The Royals (78-65) remained in second place in the American League Central, moving a game and a half ahead of the Twins (76-66).

Trailing 2-0 and with just one hit through seven innings, Kansas City plated four against relievers Jhoan Duran (6-9) and Griffin Jax.

After Kyle Isbel's RBI single to left, Pham tapped a soft grounder to the left side of the infield. Pinch-runner Dairon Blanco appeared to interfere with third baseman Royce Lewis, leaving shortstop Brooks Lee to barehand the ball.

Lee threw wildly past first, allowing Blanco to score the tying run. Bobby Witt Jr. and MJ Melendez followed with run-scoring singles to cap the four-run inning.

Daniel Lynch IV (1-0) struck out four in three shutout innings to earn the win and Lucas Erceg pitched a hitless ninth for his 10th save, his seventh with the Royals.

Alec Marsh allowed two runs on four hits with five strikeouts in five innings for Kansas City, who have won three straight.

The comeback spoiled a spectacular start by Bailey Ober, who allowed only two baserunners -- one on a hit batter and one on a single -- while striking out seven in seven innings. He retired 15 straight batters at one point in his second straight start of allowing just one hit and fourth of the year allowing one hit while throwing at least six innings.

The Twins got both runs in the third inning on Jose Miranda's RBI triple to right and Matt Wallner's RBI double.

Edouard Julien had two of Minnesota's five hits.

Making his major league debut, DaShawn Kiersey Jr. started in center field, going hitless in three at-bats.

Carlos Santana left in the sixth inning due to illness.

The Twins have lost 9 of their last 13 games.

The win propelled Kansas City (77-65) past Minnesota (76-65) into second place in the American League Central.

Ragans (11-9) has 204 strikeouts, the most whiffs by a left-handed pitcher in a single season in Royals history and fifth-most in a season all-time for Kansas City. He allowed four hits and walked one, winning for the first time since also beating the Twins on Aug. 14.

Tommy Pham's one-out RBI double put the Royals ahead 1-0 in the third.

Pham and Bobby Witt Jr. combined to throw out Kyle Farmer at the plate trying to score on Austin Martin's double into the left-field corner, ending the fourth inning and preserving the one-run lead.

In the bottom half of the frame, Michael Massey drilled a two-out solo homer into the right-field bullpen, his 12th.

Massey had three of Kansas City's nine hits against Twins starter Zebby Matthews and is 5-for-6 in two games against Matthews, who allowed four runs with one walk and four strikeouts in five innings.

Matthews (1-3) is 0-3 with an 8.47 ERA over his last four starts.

Hunter Renfroe delivered a two-out, two-run single in the fifth, increasing the Royals' lead to 4-0. Renfroe had a pair of singles in his return to the Kansas City lineup after missing 12 games due to a right hamstring strain.

Yuli Gurriel's eighth-inning sacrifice fly capped the scoring.

Royals pitchers recorded their seventh shutout this season while winning back-to-back games for the first time since Aug. 26-27. Three relievers struck out four in three hitless innings.

The Twins were held to four hits, and only two runners advanced beyond first base.

They were shut out for the ninth time and have lost eight of their last 12 but still retain the third wild-card spot.

Renfroe, 32, landed on the list on Aug. 25 with a right hamstring strain.

He is batting .237 with 12 homers and 47 RBIs in 104 games in his first season with the Royals.

Renfroe is a career .239 hitter with 189 home runs and 501 RBIs in 945 games over nine seasons with seven teams.

Kansas City optioned Steven Cruz to Triple-A Omaha and designated fellow right-hander Dan Altavilla for assignment in corresponding moves.

Lugo (15-8), who leads the majors with 186 innings pitched, allowed a run on six hits and a walk in seven innings, striking out four.

The Guardians grabbed a 1-0 lead in the third on Jose Ramírez's bloop two-out single to left. Ramírez's 106 RBIs trail only Aaron Judge for most in the majors this season.

The Royals opened the fourth with three consecutive singles. Michael Massey broke an 0-for-17 slump with an RBI single to center to tie the score at 1-1.

