of groundouts. He retired seven straight batters at one point, never allowing a ball to be hit out of the infield.

“I went out there with the mentality to throw a lot of strike,” Ventura said through a translator. “Something good was going to happen if I threw a lot of strikes.”

Nobody was more frustrated than Jason Giambi. With the Royals shifting their infield, the Indians DH grounded out to the exact same spot three straight times before popping out.

“He’s got great stuff,” Giambi said. “When he locates like he did today, he’s tough. He really is. He’s got good mound presence and attacks the strike zone.”

The Royals scored their first run when Dyson followed a double by Mike Moustakas and a single by Escobar with a sacrifice fly in the third. Nori Aoki followed with a single, and Infante hit his sacrifice fly to give the Royals a 2-0 lead.

Escobar’s sacrifice fly came after a double by Salvador Perez and a single by Moustakas in the fourth, and Butler added his sacrifice fly after singles by Infante and Eric Hosmer.

That was enough to beat Bauer, who has still never won in seven road outings. The Indians starter allowed three runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.

“That type of energy and intensity we played with today, that’s the way we need to play,” Butler said. “Bauer was pitching really well. Every opportunity we had we capitalized on.”

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jason Vargas was completely unaware that Cleveland had piled up 17 runs the previous night.

He was happy about it, too.

Unaware of how hot the free-swinging Indians had been, the Royals left-hander calmly carried a shutout into the eighth inning Tuesday night. Meanwhile, the Kansas City offense hit a season-best three home runs in a 9-5 victory to open their two-game series.

“I guess I’m glad I didn’t know they scored 17 runs last night,” said Vargas, who gave up six hits and hit three batters with pitches, but didn’t allow a run until Jason Kipnis drove in a pair with a two-out double in the eighth.

“You just have to get ahead and execute,” he said, “and let the defense do what they do.”

Eric Hosmer hit a two-run shot and also drove in a run during a four-run fourth inning. Alex Gordon went deep in the eighth and Mike Moustakas added a two-run shot later that inning as the Royals (32-32) moved back to .500 by matching their second-best run total of the season.

“It’s a good feeling,” Moustakas said, “but it’s not where we want to be.”

Corey Kluber (6-4), who dominated the Royals earlier this season, allowed six runs — three earned — and six hits over five innings. He struck out five and walked two.

He was nearly bailed out when Tim Collins gave up another run in the eighth inning and Aaron Crow yielded two more in the ninth. But Crow wound up finishing for his first save of the season.

Asdrubal Cabrera, Carlos Santana and David Murphy drove in the other runs for Cleveland.

Both starters dominated for the first couple of innings, Vargas using guile to keep Cleveland off balance and Kluber needing just 17 pitches to retire the first six Royals batters.

Everything changed in the bottom of the third.

Moustakas walked to start things off, and Alcides Escobar followed with a single. Jarrod Dyson then hit a grounder that Kipnis fielded and tossed to Cabrera covering second. But in making the grab and transitioning to his throwing hand, Cabrera dropped the ball. He was still granted an out initially, but replay overturned the umpire’s call and he was given an error.

“When you give teams extra chances, extra opportunities, especially against the middle of the order, sometimes you pay a price for it,” Indians manager Terry Francona said.

“Obviously, nobody is perfect,” Kluber added. “Errors are part of the game.”

That one loaded the bases for Omar Infante, in the throes of a 1-for-21 slump, and he dropped a single into center field for a 1-0 lead. Hosmer followed with his RBI groundout, and Billy Butler added a two-run single moments later to make it 4-0.

“If we don’t win that challenge,” Royals manager Ned Yost said, “we lose out on three runs.”

Hosmer homered in the fifth, his third of the season, and Kluber was yanked after the inning. It was a marked contrast to his last outing against Kansas City, when the right-hander tossed his first career complete game in a 5-1 victory on April 24.

Meanwhile, Vargas was mowing down an Indians order that included the scorching Lonnie Chisenhall, who went 5 for 5 with three homers and nine RBIs the previous night in Texas. Vargas even helped himself, snaring a liner in the sixth to start an inning-ending double play.

It wasn’t until Vargas left the game that the Indians started to rally, and the hole they had dug themselves proved to be far too deep.

— Associated Press —