J.D. Martinez clubbed a two-run home run in a four-run fifth inning as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Kansas City Royals 7-1 on Saturday afternoon.Bobby Dalbec was 3-for-3 for the Red Sox with a home run and a triple.Boston's Nos. 8 and 9 hitters, Enrique Hernandez and Dalbec, finished the day 4-for-5 with a walk, a hit-by-pitch and three RBIs.The Royals continued to struggle in clutch-hitting situations. They finished 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position and are now 6-for-68 in those situations going back to the ninth inning of a June 10 game against the Oakland Athletics.Martin Perez (5-4) allowed one run on three hits in five innings to earn the win.Brad Keller (6-7) gave up five runs on five hits in five innings, including two of his three walks in the Red Sox's four-run fifth.Keller continued to struggle in the first inning, though he did manage to limit the damage. He allowed one run on two hits Saturday, with the run coming on an excuse-me single by Xander Bogaerts. Keller has allowed 16 earned runs in 15 first innings (9.60 ERA).The Royals tied it in the third but missed a golden opportunity to grab the lead. Nicky Lopez led off with a single and went to third on Whit Merrifield's single. Lopez scored on a groundout by Carlos Santana. ... Continue Reading

Adalberto Mondesi homered for the second straight game as the Kansas City Royals defeated the Boston Red Sox 5-3 Friday night to snap a six-game losing streak.Mondesi's 464-foot home run was the longest of his career.Reliever Kris Bubic (2-2) earned the win in the opener of a three-game series, allowing two runs in 2 2/3 innings. Greg Holland pitched a perfect ninth inning for his fourth save.Nick Pivetta (6-3) took the loss, his third straight, as Boston saw its three-game winning streak end. He allowed three runs on six hits in five innings with six strikeouts and three walks.The Royals went with an opener Friday, sending Kyle Zimmer to the mound for his second career start, the other having occurred last July. Zimmer, who has appeared in 23 games in 2021 and 54 in his career, didn't allow a run in two innings. He gave up three hits and no walks while fanning three.The Royals entered play without a first-inning run since scoring nine against the Twins on June 4, and they came in 5-for-49 with runners in scoring position in their past six games. Those futile streaks converged, as they had runners on first and second in the first inning Friday but couldn't push a run across.The Red Sox got a run in the third off Bubic, who came in after Zimmer. Bubic gave up singles to the first three batters he faced, the third one by Alex Verdugo, driving in Danny Santana. However, J.D. Martinez hit into a 5-4-2 double play, with Nicky Lopez firing home to Salvador Perez to retire the runner at the plate.The Royals came back in the bottom of the third on a three-run home run by Mondesi that landed in the restaurant beyond the bleachers in right. It was his fourth long ball of the season. ... Continue Reading

Miguel Cabrera had his second straight multi-hit game -- with a double, a run scored and an RBI -- as the Detroit Tigers defeated the Royals 4-3 on Tuesday night in Kansas City.The Royals lost their fifth straight and 10th in their last 11 games. They have not led at any point during the five-game losing streak.Detroit's Casey Mize (4-4) had his eighth quality start in his last nine outings. He allowed three runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out three and walked one.Gregory Soto pitched the ninth for his sixth save in as many chances.Mike Minor (5-4) took the loss for the Royals. He allowed four runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. He didn't walk a batter and struck out five.Cabrera's 246 career hits against the Royals are his second most against any opponent (258, Cleveland). His 151 career RBIs are the third most in his career (163 vs. Cleveland, 158 vs. Minnesota).He drove in the Tigers' first run, in the first. But Minor induced an inning-ending double play to eliminate further damage. ... Continue Reading

