CLEVELAND (AP) — The squirrel was fearless.

Zach McAllister wasn’t nervous, either.

Jason Kipnis and Michael Brantley hit two-run homers to back McAllister, powering the Cleveland Indians over the Kansas City Royals 4-3 Monday night when a trespassing squirrel ran around Progressive Field and provided some extra entertainment.

Kipnis connected in the sixth inning off Jeremy Guthrie (2-1), helping the Indians overcome a 3-2 deficit. Brantley provided Cleveland a 2-0 lead in the fourth.

McAllister (3-0) gave up six hits and overcame three errors — one on his errant throw in the fifth. Marc Rzepczynski and Cody Allen pitched a hitless inning each, and closer John Axford worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his seventh save.

After the Royals scored three times, McAllister got out of the fifth with an inning-ending double play and then shook off third baseman Lonnie Chisenhall’s error in the sixth and notched his third straight win.

“He didn’t let anything rattle him,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “He worked to execute pitches. He was strong.”

McAllister also withstood a brief delay in the second when a squirrel ventured onto the field and eluded members of the grounds crew before finally leaving for the night.

“He was right in front of me,” McAllister said.

Indians first baseman Nick Swisher motioned for the critter to run to him, but it darted past and into the outfield grass.

“I was like, `C’mon over here and sit in my glove,” Swisher said. “I thought maybe he’d sit on my shoulder like a parrot. I tell you what, that squirrel is eating, bro. That was a big squirrel.”

The squirrel was directed inside the Royals bullpen by some of the grounds staff, but the slippery rodent escaped and returned for another scamper to the delight of the crowd of 10,789. The pesky intruder hung around for another inning before it was shooed into the Indians’ center-field bullpen.

The squirrel perched on a ledge for several minutes before jumping the wall into the Heritage Park monument area.

“That little joker was frolicking,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “They could have arrested him for trespassing because he didn’t have a ticket.”

Alex Gordon and Omar Infante each had two of the Royals’ six hits.

Indians designated hitter Jason Giambi went hitless in four at-bats in his season debut. He missed Cleveland’s first 18 games with a broken rib.

Swisher led off the sixth with his second double, and Kipnis followed with his third homer, a drive into the seats in right-center. Kipnis is 8 of 13 (.615) with two homers and six RBIs off Guthrie, who except for the home runs pitched effectively for 6 1/3 innings.

Helped by McAllister’s throwing error, the Royals scored three runs in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead.

Mike Moustakas doubled to open the inning and scored when diving center fielder Michael Bourn couldn’t squeeze a sinking liner by Alcides Escobar. Jarrod Dyson followed with a bunt toward third that McAllister fielded cleanly before throwing wildly past first, allowing Escobar to score. One out later, Infante’s RBI single put the Royals in front.

Brantley connected in the fourth for his team-leading fourth homer, and second in two days.

Kipnis led off with a double, and with one out, Brantley drove a 2-1 pitch from Guthrie over the wall in right. Brantley only hit 10 homers last season, and Francona believes the 26-year-old could develop into a more potent power hitter because “he gives himself a chance every at-bat.”

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — It is customary in baseball for a pitcher to be awarded a commemorative baseball after his first big league win, a nice keepsake to reflect upon years down the road.

The Twins’ Phil Hughes did not earn his first win on Sunday. It only felt like it.

His jokester teammates gave him a ball anyway.

Hughes pitched into the seventh inning to win for the first time since last July, helping Minnesota to an 8-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals that also avoided a three-game sweep.

It was Hughes’ first win in 18 outings, a span that included eight losses.

“I knew it had been a long time,” said Hughes, who signed a $24 million, three-year deal with Minnesota in December. “It’s good to get that one out of the way, and hopefully go on a good run here and continue to pitch some quality games. But my first one with a new team, it’s special.”

He could have done without the ball, though.

“We had a little fun with him,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “It’s his first win since way back, and first win as a Twin, too, so we gave him a little grief about that.”

Josmil Pinto homered and Trevor Plouffe and Kurt Suzuki each drove in a pair of runs for the Twins, who battered Yordano Ventura (1-1) before piling on against the Royals’ bullpen.

Alcides Escobar hit a two-run homer and Omar Infante also drove in a run for the Royals, whose five-game winning streak came to an end.

