KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – The Kansas City Royals traded slugging first baseman Lucas Duda to the Atlanta Braves for cash considerations after their game against Detroit on Wednesday.

Duda signed a $3.5 million, one-year deal to take over for departed first baseman Eric Hosmer this season. But despite showing flashes of his prodigious power, Duda’s hit just .242 with 13 homers and 48 RBIs while appeared in 87 games, making his trade somewhat imminent.

He heads from a last-place team in Kansas City to a first-place team in Atlanta.

The Royals traded Duda in part to give up-and-coming youngsters Hunter Dozier and Ryan O’Hearn more playing time at first base. They

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Adalberto Mondesi hit a two-run homer and finished with four RBIs, Danny Duffy allowed two hits over six innings and the Kansas City Royals routed the Detroit Tigers 9-2 on Wednesday to sweep their two-game series.

Duffy (8-11) gave up both hits and his only run in the first inning, when Mikie Mahtook drove in Jose Iglesias with a two-out single. The left-hander labored through the frame but breezed the rest of the way, striking out six while working around a trio of walks.

Alex Gordon hit a two-run homer and Brett Phillips had a pair of RBIs as the Royals pounded Tigers starter Michael Fulmer (3-10) in his second outing off the disabled list.

Fulmer, who tossed 4 2/3 shutout innings against the White Sox last week, allowed seven runs on eight hits before he was chased with two outs in the fourth. Fulmer is winless in his last seven starts, losing five of them, since beating the Twins on June 14.

Mahtook also homered off Wily Peralta in the ninth for Detroit.

Mondesi began Kansas City’s onslaught with his homer in the second, his second in as many days. Gordon went deep in the third, and the Royals added on with two triple and two doubles in the fourth.

Seven of the eight hits Fulmer allowed went for extra bases.

The Royals kept tacking on runs against the Detroit bullpen, sending the Tigers to their fifth consecutive loss. They’ve now lost 26 of their last 32 on the road.

Much like Fulmer, Duffy had been struggling much of the past month, going winless in three starts around a stint on the DL. But he was in complete control after the first inning, the only runners he allowed coming on a pair of walks and an error by third baseman Hunter Dozier.

Duffy’s performance was rather unexpected, too. He’d lost three straight to the Tigers, including two rough outings earlier this season, and was 3-8 with a 6.01 ERA in day games.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Tigers: Iglesias left in the fourth inning with a lower abdomen strain. He singled in the first inning and flied out to center field in the third. Jim Adducci replaced him in the lineup.

Royals: RHP Ian Kennedy (left oblique strain) was scheduled to make his first rehab start at Triple-A Omaha on Wednesday night. … OF Bubba Starling, a former first-round pick, will begin his rehab stint after a dislocated finger at rookie-level Idaho Falls.

UP NEXT

The Tigers head to New York on Thursday night with LHP Francisco Liriano (3-9, 4.82 ERA) facing Yankees LHP J.A. Happ (15-6, 3.80) in the opener of a four-game set. The Royals get the day off before facing Baltimore on Friday night in a matchup of the two worst teams in the majors.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Jakob Junis held scuffling Detroit to six hits in his first career complete game, Adalberto Mondesi homered to spur a five-run frame and the Kansas City Royals beat the Tigers 6-2 to begin their midweek, two-game series Tuesday night.

The only runs Junis (7-12) allowed came in the third, when Jeimer Candelario managed a sacrifice fly, and the eighth, when JaCoby Jones went deep. Otherwise, the Royals’ young right-hander was brisk and efficient, striking out seven without a walk to win for only the second time since May 18.

Junis had never thrown a complete game in the minors, either.

Mondesi went deep off Matthew Boyd (8-12) to lead off the third inning, and the Royals wound up batting around. Jorge Bonifacio hit a sacrifice fly, Hunter Dozier added a two-run double and Alcides Escobar wrapped up the big inning with a two-out single that gave Kansas City a 5-1 lead.

It was hardly surprising that Junis dominated the Tigers. He’s faced them four times this season, pitching at least seven-plus innings and winning each of the starts.

The three previous outings came in April and May, when Junis was off to a hot start. He struggled mightily throughout June, eventually landing on the disabled list with lower back inflammation the first week of July, but has been solid in eight starts since his return to the rotation.