Guardians starter Ben Lively nearly escaped the jam with the score tied but with two outs, Pham hammered his fastball 423 feet to left-center for a three-run homer, his eighth, and a 4-1 lead. It was Pham's first RBIs since joining the Royals via waivers Aug. 31.

The four-run fourth was Kansas City's biggest inning since a four-run sixth in a 9-4 win at Cleveland on Aug. 26.

Lucas Erceg pitched a hitless ninth Wednesday to earn his ninth save, his sixth with the Royals.

The Royals (76-65) snapped a season-high seven-game losing streak in the season finale between the teams, cutting the Guardians' American League Central lead to 4 1/2 games over Kansas City and the Minnesota Twins (75-64) who lost to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Lively (11-9) allowed four runs on seven hits and a walk with three strikeouts in four innings.

Kyle Manzardo filled in at first base for Josh Naylor, who left the game Tuesday after rolling his left ankle.

Left-hander Erik Sabrowski made his major league debut in the seventh inning for Cleveland (80-60).

Bibee (11-6) surrendered one run on two hits with three walks and six strikeouts. Kyle Manzardo matched a career high with three hits while Will Brennan had two hits and two runs for the Guardians (80-59), who have won five of their past six.

Cleveland extended its American League Central lead to 4 1/2 games over the second-place Minnesota Twins (75-63) and to 5 1/2 games over the third-place Royals (75-65).

The Royals have managed a total of six hits in the two losses to the Guardians the past two days. Kansas City has been outscored 39-17 during its season-worst losing streak and has scored fewer than three runs in five straight games.

Through the first five innings, Bibee permitted a lone hit -- Bobby Witt Jr.'s first-inning single -- and allowed just one runner past first base.

Rocchio's second-inning sacrifice fly opened the scoring and Andres Gimenez looped an RBI single to left in the fifth for a 2-0 Cleveland lead.

Bibee ran into sixth-inning trouble, allowing a leadoff double to Tommy Pham and walks to Witt and Michael Massey to load the bases ahead of Paul DeJong's one-out sacrifice fly.

Pitching for the first time since leaving the Thursday game in Houston with a minor hand injury, Royals reliever Lucas Erceg loaded the bases in the eighth, allowing two hits and hitting a batter. James McArthur took over on the mound with two outs, and Rocchio drew a run-scoring walk and Steven Kwan delivered a two-run single, capping the scoring.

Guardians first baseman Josh Naylor left the game in the eighth inning due an apparent injury.

Royals starter Brady Singer (9-10) allowed two runs on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.

Witt had half of Kansas City's four hits, his 57th multi-hit game of the season.

Kansas City (75-64) was held to two hits in the opener of the three-game series and fell 4 1/2 games behind American League Central-leading Cleveland (79-59).

Williams (3-7) allowed one run on one hit with two walks and six strikeouts. He retired the last 16 batters he faced.

Cade Smith allowed one run in the eighth before Emmanuel Clase retired the Royals in order in the ninth for his 41st save in 44 opportunities.

The Royals took a 1-0 lead in the second after Williams struck out the first two batters of the inning. Yuli Gurriel walked with two outs, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Maikel Garcia's double down the left field line.

Thomas put the Guardians ahead with a two-run homer against Michael Wacha (11-7) in the fifth. Jhonkensy Noel led off the inning with a single and scored on Thomas's ninth homer of the season and first since being acquired from the Washington Nationals on July 29.

Wacha allowed two runs on five hits over five innings. He walked one and struck out three.

Cleveland padded its lead in the sixth against Kris Bubic. Jose Ramirez hit a leadoff single and Naylor followed with his 29th homer, a 420-foot blast to center.

Naylor also doubled and is 11-for-21 (.524) with a homer and eight RBIs during his five-game hitting streak.

After Garcia's RBI double in the second, Kansas City did not have another baserunner until Gurriel doubled against Smith to begin the eighth.

Gurriel exited with right hamstring tightness and was replaced by Freddy Fermin, who moved to third on Garcia's lineout before scoring on Kyle Isbel's sacrifice fly.

Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. did not start at shortstop for the first time this season and instead went 0-for-3 with a walk as the team's designated hitter.

Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro missed the game due to a personal matter. Bench coach Paul Hoover filled in for the series opener.

Bench coach Paul Hoover will serve as Royals manager.

There was no indication on how much time Quatraro, 50, might miss.

The Royals (75-63) entered play Monday in third place in the American League Central but in possession of the third and final wild-card spot in the AL, 4 1/2 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox.

In two seasons as Royals manager, Quatraro has guided the club to a 131-169 record and has the team in playoff contention after 106 losses in 2023. Quatraro also served as a coach for Cleveland (2014-17) and the Tampa Bay Rays (2018-22).

Alvarez blasted leadoff homers in the fourth and sixth innings to help carry the Astros (75-62), who moved a season-best 13 games over .500 with their fifth consecutive victory. With his 29th home run in the fourth, Alvarez posted his first dinger at home since June 22 against Baltimore.

The Astros broke through against Royals right-hander Alec Marsh (7-8) with the first Alvarez blast, a 369-foot drive to right field that snapped a scoreless tie. Four batters later, Jon Singleton extended the Houston lead to 3-0 with his 396-foot shot to right that drove home Ben Gamel, who worked a two-out walk. For Singleton, his two-run homer marked his 12th on the season.

Alvarez, who joined Jeff Bagwell as the only Astros with four consecutive 30-homer seasons, just missed a third dinger in the eighth with a 366-foot fly ball corralled by Royals right fielder Tommy Pham at the wall in right-center. Alvarez was the lone out recorded by Royals reliever John Schreiber, who allowed singles to Mauricio Dubon and Jose Altuve before Yainer Diaz followed Alvarez with an RBI double and Jeremy Pena chased Schreiber with a two-run single.

Alvarez and Dubon posted multi-hit games. Alvarez, Pena and Singleton had two RBIs each.

Blanco (10-6) snapped an eight-start winless streak by limiting the Royals (75-63) to three hits and four walks while recording three strikeouts. He retired the side in order only once, doing so in the top of the second inning. But Blanco worked around a pair of walks in the first, a one-out single from Pham in the third, and walks to MJ Melendez and Freddy Fermin in the fourth.

With two runners on base and one out in the fifth, Blanco preserved his sixth scoreless outing this season by getting Bobby Witt Jr. to roll a grounder to Singleton at first before recording a strikeout of Michael Massey. Blanco earned his first win since July 9 against the Miami Marlins.

Witt homered for the second consecutive game off Astros reliever Hector Neris. His solo shot to left with one out in the seventh was his 30th this season, making Witt the first player in franchise history with consecutive 30-homer campaigns.

Major league teams can expand rosters by two players for the final month of the regular season, with the Royals creating more space by designating left-hander Anthony Veneziano for assignment, while infielder Nick Loftin and outfielder Tyler Gentry were optioned to Triple-A Omaha.

Pham and Grossman were claimed off waivers Friday from the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers respectively. Gurriel was acquired in a trade from the Atlanta Braves, also on Friday.

Pham, 36, is a .258 career hitter with 137 homers, 462 RBIs and 125 steals in 1,098 career games over 11 seasons. He also has played for the Tampa Bay Rays (2018-19), San Diego Padres (2020-21), Cincinnati Reds (2022), Boston Red Sox (2022) and New York Mets (2023).

Grossman, 34, is hitting .243 with 93 homers and 429 RBIs in 1,197 games over 12 seasons with the Houston Astros (2013-15), Minnesota Twins (2016-18), Oakland Athletics (2019-20), Detroit Tigers (2021-22), Atlanta Braves (2022), Rangers (2023, 2024) and White Sox.

Gurriel, 40, is a career .281 hitter with 98 home runs and 462 RBIs over 909 games in eight seasons for the Houston Astros (2016-22) and Miami Marlins (2023). He played 75 games in Triple-A for the Braves this season and batted .292 with 12 home runs and 48 RBIs.

In his second season with the Royals, the 26-year-old Marsh was 7-7 with a 4.67 ERA in 21 appearances (20 starts) earlier this year.

