MLB roundup: Royals’ win streak ends with 11-3 loss to A’s

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals’ winning streak ended with a resounding thud.

Jon Lester pitched six strong innings and Josh Donaldson homered twice and drove in four runs as the Oakland Athletics beat Kansas City 11-3 Tuesday night, snapping the Royals’ eight-game winning streak.

“We’re not going to win every game from here on out. If somebody thinks we were, sorry,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “But we’ve got to keep these nights few and far between. These games quite frankly are easier to forget than the 3-2, 2-1. You just move on.”

Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie (8-10) allowed six runs and 11 hits in 4 2-3 innings. Guthrie was not nearly as sharp as he was on Aug. 1 when he held the A’s to three hits over six scoreless innings in a 1-0 victory. This lopsided loss may not be so easy for him to remove from his thoughts.

“Maybe it makes it a little easier,” Guthrie said. “I’m not absolutely certain. We play 162 of these and you take them for what it’s worth. They strung together a bunch of hits and they had a tough pitcher and won the game.”

Lester (13-7) has won all three of his start since the A’s acquired him July 31 in a deal that sent All-Star outfielder Yoenis Cespedes to Boston. Lester struck out nine and allowed three runs, six hits and two walks.

“I’d rather face Cespedes four times in a game than face Lester one game,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “That’s just me. That’s not taking anything away from Cespedes. He can beat you with one swing of the bat.”

The Royals have won 11 of 13 with both losses to Lester, who is 9-3 with a 1.84 ERA in 13 career starts against Kansas City.

Donaldson homered in the seventh and eighth off left-hander Bruce Chen for his third multi-homer game of the season. He also added an RBI double in the first and a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Chen, who had not pitched since Aug. 2, was roughed up for five runs on nine hits in four innings.

Brandon Moss had four hits, matching his career high, as the A’s banged out a season-high 20 hits.

Salvador Perez and Lorenzo Cain doubled in the Royals’ three-run fifth.

DODGERS 4, BRAVES 2

ATLANTA — Dan Haren pitched six solid innings and sparked the go-ahead rally with a single, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to another win over the skidding Atlanta Braves, 4-2 on Tuesday night.

Haren (10-9) allowed a fourth-inning homer to B.J. Upton that put the Braves up 2-1, but the light-hitting pitcher came through with a one-out single to right in the fifth. Carl Crawford followed with a double, and Haren scored the tying run on Yasiel Puig’s grounder to third.

Matt Kemp hit a little blooper to right that just got over the glove of second baseman Tommy La Stella, bringing home Crawford.

That was enough for the Dodgers.

Mike Minor (4-8) matched his longest outing of the past month after being skipped his previous turn in the rotation. The Atlanta lefty went 6 2-3 innings, allowing eight hits and all three Dodgers run.

PIRATES 4, TIGERS 2

PITTSBURGH — Edinson Volquez allowed two runs over six innings and the Pirates jumped on the Tigers early in a victory.

Volquez (10-7) struck out five and walked two against five hits to improve to 6-1 in his last seven decisions.

Travis Snider went 2 for 4 with an RBI for the Pirates. Gaby Sanchez and Ike Davis added RBI doubles and Jordy Mercer chipped in a run-scoring single.

Alex Avila hit his ninth homer of the season for Detroit.

Robbie Ray (1-2) gave up four runs in five-plus innings while making a spot start for the weary Tigers. Detroit has lost six of seven as it battles surging Kansas City for the lead in the AL Central.

CUBS 3, BREWERS 0

CHICAGO — Rookie Kyle Hendricks pitched 7 1-3 innings of six-hit ball in his third consecutive win, and the Cubs cooled off Wily Peralta and the Brewers.

Hendricks (4-1) struck out five and walked one in his third consecutive win, continuing an impressive opening run for his major league career.

Anthony Rizzo hit his 26th homer for Chicago, which had lost three of four.

Trying for a major league-high 15th win, Peralta (14-7) allowed three runs and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings.

NATIONALS 7, METS 1

NEW YORK — Michael Taylor homered in his big league debut, setting off a silly sequence to retrieve the souvenir, and the Nationals backed Doug Fister with four long shots in a romp over the Mets.

Bryce Harper homered early, then Anthony Rendon, Ian Desmond and Taylor connected in the sixth inning as the NL East leaders won their ninth straight at Citi Field.

Promoted from Triple-A over the weekend, Taylor singled in his first at-bat and later hit a two-run drive the opposite way at one of the majors’ most spacious parks.

Fister (12-3) came back from a 25-minute rain delay and pitched seven shutout innings. He gave up seven hits, walked none and struck out three.

Rafael Montero (0-3) was tagged for three homers and five runs in five-plus innings.

MARLINS 3, CARDINALS 0

MIAMI — Jarred Cosart pitched seven innings in a duel with Adam Wainwright to earn his first victory for the Marlins, who beat the Cardinalsy.