“If you don’t score runs it doesn’t matter how many hits you get. We got a loss here today,” said the Royals’ Alex Gordon. “We’ll move on from here.”

Hughes’ solid showing came after he had allowed 12 earned runs in his first 15 innings with Minnesota. The former All-Star had not survived past the sixth since July 13, when he was still a member of the New York Yankees and was facing his current team.

It helped that the Twins staked him to an early lead.

After they went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position in a 5-4 loss Saturday, Plouffe came through with a double in the Twins’ first opportunity Sunday. His drive into the gap in right was enough to score Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer and give Minnesota a 2-0 lead in the first inning.

The Twins added on in the fourth. After Suzuki walked, the Royals were unable to turn a double play on a grounder by Aaron Hicks. Ventura then threw the ball away trying to pick him off first, and a wild pitch put Hicks on third base. Eduardo Escobar’s single scored the run.

Ventura was finally pulled from the game in the fifth, when the 22-year-old right-hander gave up a leadoff triple to Plouffe and a single to Chris Colabello. He allowed four runs on six hits and four walks in four-plus innings, a line that looks even uglier after two dominant outings in which he allowed a combined one run on six hits against Tampa Bay and Houston.

“I tried to correct, to make adjustments,” Ventura said through Bruce Chen, his translator. “It’s not every day that I can make the pitches, but I wanted to go deep and help the team.”

The Royals bullpen, which had thrown 14 straight scoreless innings, never gave their offense a chance to get Ventura off the hook. Pinto’s homer came off Louis Coleman later in the fifth, and Justin Marks — making his big league debut — allowed three more runs in the seventh.

Escobar’s two-run shot later in the seventh knocked Hughes from the game, but relievers Brian Duensing, Casey Fien and Glen Perkins made sure his long losing streak would finally end.

“It’s good, a good feeling,” Hughes said. “Someone brought up last July or something since my last win. Definitely nice to get that one and hopefully get on a little bit of a run.”

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Royals manager Ned Yost turned to pitching coach Dave Eiland in the fifth inning Saturday and told him that Kansas City was going to have to protect a one-run lead against Minnesota.

The way his bullpen has been going, there was no need to worry.

Danny Duffy, Wade Davis and Greg Holland allowed one walk and no hits over the final four innings, and the Royals held on for a scrappy 5-4 victory over the Twins.

“They’ve been lights-out, and they’re starting to get accustomed to the season,” Yost said of his relief corps, which helped starter Jason Vargas polish off a shutout in the series opener.

The Royals have won five straight after getting swept last weekend in Minnesota.

“We all compete together,” Holland said. “We take it upon ourselves that we’re one unit out there. You throw in the competitiveness and you expect your teammates to pick you up.”

Bruce Chen (1-1) allowed all four runs on eight hits and four walks, but the damage could have been a whole lot worse. The crafty left-hander twice walked the bases loaded, and his only clean inning was the first, when Brian Dozier hit a fly out that nearly left the park.

Still, a five-run fourth inning off Kevin Correia (1-1) staked Chen to a lead, and one of the best bullpen’s in baseball last season made it stand up on a sun-splashed afternoon.

Duffy tossed two scoreless innings, and Davis navigated a perfect eighth before turning the game over to Holland, who set down the top of the Minnesota lineup for his sixth save.

The Royals are 9-0 when scoring at least four runs. They’re 0-7 scoring three or fewer.

“When we get that magic number,” DH Billy Butler said, “we’re hard to beat.”

Kurt Suzuki homered and drove in three runs for the Twins, and Aaron Hicks also drove in a run. But it wasn’t enough for Correia, who wound up allowing all five runs, four of them earned.

The Twins didn’t help him much with their shaky defense.

Left fielder Jason Kubel lost a fly ball in the glaring sun and it fell for a double in the second inning. Then in the fourth, right fielder Chris Colabello misplayed a fly off the bat of Billy Butler that ended up at the warning track and put runners on second and third.

“I took a chop step in and kind of froze. I didn’t think he hit it that good,” Colabello said. “Obviously there’s nobody who feels worse about it than I do. Everything was being pushed toward center. When I froze I got turned around.”

That was the start of the Royals’ game-changing charge.