Diaz and Pena struck the decisive blows against Royals left-hander Cole Ragans (10-9), who allowed just two baserunners and dominated the Houston lineup through five innings before coming undone in a five-run sixth.

Ragans matched a franchise record with eight consecutive strikeouts through the third, doing so after Jose Altuve drove a fly ball out to center to open the bottom of the first. Ragans struck out Yordan Alvarez, Diaz, Pena, Jake Meyers, Victor Caratini and Mauricio Dubon in succession -- all swinging -- before getting called third strikes on Zach Dezenzo and Ben Gamel in the third.

Ragans surrendered an opposite-field single to Alvarez in the fourth and issued a one-out walk to Caratini in the fifth. When Gamel opened that frame with a sharp single to right, the wheels suddenly came off Ragans' wagon.

Altuve (hit by pitch) and Alvarez (walk) reached safely following Gamel before Diaz smacked a ground ball past Bobby Witt Jr. and into left, plating Gamel and Altuve and spotting the Astros a 2-0 lead. Pena fell behind 0-2 in the count before blasting a knuckle curveball off the wall in center that drove home Alvarez and Diaz, who'd just executed a double steal.

Pena, who chased Ragans with his triple, scored when Royals reliever Steven Cruz unleashed a wild pitch to Jake Meyers. Ragans allowed five runs on four hits and two walks with 10 strikeouts. It marked the third time this season that Ragans has posted double-digit strikeouts.

The Astros improved to 6-0 behind Kikuchi (7-9), who recorded exactly 17 outs in four of his first five starts since joining Houston at the trade deadline. Kikuchi allowed five hits and did not walk a batter. He carried a shutout into the seventh before surrendering back-to-back singles to Freddy Fermin and MJ Melendez, with Fermin scoring on a Nick Loftin fielder's-choice grounder.

Witt slugged his 29th home run with two outs in the eighth off reliever Hector Neris.

The Royals have dropped four consecutive games, while the Astros have won four in a row.

Both players participated in last year's World Series, with Pham on the Arizona Diamondbacks and Grossman playing for the champion Texas Rangers.

Kansas City lost first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino to a broken thumb earlier this week.

Pham was designated for assignment by the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.

Pham, 36, batted .206 with two homers and 12 RBIs in 23 games for St. Louis after being acquired from the Chicago White Sox at the trade deadline. He hit .266 with five homers and 19 RBIs in 70 games with the White Sox.

Pham was in his second tour of duty with St. Louis. He was with the Cardinals from 2014-18 and smacked a career-best 23 homers in 2017.

Pham is a .258 career hitter with 137 homers, 462 RBIs and 125 steals in 1,098 career games over 11 seasons. He also has played for the Tampa Bay Rays (2018-19), San Diego Padres (2020-21), Cincinnati Reds (2022), Boston Red Sox (2022) and New York Mets (2023).

Grossman, 34, was placed on waivers by the Rangers on Thursday and then started for Texas on Friday since he had yet to be claimed. He went 1-for-3 in a 9-2 loss to the Oakland Athletics in his final game for Texas.

For his 12-year career, Grossman is hitting .243 with 93 homers and 429 RBIs in 1,197 games with the Houston Astros (2013-15), Minnesota Twins (2016-18), Oakland Athletics (2019-20), Detroit Tigers (2021-22), Atlanta Braves (2022), Rangers (2023, 2024) and White Sox.

Grossman appeared in seven postseason games for the Rangers in 2023 when they won the World Series.

To make room on the 40-man roster, the Royals designated for assignment two players: catcher Austin Nola and third baseman CJ Alexander. Nola, 34, was at Triple-A Omaha, while Alexander, 28, had one hit in eight at-bats for Kansas City this season.

The Royals entered play Saturday with a 75-61 record and in possession of one of three wild-card playoff spots in the American League.

Altuve notched the walk-off hit with a shot off Royals reliever James McArthur (5-6), who surrendered a one-out, opposite-field single to Jake Meyers that set the table for Altuve. Meyers scored from first when the ball caromed off the left-field wall and rolled away from left fielder MJ Melendez.