Willi Castro's two-run home run keyed a three-run eighth inning as the Detroit Tigers defeated the host Kansas City Royals 6-5 on Wednesday afternoon to complete a three-game sweep.The Royals lost their sixth straight game and 11th in their last 12.Three of this season's four series between Detroit and Kansas City have resulted in sweeps, with two of those sweeps going to the Tigers.Adalberto Mondesi and Salvador Perez hit home runs for Kansas City.Tarik Skubal (4-7) picked up the win for the Tigers. He allowed three runs on six hits in six innings with seven strikeouts and two walks. Michael Fulmer gave up two runs in the ninth before finishing off his fifth save.Greg Holland (2-2) took the loss, allowing three runs in just one-third of an inning.Royals starter Brady Singer was removed after just three innings with right posterior shoulder tightness. He allowed one run on four hits.Singer worked around a walk in the first to become the first Royals pitcher in five games not to surrender a run in the first inning. The Tigers had runners on second and third with no outs in the second, but Singer got two groundouts and a strikeout without allowing a run.Mondesi's 445-foot home run to left-center field in the second inning gave the Royals a lead for the first time in 46 innings. ... Continue Reading

Miguel Cabrera had three hits, two RBIs and two runs scored, including one of each in a four-run first, as the Detroit Tigers defeated the Royals 10-3 Monday night in the first game of a three-game series in Kansas City.The Tigers snapped their three-game losing streak, while the Royals saw their losing streak stretch to four games and are a season-worst five games below .500. The Royals have not led since the final out of Thursday's 6-1 victory in Oakland.The Royals were 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position.Joe Jimenez (2-0) earned the win in relief.The Tigers lost two pitchers to injury. Detroit starter Matthew Boyd left the game in the third inning with left-arm discomfort. Alex Lange left with right-shoulder discomfort in in the fifth after 1/3 of an inning.Brad Keller (6-6) took the loss. He gave up seven runs, six earned, in five innings. His first-inning woes continued, giving up four runs (three earned) on four hits in the first. His first-inning ERA is now 9.64.He hit Robbie Grossman leading off and then gave up a single to Harold Castro. Jonathan Schoop hit a ground ball through the legs of third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez. Miguel Cabrera singled to center driving in another run and Niko Goodrum drove in two with a single.Boyd was hardly cruising when his night came to an end. He gave up five hits through 2 1/3 innings, but he escaped without allowing any runs. ... Continue Reading

The Kansas City Royals put outfielder Andrew Benintendi on the 10-day injured list on Monday with a right rib fracture.The team recalled outfielder Edward Olivares from Triple-A Omaha.An X-ray on Monday revealed a hairline fracture. Benintendi suffered the injury making a throw during Sunday's game in Oakland, Royals manager Mike Matheny said. Benintendi missed most of the 2020 season, his last in Boston, with a rib injury.Benintendi, 26, is hitting .283/.340/.429 with eight home runs, 31 RBIs and 31 runs scored in 60 games. He's hitting .323 since April 23, fifth best in the American League and first among AL outfielders, per the team. ... Continue Reading

Matt Olson capped a powerful weekend with two home runs and right-hander Chris Bassitt won his seventh consecutive decision Sunday afternoon as the Oakland Athletics made it three straight wins over the visiting Kansas City Royals with a 6-3 victory.Matt Chapman homered for the second straight day for the A's, who dropped the series opener to the Royals 6-1 on Thursday before rebounding for 4-3, 11-2 and 6-3 triumphs.The three wins completed a clean sweep of the Royals' vaunted Class of 2018 pitching prospects, including left-hander Kris Bubic (1-2), who allowed five of Oakland's six runs in 4 2/3 innings.The A's scored runs in four of the five innings Bubic started, including the first on Chapman's seventh homer of the year, the third on Olson's 17th and the fifth on Olson's 18th. All three were solo shots.The two-homer game was Olson's second of the season and completed a weekend on which he went 6-for-9 with a double, three homers and six RBIs.The A's also scored twice in the second on an RBI double by Elvis Andrus and a run-scoring single by Mark Canha, and padded their total when Tony Kemp drew one of his three walks in the sixth and scored on a Canha double.Bubic, a former San Jose prep standout and Stanford product who was making his first Bay Area major league start, was charged with five runs on seven hits in his 4 2/3 innings. He walked three and struck out five.Bassitt (7-2), who lost his first two outings of the season, ran his streak of consecutive starts without another loss to 12 with 5 2/3 innings of five-hit, two-run ball. He also walked three and struck out five. ... Continue Reading