Mike Moustakas followed with a sacrifice fly and Justin Maxwell added an RBI single to tie the game. Alcides Escobar was plunked on the elbow, and Nori Aoki followed with a go-ahead single.

Moments later, Escobar and Aoki took off on a double steal, and Twins catcher Josmil Pinto threw the ball into left field, allowing both runners to advance and making it 4-2. Omar Infante added a single to cap the five-run inning and give Kansas City a comfy cushion.

“We’re a starting staff that pitches to contact. We pride ourselves on making plays,” Correia said. “These guys are going to come back and play good defense.”

The Twins got two runs back on Suzuki’s single in the fifth, but Chen managed to get Hicks to ground out with a pair of runners on board to preserve his one-run lead.

“Some good things happened. Unfortunately, we had one bad inning and it cost us a ballgame,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “If we make the plays we’re supposed to make we win.”

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jason Vargas pitched seven shutdown innings, Mike Moustakas cracked a two-run homer and the Kansas City Royals romped to a 5-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.

Alcides Escobar had three hits and Omar Infante also drove in two runs for the Royals, who followed up a sweep at the hands of Minnesota last weekend by sweeping Houston and then taking the first of their three-game set against the Twins this weekend.

Ricky Nolasco (1-2) gave up five runs on 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings for the Twins. He was coming off a 7-1 win over Kansas City in which he allowed one run on four hits in eight innings.

Vargas (2-0), who signed a $32 million, four-year deal in the offseason, allowed seven hits while striking out four in another dazzling start. The crafty left-hander lowered his ERA to 1.24 while going at least seven innings in each of his four outings this season.

Vargas put runners on base each of the first five innings, though he was never in serious trouble. Only twice did a runner reach second base and each time a lazy fly ball ended the inning.

Even when the Twins hit a ball hard, Alex Gordon was there to make a play.

The Royals’ Gold Glove left-fielder threw a strike from the warning track to second base in the fourth inning, cutting down Josmil Pinto as he tried to stretch a single. Two innings later, Gordon made a running catch into the padding in foul territory on Joe Mauer’s fly ball.

Escobar sent a charge through the Royals’ anemic offense with a double in the third inning, and consecutive singles by Nori Aoki, Infante and Eric Hosmer staked them to a 2-0 lead.

Infante’s single drove in Escobar to make it 3-0 in the fifth.

Billy Butler, in the throes of a massive slump, singled in the sixth before Moustakas, also off to a slow start, sent a pitch sizzling into the seats in right. His second homer of the season made it 5-0 and chased Nolasco from the game.

Neither team threatened to score again, the Royals wrapping up their first shutout win and the Twins getting blanked for the first time this season.

— Associated Press —

HOUSTON (AP) — James Shields struck out 12 in eight innings and the Kansas City Royals completed a three-game sweep of the Houston Astros with a 5-1 win on Thursday night.

Shields (1-2) gave up one run and four hits, all singles. He struck out seven straight batters in the late innings.

The right-hander got back to his winning ways after seeing his nine-game road victory streak snapped in his last start at Minnesota when sloppy defense led to six unearned runs in a 7-1 loss.

Scott Feldman (2-1) yielded four earned runs and nine hits in six innings. It was the first tough outing for the Astros newcomer after he had allowed just one run and seven hits combined in his first three starts.

The Royals were up by two when Alcides Escobar hit a two-run double in the fourth to make it 4-0. Salvador Perez added an RBI double in the fifth.

Kansas City scored 15 runs in this series after managing just five runs combined last weekend while getting swept by the Twins.

The Royals got to Feldman early, with Nori Aoki hitting a leadoff double and later scoring on a groundout by Eric Hosmer.

Alex Gordon, Billy Butler and Mike Moustakas hit consecutive singles to start the second to push the lead to 2-0.

There were runners at second and third with one out in the fourth when Escobar sent them both home with a double to center field.

Aoki singled to begin the fifth before a one-out single by Hosmer. Perez hit a ball that diving center fielder Dexter Fowler missed for a double that scored Aoki and pushed the lead to 5-0. Hosmer was out at home on the play.