Astros left-hander Framber Valdez twirled seven no-hit innings and flirted with a second no-hitter for the second time this season. He logged 8 2/3 no-hit innings against the Texas Rangers on Aug. 6 and tossed his first career no-hitter against the Cleveland Guardians on Aug. 1, 2023.

Valdez had to walk a tightrope throughout after Royals right-hander Seth Lugo allowed just one run on six hits and one walk with nine strikeouts over seven innings. The lone run came in the bottom of the third inning when Astros left fielder Ben Gamel popped his first home run since Oct. 2, 2022, a 356-foot drive to left-center field that gave the Astros a 1-0 lead.

Houston added an insurance in the eighth when Jeremy Pena followed back-to-back hits against Royals reliever Carlos Hernandez with a sacrifice fly that drove home Yainer Diaz.

But the Royals pounced when Pena booted a routine grounder off the bat of Bobby Witt Jr. to open the ninth. Two batters later, Paul DeJong clubbed his 24th homer to left-center field off Astros closer Josh Hader, knotting the game at 2. Hader (7-7) had converted 29 consecutive save opportunities.

Valdez recorded his fifth scoreless outing of the season. He faced the minimum through five innings and erased the Royals' lone baserunner during that stretch when Freddy Fermin rolled into a 6-4-3 double play after DeJong worked a leadoff walk in the second.

Valdez retired 11 consecutive batters through the fifth inning before issuing a leadoff walk to Royals left fielder Dairon Bland in the sixth. He rebounded by recording four successive outs before running into trouble in the seventh after he hit Salvador Perez with a pitch and walked Fermin with two outs.

With the tying run in scoring position, Valdez capped his outing by getting a called third strike on Nick Loftin. Valdez issued three walks and recorded seven strikeouts while tossing 98 pitches.

The Royals announced Friday morning that Pasquantino, 26, is expected to miss six to eight weeks with a broken right thumb. Further testing will be done Friday, the team said on social media.

In the eighth inning of a 6-3 loss to the host Houston Astros, Erceg was injured when he tried to field a hard-hit chopper by Yainer Diaz back to the mound with his bare hand. On that same play, Pasquantino's attempt to field the throw forced his arm into the runner's lane, where he collided with Diaz.

Both players were immediately removed from the game.

There has been no update yet on the extent of Erceg's injury.

Drafted by Kansas City in the 11th round in 2019, Pasquantino, 26, played parts of the past two seasons in the majors before settling in as the No. 3 hitter in the Royals lineup for most of this season. He is batting .262 with 19 home runs and 97 RBIs and has a career batting average of .267 with 38 homers and 149 RBIs.

Erceg, 29, came to the Royals at the trade deadline from the Oakland Athletics. He had a 3.68 ERA with a 2-3 record and three saves through 38 appearances for Oakland in his second big-league season before notching an 0-2 record with a 2.63 ERA and five saves in 13 appearances out of the bullpen for the Royals.

Dubon's hit came after Zach Dezenzo drew a bases-loaded walk against John Schreiber that forced in the go-ahead run with two outs.

Houston had tied it at 3-3 when Lucas Erceg (2-5) threw wild to first base on Yainer Diaz's one-out comebacker, which let Jose Altuve score from second.

Erceg was pulled after his miscue, while Kansas City first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino also exited after being clipped by Diaz on the play.

Ryan Pressly (1-3) pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Astros, and Josh Hader notched his 29th save.

The Royals went up 3-2 in the seventh when Kyle Isbel hit a three-run double off of Houston reliever Bryan Abreu with two outs.

Kansas City rallied courtesy of ineffective defense by the left side of the Astros' infield.

Third baseman Alex Bregman was ejected by plate umpire Alex Tosi in the fourth inning for arguing balls and strikes, and his absence defensively played a role in the Royals' rally.

Rookie Shay Whitcomb replaced Bregman in the field, and while he wasn't charged with an error in the seventh, his inability to cleanly handle a pair of chances set the table for Isbel.

After Salvador Perez reached with one out on a fielding error by shortstop Jeremy Pena, Paul DeJong beat out a potential inning-ending double play when Whitcomb was a tad slow with a throw to second that erased Perez.