Right-hander James Kaprielian threw six shutout innings while Matt Chapman, Skye Bolt and Matt Olson delivered home runs Saturday afternoon, sending the Oakland Athletics to an 11-2 victory over the visiting Kansas City Royals.In a matchup with fellow first-round draft pick Jackson Kowar, Kaprielian (3-1) dominated, limiting the Royals to a single by Jarrod Dyson and a triple by Kelvin Gutierrez in his six innings. In his sixth career start, the rookie walked four and struck out seven.Kowar (0-2), meanwhile, managed to record just four outs, charged with four runs on five hits in his 1 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out one.Attempting to rebound after a disastrous major-league debut on Monday against the Los Angeles Angels when he served up four runs in just two-thirds of an inning, Kowar pitched out of a bases-loaded situation in the first against the A's after allowing a sacrifice fly to Keith Moreland.He wasn't as fortunate in the second, when Chapman and Olson belted back-to-back doubles, combining to drive in three runs, prompting the 24-year-old's removal from the game, down 4-0.After Elvis Andrus made it 5-0 with an RBI single in the fifth, Chapman hit his sixth homer in the sixth and Bolt the first of his career in the eighth, both solo shots, before Olson poured on with a three-run shot, his 16th. ... Continue Reading

Elvis Andrus followed a one-out double by Matt Chapman and an intentional walk with a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning Friday night, allowing the Oakland Athletics to beat the visiting Kansas City Royals 4-3 despite blowing a late three-run lead.Salvador Perez hit two home runs for the Royals, giving him 16 for the season. The solo shots accounted for two of the three runs in the Kansas City comeback.Lou Trivino (3-2) kept the Royals from scoring in the top of the ninth despite having a runner at second with no outs. Then Chapman doubled to left field off Kansas City's fourth pitcher, Scott Barlow (2-2), who was in his second inning.Seth Brown was intentionally walked as the Royals hoped for a double play, but Andrus delivered Oakland's sixth walk-off win of the season. His line-drive single to right field scored Chapman, who barely beat a strong throw to the plate by Jarrod Dyson with a headfirst dive.Royals starter Brady Singer gave up an RBI double to Chapman and two-run homer to Brown to fall behind 3-0 in the fourth inning. It was Brown's ninth home run of the season.But Singer and the Kansas City bullpen held Oakland scoreless for the next four innings.A's starter Cole Irvin took a three-hit shutout and three-run lead into the seventh before Perez led off the inning with a home run to left.Singles by Andrew Benintendi and Jorge Soler ended Irvin's night. Yusmeiro Petit came on two get two outs, but the Royals got within 3-2 on Michael A. Taylor's infield out. ... Continue Reading

Left-hander Mike Minor reminded the Oakland Athletics why they traded for him for the stretch run last season, limiting his former team to one run in seven innings Thursday while pitching the visiting Kansas City Royals to a 6-1 victory in the opener of a four-game series.Kelvin Gutierrez broke a 1-1 tie with a two-RBI single in a three-run seventh for the Royals, who snapped a five-game losing streak.Minor (5-3) joined the A's last August in a trade from the Texas Rangers and pitched eight times for Oakland, including three times in relief in the postseason. On Thursday, he served up a solo home run to Jed Lowrie in the fourth but gave up no other runs in his seven-inning stint.The 10-year veteran allowed only two other hits -- singles by Matt Olson in the second and Stephen Piscotty in the fifth -- to win for the second time in his last three starts. He walked one and struck out eight.Minor found himself trailing 1-0 until the game-changing seventh, when the Royals caught a break on a catcher's interference on Sean Murphy to ignite a rally against Oakland starter Frankie Montas (6-6).Andrew Benintendi, who had led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on Murphy's miscue, came around to score the tying run on a double by Hunter Dozier.Gutierrez then blooped his two-run hit into center field, giving Kansas City the lead for good.Montas was pulled at that point, charged with three runs (two earned) on five hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out eight without issuing a walk. ... Continue Reading