Shields allowed a pair of singles in the first inning before retiring the next 10 Astros. Houston didn’t have another baserunner until Chris Carter drew a leadoff walk in the fifth. Carter advanced to third on a single by Matt Dominguez, but Dominguez was out trying to stretch it into a double.

Carter scored on a sacrifice fly by Alex Presley to cut the lead to 5-1.

Presley’s out was the first of nine straight Astros retired by Shields, including seven strikeouts in a row.

A single by Presley came with one out in the eighth and Jonathan Villar drew a walk, but Shields ended the threat by striking out Fowler before a fly out by George Springer.

— Associated Press —

HOUSTON (AP) — Mike Moustakas homered in the 11th inning to lift the Kansas City Royals to a 6-4 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday night.

Moustakas has been off to a tough start this season and was hitting .098 before his solo shot to the seats in right field off Jerome Williams (0-1) to lead off the 11th.

A small group of Royals fans stood and yelled `Moooooose’ as he rounded the bases after his first homer this year.

Jarrod Dyson singled and added an insurance run on a fielder’s choice.

Danny Duffy (1-0) pitched two scoreless innings for the win and Greg Holland allowed a hit and a walk in a scoreless 11th for his fifth save.

Jason Castro and Marc Krauss both had two-run home runs for the Astros. Heralded Houston prospect George Springer made his major league debut, batting second and playing right field.

The 24-year-old, who hit 37 homers combined in Double-A and Triple-A last season, singled and walked, but struck out with one out and a runner on first in the 11th.

Danny Valencia had a solo homer in the second and Salvador Perez tied it up in the seventh with a two-run single.

The Astros went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position and left 12 men on base.

Eric Hosmer had two hits for his fourth multi-hit game. He led the American League last season with 60 such games.

Lorenzo Cain and Alcides Escobar singled with one out in the seventh inning and Hosmer walked with two outs to load the bases. A sharp groundball single by Perez off Matt Albers rolled just out of reach of a diving Marwin Gonzalez and into left field to score two and tie it at 4-4.

The homer by Krauss put Houston up 4-2 in the sixth inning.

Alex Gordon drew a one-out walk in the fourth inning before a single by Valencia. Dallas Keuchel plunked Justin Maxwell on the right hand to load the bases and Gordon scored on a groundout by Cain to tie it at 2-2.

Springer got his first major league hit on a dribbler that traveled just a few feet down the third base line with one out in the third inning. His parents were sitting behind home plate and his mother stood up and waved her hands in the air when he reached first base. Castro’s opposite field homer to left field followed to put Houston up 2-1.

Valencia’s shot to the Crawford Boxes in left field gave Kansas City a 1-0 lead in the second inning.

Springer drew a leadoff walk in the fifth inning, but was caught stealing in a rundown later in the inning.

Hosmer made a nifty play on a grounder Matt Dominguez hit off the end of his bat for the second out in the eighth inning. He grabbed it on the run backhanded and flipped it to pitcher Kelvin Herrera, who was covering first.

— Associated Press —

HOUSTON (AP) — Rookie Yordano Ventura threw seven solid innings for first major league win to lift the Kansas City Royals to a 4-2 victory over the Houston Astros on Tuesday night.

Omar Infante homered and drove in two runs for the Royals.

Ventura (1-0), an elite prospect with a 100 mph fastball, allowed four hits and one earned run with seven strikeouts in seven innings — both career highs — in his fifth major league start.

Infante had a solo shot in the first inning off Lucas Harrell (0-3) and added an RBI in the third inning as the Royals found some offense after managing just five runs combined as they were swept in a weekend series at Minnesota.

Eric Hosmer and Billy Butler had an RBI each for Kansas City and Lorenzo Cain had a pair of hits for his fourth multi-hit game this season.

Carlos Corporan homered in the fifth inning for the Astros, who have scored two runs or fewer in three of their past four games.

Harrell gave up five hits and four runs in five innings and has allowed 14 runs in three starts combined this season.

Ventura had retired 12 of the last 13 batters when Corporan launched his homer into the first row of the seats in right field with one out in the fifth inning to cut the lead to 4-2.

He got back on track after that and didn’t allow another hit until Matt Dominguez singled to start the seventh inning. He walked Jonathan Villar with two outs, but ended the threat and his night when he retired Dexter Fowler after a short coaching visit to the mound. Wade Davis pitched a perfect eighth before Greg Holland struck out the side in the ninth for his fourth save.