Cosart allowed three hits and one walk to win for the first time since July 7. The victory came in his second start for Miami after being acquired from Houston in a trade for prospects.

He’s 1-1 with Miami and 10-7 overall this year.

Wainwright (14-7), making his first start against the Marlins since 2010, missed a chance to became the first 15-game winner in the majors. He went seven innings and allowed three runs, with two coming on a home run off the foul pole by Donovan Solano.

RED SOX 3, REDS 2

CINCINNATI — Yoenis Cespedes hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning, lifting the Red Sox to a win over the Reds.

One pitch after ducking away from Jonathan Broxton’s high-and-inside fastball, Cespedes launched a no-doubt, 433-foot drive to center field with two outs and Brock Holt on second base to give Boston back-to-back victories for the first time since a five-game winning streak from July 13-20.

Cespedes hit his 19th homer of the season and second with Boston — one in each of the last two games.

Tommy Layne (1-0) got the final out of the seventh inning for the win. Broxton (4-1) was the loser.

Mat Latos retired 11 straight batters before Daniel Nava led off the seventh with a double. Xander Bogaerts snapped a 0-for-15 slump with an RBI single.

RANGERS 3, RAYS 2, 14 INNINGS

ARLINGTON, Texas — Carlos Ramos walked Adam Rosales with two outs in the 14th inning to force in the winning run and the Rangers beat Tampa Bay.

Ramos (2-5), the Rays’ seventh pitcher, walked Rosales on four pitches, allowing pinch-running pitcher Nick Martinez to score.

Texas’ sixth pitcher, Scott Baker (1-3) earned the victory with two scoreless innings. The Rangers had lost all 20 games in which he appeared before Tuesday.

MARINERS 6, BLUE JAYS 3

SEATTLE — Kyle Seager and Kendrys Morales hit solo home runs, Dustin Ackley added a key two-out two-run single, and the Mariners moved into a tie for the second AL wild ard with a win over the Blue Jays.

Seattle won for the seventh time in eight games to catch Detroit in the wild-card race.

Young (11-6) pitched six strong innings, allowing just two hits. He yielded a first-inning run after walking Jose Reyes on four pitches and giving up Melky Cabrera’s RBI double to start the game. Young retired 14 straight after Cabrera’s double.

Toronto starter J.A. Happ (8-7) gave up seven hits and struck out only one in six innings after recording 12 strikeouts in his last start.

ASTROS 10, TWINS 4

HOUSTON — Chris Carter homered twice and tied a career high with five RBIs to lead the Astros over Minnesota.

The game was tied in the third inning when Carter’s two-out, two-run drive to the Crawford Boxes in left field put Houston up 3-1.

Carter connected again on his next at-bat with a three-run shot in the fifth which chased Minnesota rookie starter Yohan Pino (1-5).

Collin McHugh (5-9) allowed four hits and a run in six innings for the win.

Oswaldo Arcia homered twice for the Twins.

WHITE SOX 3, GIANTS 2, 10 INNINGS

SAN FRANCISCO — Gordon Beckham hit an RBI single with two outs in the 10th inning and the White Sox beat the Giants after blowing a two-run lead in the ninth.

One batter after Jordan Danks was thrown out trying to score from third on a fielder’s choice, Beckham hit an 0-1 pitch from San Francisco reliever Santiago Casilla (1-2) past shortstop Brandon Crawford into left field. Sierra, who entered the game as a late defensive replacement, scored easily.

Adam Dunn hit a two-run home run off Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong in the first for Chicago, which wasted another strong start by Chris Sale when reliever Jake Petricka gave up four hits in the ninth.

Zach Putnam (4-2) pitched 1 1-3 innings for the win.

Sale struck out 12 and walked two over eight solid innings.

ANGELS 7, PHILLIES 2

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Kole Calhoun homered and had an RBI single during a seven-run sixth inning, and the Angels’ struggling offense rebounded for a victory over the Phillies.

David Freese had a two-run double during the lengthy rally, which propelled Los Angeles to just its second win in seven games. Calhoun bookended the rally with two of his three hits for the Angels, who had scored just nine runs in their previous 61 innings.

C.J. Wilson (9-8) pitched into the seventh inning of his first victory since June 24, yielding seven hits and two walks.

Howie Kendrick drove home Albert Pujols with a tying single off Antonio Bastardo (5-6).

PADRES 4, ROCKIES 1

SAN DIEGO — Odrisamer Despaigne pitched five-hit ball for seven innings, leading the Padres to a win over the Rockies for their fourth straight win.

Despaigne (3-3) struck out eight and walked two for San Diego, which has won 10 of 13. Chris Nelson drove in two runs in the eighth inning for the Padres.

Alexi Amarista and Abraham Almonte also drove in runs. Yasmani Grandal had two of the Padres’ six hits.

Yohan Flande (0-5) went six innings and gave up four hits and two runs as Colorado lost for the fifth time in six games.