Two batters later, Maikel Garcia reached on an infield single when Whitcomb mishandled a grounder before unleashing a late throw to first base.

Isbel followed by plating DeJong, Garcia and MJ Melendez, who had walked after DeJong reached.

His double closed the book on Astros starter Hunter Brown, who carried a shutout into the seventh and allowed two unearned runs on two hits and two walks with four strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings.

Houston went up 2-0 in the fifth on a two-run double from 35-year-old Jason Heyward, who signed with the Astros earlier Thursday.

Heyward's knock came against Kansas City starter Brady Singer, who was charged with two runs on five hits and a walk while striking out six over six-plus innings.

Jhonkensy Noel's run-scoring single put Cleveland ahead to stay.

The Guardians avoided getting swept by the Royals after dropping the first three contests of the four-game series. They regained sole possession of first place in a tightly-contested American League Central Division, after Kansas City tied things up on Tuesday.

Cleveland was trailing, 5-2, when Bo Naylor hit his 11th home run of the season to ignite the seventh-inning rally. Later in the inning, Josh Naylor, older brother of Bo, delivered an RBI single. Will Brennan and Noel topped off the scoring surge with two-out RBI singles to put the Guardians in front.

Andres Gimenez added an insurance run with a sacrifice fly RBI in the eighth inning to pad Cleveland's lead. Steven Kwan and Josh Naylor each provided one RBI apiece for the Guardians' earlier runs.

Cleveland's Tanner Bibee gave up five runs on eight hits and two walks, while striking out six batters over five innings in a no-decision. Eli Morgan (2-0) got the win in relief. Emmanuel Clase tallied his 39th save of the year, and the 149th of his career to tie Cody Allen for the franchise record.

Michael Wacha pitched six innings for the Royals, giving up five earned runs on nine hits, with seven strikeouts and no walks. He was relieved after giving up three consecutive hits to begin the seventh inning. Lucas Erceg (2-4) was saddled with the loss and charged with his fourth blown save of the year.

Kansas City's Vinnie Pasquantino went 4-for-5 and hit his 19th home run of the year. Bobby Witt Jr. (28th) and Michael Massey (11th) also homered for the Royals. Maikel Garcia and Adam Frazier each had a RBI.

Kansas City logged 11 hits as a team, while Cleveland had 13.

Lorenzen, 32, exited his start in the second inning Tuesday night against the host Cleveland Guardians. He apparently sustained the injury earlier in the frame covering first base while trying to convert a 3-6-1 double play.

In a corresponding move, the Royals recalled RHP Steven Cruz from Triple-A Omaha.

Lorenzen is 2-0 with a 1.85 ERA for the Royals in five starts since being acquired from Texas at the trade deadline. Overall, he's 7-6 with a 3.43 ERA in 24 appearances (23 starts) this season.

Lorenzen is 47-44 with a 4.01 ERA in 366 career appearances (92 starts) for six teams.

Cruz, 25, appeared in 10 games (four starts) for the Royals last season, sporting a 4.97 ERA without a recording a decision. He has yet to pitch for the Royals this season. He's 6-1 with a 3.35 ERA in 44 relief appearances at Omaha.

After sweeping a doubleheader on Monday to open a four-game series, the Royals rode DeJong's second-inning homer and a three-run seventh to their 10th victory in 13 games. Kansas City owns the tiebreaker with a 7-2 mark vs. Cleveland, which has lost nine of its past 12 and is 24-32 since holding a nine-game division lead on June 25.

Four Kansas City relievers retired the final 15 Cleveland hitters.

Royals starter Michael Lorenzen, who entered 2-0 with a 1.99 ERA in four starts since being acquired from the Texas Rangers, exited in the second inning with a left hamstring strain apparently sustained while covering first base on ground ball.

With runners on the corners, the right-hander stayed in the game and struck out Cleveland's Lane Thomas. However, Lorenzen left with a 1-0 count on Bo Naylor, who struck out against Carlos Hernandez to end the frame.

Following a lengthy weather delay in the fifth inning, Kansas City's James McArthur (5-5), John Schreiber, Sam Long and Chris Stratton did not allow a baserunner.