Infante put Kansas City up early with his solo homer to the Crawford Boxes in left field with one out in the first inning.

Fowler hit a leadoff double and reached third on a one-out single by Jason Castro. Fowler scored on an error by Ventura with two outs on a pickoff attempt to first base to tie it at 1-1.

Infante grounded into a forceout that scored Cain, who had led off the inning with a single, to make it 2-1 in the third inning. Hosmer followed with an RBI double to push the lead to 3-1.

A single by Nori Aoki followed by a pair of walks loaded the bases for Kansas City with one out in the fifth, and Butler’s sacrifice fly pushed the lead to 4-1.

— Associated Press —

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Needing a big hit, the Minnesota Twins instead turned a little tapper back to the mound into big trouble for the Kansas City Royals.

Pitcher Wade Davis made a wild flip home on a comebacker in the eighth inning and the Twins rallied past the Royals 4-3 Sunday for a three-game sweep.

“Had the play right there in front of me, just didn’t make it,” Davis said.

A madcap sequence put the Twins ahead and a crazy play ended it, too.

With two outs and none on in the ninth, Mike Moustakas popped a ball straight up. As he stood to watch it in the batter’s box, catcher Kurt Suzuki tripped over him, resulting in an interference call for the final out.

“That’s always on the hitter,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “That’s not going to be on the defender. He has a right to catch the ball.”

After the Royals scored three times in the eighth for a 3-2 lead, reliever Aaron Crow (0-1) walked two Minnesota batters to start the bottom half.

Davis struck out Joe Mauer, but Trevor Plouffe walked to load the bases. Chris Herrmann then hit a grounder back to the mound and Davis, hoping to begin an easy double play, hesitated briefly after getting the ball out of his glove.

Davis’ toss sailed past catcher Salvador Perez. Pedro Florimon scored the tying run and Dozier slid home under Perez’s return throw to Davis, who was a step late covering the plate.

“You got to be aggressive, you can’t lose that,” Dozier said. “I saw the throw. I saw Davis just hanging out a good 10 yards away from the thing, so might as well take a shot.”

The lapse by Davis compounded an already frustrating series for the Royals. Kansas City was outscored 21-5 in the sweep.

“I got frustrated and made a mental mistake by not being there,” Davis said. “It’s unacceptable.”

Casey Fien (1-0) got one out and Glen Perkins posted his third save.

The Royals have lost their first five road games this season, managing just nine runs.

“I think everybody’s trying to do too much right now,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “When you go in a slump everybody tries to do more, and that’s only natural for a team when you’re having trouble scoring runs.”

Josmil Pinto hit his third homer in the seventh inning to give the Twins a 2-0 lead.

Twins starter Kevin Correia cruised through seven innings before running into trouble in the eighth. He allowed three runs on six hits in seven innings.

Eric Hosmer’s RBI double capped the Royals’ three-run eighth.

Not wearing sleeves despite a gametime temperature of 42 degrees, Jason Vargas held the Twins to two runs on five hits over seven innings for his third straight quality start this season.

That type of outing would have been more than enough last season, when the Royals won 15 of 19 from Minnesota. But the Twins now have the upper hand to start 2014.

— Associated Press —

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — After adding Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes in the offseason, the Twins expected their rotation to be better.

Instead, the offense has been the biggest turnaround for Minnesota.

Joe Mauer hit his first home run of the season, Brian Dozier connected for his fourth and Nolasco earned his initial win with the Twins in a 7-1 victory Saturday over the Kansas City Royals.

“I feel like, one through nine, everybody today had at least three hard-hit balls each, and that’s a tell-tale sign an offense is clicking,” said Dozier, who tied for the AL lead in homers. “Been doing that for the past week now, so everything is starting to click as a team right now.”

A day after getting his first RBI of the year, Mauer hit a three-run shot against starter James Shields (0-2). Dozier had a leadoff homer for Minnesota, which has scored the second-most runs in the American League.

Nolasco (1-1) showed why the Twins signed him to a $49 million, four-year contract to steady their rotation.

The right-hander gave up five runs in each of his first two outings for his new team, but was on top of his game Saturday in his first home start for Minnesota. Nolasco went eight innings and allowed five hits with four strikeouts.