Boyd, who threw six shutout innings against the White Sox his last time out, wound up allowing five runs on seven hits and three walks in six innings. The Tigers’ right-hander dropped to 3-7 in 13 career starts against Kansas City, and he’s just 8-21 in 41 starts on the road.

Detroit could have used a gem from him as they opened a nine-game trip. They’ve lost four straight and five of six, their offense failing to score more than three runs in any of the defeats.

JONES RETURNS

Jones (right hamstring strain) was back in the lineup for the first time since hitting the DL on Aug. 13. OF Mike Gerber was optioned to Triple-A Toledo on Sunday to create a roster spot for him.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Tigers: LHP Daniel Norris (left groin strain) could start Saturday against the Yankees in New York, manager Ron Gardenhire said. Norris has been sharp in rehab outings at Toledo after compiling a 5.87 ERA in five appearances for Detroit before getting hurt.

Royals: OF Brian Goodwin (left groin strain) will rejoin the club when rosters expand Sept. 1, manager Ned Yost said. … OF Jorge Soler (left toe fracture) will finish the season with Triple-A Omaha before rejoining the Royals. That would mean Soler is expected back Sept. 4.

UP NEXT

Tigers RHP Michael Fulmer tries to build on a solid start in his return from the disabled list, when he threw 4 2/3 scoreless innings against the White Sox last Friday. The Royals counter with LHP Danny Duffy as the teams wrap up their two-game series with a matinee Wednesday.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Jason Kipnis hit an inside-the-park homer and finished with four RBIs, Edwin Encarnacion added a two-run shot and the Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals 12-5 Sunday to snap a four-game skid.

Kipnis rounded the bases for his two-run homer in the ninth inning, when his high flyball to right field bounced off the top of the wall and into no-man’s land. It was his second career inside-the-park job and the second for the Indians this year.

Shane Bieber (8-2) allowed four runs for Cleveland on homers by Whit Merrifield, Salvador Perez and Lucas Duda. He departed after allowing six hits and striking out seven in 5 1/3 innings.

The AL Central-leading Indians improved to 10-1 this season when facing a series sweep.

Right-hander Jorge Lopez (0-4) allowed five runs, all in the fourth inning, on five hits and three walks for Kansas City. He was lifted after throwing 79 pitches in just four innings.

The Royals, who had snapped their own five-game skid Friday night, looked as if they’d keep their momentum going when Merrifield took Bieber deep to left field leading off the game.

It was his fifth career leadoff homer and second this year.

But the Indians answered with their big fourth inning, when six consecutive batters reached on four hits and a pair of walks. And after Perez went deep in the bottom half, the Indians added two more runs on Lindor’s single with two outs in the sixth inning to add to their cushion.

Encarnacion continued the offensive outburst – which came after the Indians were held to one run on five hits on Saturday night – when he took Royals reliever Jake Newberry deep in the eighth.

O’HEARN IN LF

Royals 1B/DH Ryan O’Hearn got the start in left field, the first time he’s played the outfield in the big leagues. O’Hearn played 13 games there at Triple-A Omaha this season, and manager Ned Yost said the move was designed to “find a way to keep his bat in there.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Indians: RHP Cody Anderson (Tommy John surgery) struck out two in a scoreless inning Saturday night for the club’s Arizona League team. It was his first game since September 2016. “No red flags or anything,” manager Terry Francona said. … OF Brandon Guyer is getting a couple days off after getting hit where the foot meets the ankle, or as Francona called it, the “fankle.”

Royals: RHP Ian Kennedy (left oblique strain) threw 60 pitches last Friday without any problems and expects to make a rehab start Wednesday, Yost said. … OF Jorge Soler (fractured left toe) will begin a rehab assignment in the next couple of days, but even then he is unlikely to play in the outfield. “I don’t think so,” Yost said. “DH him some, give him some at-bats, make sure he’s ready to go for spring training, which he will be.”

UP NEXT

The Indians and Royals will both take Monday off before beginning their next series. Cleveland is back home to face Minnesota with Carlos Carrasco (15-7, 3.55 ERA) on the mound, and Kansas City begins a five-game trip to Detroit and Baltimore with Jakob Junis (6-12, 4.70 ERA) getting the first start.