In the second, Kansas City's Salvador Perez singled, then scored when DeJong took a fastball from Gavin Williams (2-7) the opposite way and into the right field seats.

The Guardians got their run in the fourth. Hernandez issued a two-out walk to David Fry, who went to second on Daniel Schneemann's hit and scored via Thomas' seeing-eye single.

The Royals padded their lead in the seventh. Cleveland reliever Scott Barlow allowed RBI singles to Maikel Garcia and Michael Massey, hit a batter, walked one and unleashed a run-scoring wild pitch while recording just one out.

Cleveland's Pedro Avila relieved Barlow and hit Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. on the forearm with a pitch. Witt stayed in the game.

Williams fanned six over five innings. He gave up two runs on three hits and two walks.

The right-hander apparently suffered the injury earlier in the frame covering first base while trying to convert a 3-6-1 double play. Lorenzen stayed in the game after that play and struck out Cleveland's Lane Thomas.

However, he left with a 1-0 count on Bo Naylor, who fanned against Carlos Hernandez to end the frame. Lorenzen limited the Guardians to one hit and one walk in 1 2/3 scoreless innings.

Lorenzen, 32, entered the game 2-0 with a 1.99 ERA in four starts since the Royals acquired him from Texas.

Kansas City, one-game behind the first-place Guardians in the AL Central, led 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning while amid a weather delay.

Perez broke a 4-4 tie with his solo homer in the fifth off Cleveland starter Logan Allen (8-5).

The victory came after Witt clubbed a tiebreaking solo homer in the eighth of a 4-3 win in Game 1, and the sweep leaves Kansas City one game back of the American League Central-leading Guardians. Paul DeJong also homered in Game 2 for the Royals, who pounded out 15 hits while logging their ninth win in 12 games.

Daniel Schneemann hit a tying homer in the fourth and Jose Ramirez had three doubles for the Guardians, who have lost eight of 11. Cleveland has lost every game in its four doubleheaders this season.

Royals starter Alec Marsh allowed four runs -- two earned -- in 4 2/3 innings. However, Royals relievers Sam Long (3-1) and Daniel Lynch IV combined to yield two hits in 4 1/3 scoreless frames. Lynch handled the final three innings for his first career save.

Allen allowed five runs, eight hits and four walks in five innings. He struck out one.

The Royals got a run back in the top of the second when DeJong clubbed an Allen pitch well into the left field bleachers. Then in the third, Garcia singled, went to third on Witt's line-drive double and eventually scored on Perez's groundout.

Kansas City erased its deficit in the fourth when Hampton dumped an RBI single to center. Garcia's sacrifice fly later in the frame put the Royals ahead 4-3.

Witt homered for the second time in as many days and has now gone deep 27 times this season.

John Schreiber (4-3) earned the win with 1 2/3 innings of perfect relief. Lucas Erceg issued a walk in the ninth but still managed to notch his eighth save of the year.

Hunter Gaddis (4-3) served up Witt's long ball to take the loss.

It originally looked like MJ Melendez was going to single-handedly lead Kansas City to a victory, as he put the Royals up 3-2 with a three-run homer in the fourth, then made a stunning catch an inning later.

Melendez's blast was initially ruled a double. Kansas City challenged the call, which was overturned when video review showed that the ball just cleared the right field wall.

The Guardians did end up drawing even eventually, though, with Josh Naylor singling home a run in the seventh.

Royals starter Cole Ragans struggled with his control in the second, and Cleveland took advantage to grab a 2-0 lead.

Noel drew a leadoff walk before Tyler Freeman was hit by a pitch with one out. Austin Hedges followed with a single to load the bases for Steven Kwan, who walked on four pitches to bring home Noel.

Freeman later scored on a passed ball.

Left calf and hamstring cramps forced Ragans to exit the game after four-plus innings. The left-hander gave up the two runs (one earned) on three hits. He walked four and struck out four.

Nick Sandlin served as an opener for Cleveland, making his first career start in 198 major league appearances. He worked around two walks in a scoreless first before turning things over to Eli Morgan.

Salvador Perez finished with three hits, including two doubles, for Kansas City.