“I wish I could say I’m going to go eight every time,” Nolasco said. “This level is very difficult and you can never count yourself out no matter how good or bad you’re doing. I had two bad starts, but my mentality is still like I could do something like today.”

While the rotation was addressed in the offseason, it was Minnesota’s lineup that figured to keep the Twins near the bottom of the AL Central again. Instead, Dozier has been a power source in the leadoff spot, and Minnesota has received big production from a middle of the order that includes Trevor Plouffe, Chris Colabello and Jason Kubel.

Making the transition full-time to first base this season, Mauer was slow to come around with the bat. Kansas City’s first trip to Minnesota was the perfect remedy, though. In his career, Mauer has hit .338 against the Royals with 11 homers and 95 RBIs. He’s also hit .350 (12 for 37) against Shields.

“When it’s all said and done his numbers are going to be there,” acting Twins manager Terry Steinbach said. “He’s a professional hitter, a great hitter, and just over the course of time it’s going to happen. It was good to see him connect with one and get that ball out of the ballpark.”

Shields put Kansas City in an early hole again. The Royals had seven quality starts in their first eight games, but Bruce Chen allowed two first-inning runs Friday night and only went 3 2/3 innings. Shields gave up a home run to Dozier on his fourth pitch and Minnesota added six runs in the second.

Shields was undone by the defense, including his own.

None of the runs in the second were earned because Shields misplayed a sacrifice bunt by Kurt Suzuki, with the ball slipping out of his hand for an error as the pitcher tried to throw to third base. Shields then walked No. 8 hitter Aaron Hicks with the bases loaded. Later, third baseman Mike Moustakas couldn’t handle a hard-hit grounder by Dozier that deflected into left field for an error, allowing two runs to score.

Mauer followed Moustakas’ error with a three-run homer, his first since Aug. 16 last season.

“Even though it was a 3-2 count, I was trying to go changeup down and away,” Shields said. “He’s a pretty good hitter. He’s going to hit that every time.”

Shields yielded seven runs — one earned — in 5 2/3 innings. He gave up six hits and walked three while striking out five.

— Associated Press —

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Chris Colabello drove in three runs, Kyle Gibson pitched into the seventh inning and the Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 10-1 Friday night to end a nine-game home losing streak that dated to last season.

Josmil Pinto homered for the Twins, who reached double digits in runs for the third time this year.

Mike Moustakas had two hits for Kansas City, which had won seven straight at Target Field.

A 4-6 start to the season for Minnesota has been largely due to ineffective starting pitching. The Twins had received just two outings of six or more innings entering the game — only one quality start — and the other four starters besides Gibson have a combined 7.50 ERA.

After a shaky first inning when he threw 28 pitches and gave up a run, Gibson (2-0) settled down and retired 14 of the next 18 batters. In 6 1/3 innings, he allowed five hits and one earned run while striking out three, lowering his ERA to 1.59.

It was the second straight strong outing for the right-hander, who won the fifth starter’s spot in spring training. He made his season debut last Saturday against Cleveland, giving up one run and three hits over five-plus innings.

Kansas City starter Bruce Chen also was coming off a strong first performance, having allowed one earned run in six-plus innings against the White Sox last Saturday.

However, against a patient Twins lineup that worked many deep counts, the soft-throwing left-hander allowed seven hits and six earned runs in 3 2/3 innings. He struck out three and walked two, but only 48 of his 87 pitches were strikes. It was just the second time in nine games the Royals did not get a quality start.

Minnesota scored five times in the fourth against Chen (0-1) and reliever Louis Coleman.

With the Twins up 2-1, Pinto led off with a home run to the second deck in left field. Minnesota put two more runners on before Joe Mauer got his first RBI of the season with a single to right field, chasing Chen.

With the bases loaded, Coleman threw his second wild pitch in as many batters, allowing a run to score, before Colabello lined a two-run double down the left field line for a 7-1 lead.

The first two Kansas City batters reached in the seventh before Gibson struck out Alcides Escobar, his last batter. Brian Duensing got the final two outs of the inning.

Kurt Suzuki had a two-run double in the bottom half to make it 9-1.

— Associated Press —