KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jeremy Guthrie pitched six shutout innings and the Kansas City Royals beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-1 on Wednesday night.

The Royals tied a club record with 24 consecutive scoreless innings, which was set June 9-12, 1976. That streak ended in the seventh when Brandon Phillips’ two-out double off reliever Ryan Madson scored Zack Cozart.

The Royals, who won for the fifth time in six games, improved to 26-14, the franchise’s best record after 40 games.

Guthrie (4-2) pitched out of a bases-loaded, one-out predicament in the first inning and won his third straight start. He gave up five hits, walked two and struck out three. Guthrie retired 13 on fly balls and two on grounders.

Reds right-hander Jason Marquis (3-4) was pulled after 3 2-3 innings, yielding four runs, four hits, two sacrifice flies, two walks and a wild pitch. In losing his past three starts, Marquis has surrendered 21 hits and 15 runs in 12 1-3 innings for a 15.33 ERA.

 

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Yordano Ventura, Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis combined on a four-hitter and the Kansas City Royals beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-0 on Tuesday night.

The Royals, who beat the New York Yankees 6-0 on Sunday, logged consecutive shutouts for the first time since Sept. 29-30, 1992, when Dennis Rasmussen and Rick Reed blanked the California Angels.

Ventura (3-3), who was 0-3 in his five previous starts since a victory on April 12, allowed four singles, struck out six and walked none. He reached a three-ball count on only four hitters and retired all of them, lowering his ERA to 4.56.

Herrera gave up a walk in the eighth, but nothing else. Davis worked a spotless ninth, claiming his seventh save in as many opportunities.

Mike Moustakas went 3 for 4 with two doubles and drove in two runs. His double in the fifth scored Paulo Orlando, while his seventh-inning double brought home Omar Infante.

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Edinson Volquez threw three-hit ball for seven innings, Salvador Perez homered and drove in two runs and the Kansas City Royals rudely welcomed Chris Capuano back to the big leagues with a 6-0 victory over the New York Yankees on Sunday.

The Royals got production from throughout their lineup to take the rubber game of their three-game set with the Yankees, whom they face again next week in New York.

Volquez (3-3) struck out five without issuing a walk in an effortless performance. He never allowed a leadoff man on base, and just one Yankee reached second all afternoon.

Capuano (0-1) made his season debut after rehabbing a quad strain that he sustained in spring training. The veteran left-hander gave up four runs on four hits and two walks, and left New York in a big hole when he was pulled four batters into the third inning.

The loss was the Yankees’ fifth in their last six games.

 

 

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Lorenzo Cain had a career-high five RBIs, Kendrys Morales drove in three more runs and the Kansas City Royals routed the New York Yankees 12-1 on Friday night.

The Royals scored six times in the sixth inning while knocking Yankees starter Michael Pineda from the game, then cruised the rest of the way to open a three-game set between division leaders by dealing New York its season-high fourth consecutive loss.

Chris Young (3-0) allowed just four hits and two walks over 5 2-3 innings, making another strong case for a permanent spot in the starting rotation. The 6-foot-10 veteran made his third spot start in place of Jason Vargas, who is on the disabled list with a hip flexor injury.

Pineda (5-1), coming off a masterful 16-strikeout performance against Baltimore, only struck out one while matching a career worst with 10 hits.

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Alcides Escobar had three hits and accounted for five runs, Eric Hosmer homered and the Kansas City Royals beat the Texas Rangers 6-3 on Thursday for a split of the four-game series.

Escobar led off the game with a single and scored on Alex Gordon’s fielder’s choice on a shattered-bat grounder. Escobar added a two-run single in the fourth, then had an RBI single before scoring on Hosmer’s drive in the sixth.

Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie (3-2) gave up two runs over five innings to win his second consecutive start. He struck out one and didn’t walk a batter, but twice hit Prince Fielder with pitches.

Greg Holland worked the ninth for his seventh save in eight chances, even after consecutive two-out walks.

Ross Detwiler (0-5) is winless in his first seven starts for Texas, which acquired the right-hander from Washington over the winter. Detwiler gave up nine hits and three runs in five innings.

 

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Prince Fielder homered and had three hits, Shin-Soo Choo hit a leadoff home run for the second straight game and the Texas Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals 5-2 Wednesday night.

Choo pulled a 98 mph fastball from Yordano Ventura into the right-field seats, and Fielder gave the Rangers a 4-0 lead with a two-run homer in the second inning.

Texas rookie Delino DeShields had three hits, including his first triple, and scored twice.

Yovani Gallardo (3-5) took a shutout into the seventh inning before allowing run-scoring doubles by Kendrys Morales and Salvador Perez. Gallardo snapped a four-start losing streak that matched a career worst.

The first five Texas hitters reached against Ventura (2-3), who gave up at least four runs for the fourth time in five starts.

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Alex Gordon homered on the first pitch of the 10th inning, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Texas Rangers 7-6 Tuesday night.

Gordon greeted reliever Stolmy Pimentel (0-1) by pulling a ball into the seats down the right-field line.

Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas also homered for the AL Central leaders, who had gone ahead on an RBI groundout by Lorenzo Cain in the ninth. Adrian Beltre’s two-out RBI single in the bottom half tied the game again.

After Greg Holland (1-0) took over in the ninth and blew his first save in seven chances this year, the right-hander returned to throw a perfect 10th. It was his first outing this season that lasted more than one inning.

 

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Adrian Beltre hit his 399th career home run, newcomer Thomas Field hit his first and the Texas Rangers beat the weary Kansas City Royals 8-2 Monday night.

Prince Fielder also homered for the Rangers to back Colby Lewis (3-2), who beat the Royals for the first time since 2003 by limiting them to one run and three hits over seven innings. The right-hander struck out five and walked two.

The defending AL champion Royals didn’t arrive in Texas until about 5:45 a.m. Monday after their 10-inning, rain-delayed victory at Detroit that ended after midnight.

Danny Duffy (2-2), who traveled ahead of his teammates, matched his career high with six walks while pitching only 3 2-3 innings. He struck out four while giving up six runs and five hits.

 

DETROIT (AP) — Greg Holland worked out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam in the bottom of the 10th inning, and the Kansas City Royals held on for a 2-1 win over the Detroit Tigers early Monday in a game that was delayed 103 minutes by rain.

Omar Infante’s sacrifice fly in the top of the 10th put the Royals ahead, but Holland allowed a single and two walks to start the bottom half. Hernan Perez — batting because Miguel Cabrera had been removed for a pinch-runner the previous inning — bounced into a 5-2-3 double play, but another walk to Victor Martinez loaded the bases again.

Holland then struck out Yoenis Cespedes for his sixth save in six chances.

Jason Frasor (1-0) got the win, working out of a bases-loaded jam of his own in the ninth.

Angel Nesbitt (0-1) took the loss.

 

DETROIT (AP) — Alcides Escobar homered on the first pitch of the game and made a sparkling catch on Miguel Cabrera’s line drive two innings later, leading the Kansas City Royals to a 6-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday.

Jeremy Guthrie (2-2) allowed two runs in 7 1-3 innings for the Royals, who moved back into first place in the AL Central. The Tigers had taken a half-game lead by beating the Royals in a sloppily played series opener Friday night.

Anibal Sanchez (2-4) allowed six runs and nine hits in six innings, his ERA rising to 5.44 on the young season. He came into the game with a 1.40 ERA in eight career starts against the Royals.

Guthrie allowed fewer than three runs for the first time this year.