KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Matt Olson hit a three-run homer in the eighth as the Oakland Athletics defeated the Kansas City Royals 5-1 on Sunday to win the series.

Olson went 5 for 11 with three home runs, eight RBIs and scored five times in the series.

The A’s are 9-2 in their past 11 road games. The Royals have lost 21 of 31 home games.

Olson drove a 3-0 pitch by Burch Smith 454 feet over the right-center field fence with Jed Lowrie and Chris Davis aboard. Lowrie’s single scored Dustin Fowler, who had three hits, with the first run of the inning to snap a 1-1 tie.

Royals starter Jakob Junis (5-5) was charged with three runs over 7 1/3 innings, allowing six hits and striking out a career-high nine.

Jon Jay snapped the longest active homerless drought in the majors for a non-pitcher with a third inning home run for the Kansas City run. He went 500 plate appearances between home runs. His previous was on July 5 a pinch-hit homer for the Chicago Cubs against Tampa Bay right-hander Erasmo Ramirez at Wrigley Field.

Mark Canha doubled down the left-field line and scored on Jonathan Lucroy’s single in the third for the initial Oakland run.

Starter Daniel Gossett limited the Royals to two hits over five innings, with the Jay homer his only hiccup. Gossett, who is 4-14 in 23 career starts, threw only 63 pitches before leaving with right elbow tightness.

He was replaced by rookie Lou Trivino (3-0), who pitched two hitless innings to pick up the victory. Trivino has a 0.82 ERA, allowing two runs and 15 hits over 22 innings, while striking out 23.

BIG ROYALS DRAFT

The Royals own five of the first 58 picks in the major league draft, which begins Monday. The Royals have the 18th, 33rd, 34th, 40th and 58th selections. They gained first-round compensation picks for the loss of free agents Lorenzo Cain and Eric Hosmer, plus competitive balance picks. The Royals have been allotted $12,781,900 for signing bonuses, the largest pool in this year’s draft.

ERRORLESS STREAK ENDS

Shortstop Alcides Escobar committed a fielding error on Matt Chapman’s ground ball in the sixth, snapping the Royals’ seven-game errorless streak.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: OF Matt Joyce was not in the lineup Sunday after exiting in the fifth inning Saturday with back tightness. “It may be a couple of days,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “I’m glad we get the off day tomorrow. We do have the left-hander the first day in Texas, so hopefully we gain a little ground in the next few days, but I wouldn’t say he was great today. He talked to me during the game yesterday and we felt like it was the prudent thing to get him out. Hopefully it’s not too long before we get him back in the lineup.”

UP NEXT

Athletics: They are off Monday before LHP Sean Manaea, who threw a no-hitter on April 21 against Boston, starts Tuesday at Texas. Manaea is 1-4 with a 7.18 ERA in his past six starts.

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy is the Monday probable in the first game of the series at the Los Angeles Angels. Duffy has a 1.32 ERA in his past two starts after allowing 30 earned runs in 30 innings in his previous six starts.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Mike Moustakas homered, doubled and drove in four runs in the first two innings, Jorge Soler went 4-for-5 with a home run, but the Kansas City Royals nearly blew a nine-run lead before holding on for a 11-8 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night.

Moustakas’ double in the first scored Jon Jay and Alcides Escobar.

Moustakas’ 12th homer was a towering two-run shot that just made it into the front row of the right-field seats and barely fair.

According to Statcast, it had a 46-degree launch angle, the highest in the majors this season, and carried 339 feet.

The Royals sent 11 men to the plate in a seven-run second. Soler nearly had a two-run homer in the inning, but after a review it was changed to a run-producing double. The second inning also included Ryan Goins’ two-run triple.

Every Royals starter had scored in the first two innings for a 9-0 lead, but it almost was not enough.

The Twins chipped away at the Royals’ lead, including bases-empty home runs by Brian Dozier and Ehrie Adrianza in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively.

Miguel Sano hit a two-run double in a four-run Twins’ sixth and scored on Eduardo Escobar’s two-out single, cutting the Royals’ lead to 9-8.

Sano had a RBI single in the third and has hit in 17 consecutive games with 30 RBIs in that span.

Hunter Dozier led off the Kansas City seventh with his first career home run. Soler homered in the eighth for his fourth hit, matching his career high.

Kevin McCarthy (4-2), the fifth of seven Kansas City pitchers, retired all four batters he faced and earned the victory.

Kelvin Herrera protected the lead with a spotless ninth for his 12th save in 13 opportunities.

Twins rookie right-hander Fernando Romero (3-2) retired only five of the 15 batters he faced. Romero allowed eight runs and nine hits, a walk and a sacrifice fly. His ERA jumped from 1.88 to 4.51.

Jay singled in the seventh to extend his hitting streak to 12 games. Jay finished May with a .368 average and leads the majors with 43 hits in the month.

ONE MORE OUT

Several Royals players began walking off the field in the fifth after turning a double play. The only problem was the inning was not over.

ROSTER MOVES

Twins: RHP Aaron Slegers was recalled from Triple-A Rochester. He came in after Romero’s early exit and allowed two runs and six hits over 5 1/3 innings.

Royals: RHP Trevor Oaks was recalled from Triple-A Omaha. He gave up three runs and five hits and a walk over 1 2/3 innings in his second big league appearance.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: CF Byron Buxton (fractured left toe) went back on the disabled list with the toe still impeding his game. … RHP Ervin Santana (hand) was recalled from his minor league rehab assignment with swelling and having trouble gripping the ball. He will be re-examined.

Royals: RHP Blaine Boyer (strained back) was placed on the 10-day disabled list. Boyer was 2-0, but had an 11.76 ERA in 20 relief appearances.

“When he’s right, he’s a productive bullpen piece,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “From the beginning on, it’s just been a struggle for him. He’s been dealing with foot problems and with back problems and continuing to try to pitch through it. We got to the point, where the best thing is just get Blaine healthy because he can help us when he’s healthy.”

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Jake Odorizzi is the scheduled starter as the Twins open a four-game series with AL Central leader Cleveland at Target Field. RHP Shane Bieber will start for the Indians, making his big league debut.

Royals: They have Thursday off before beginning a three-game series Friday with Oakland. Kansas City RHP Ian Kennedy will start the series opener.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Alcides Escobar was one of the least likely Kansas City Royals to belt a home run in extra innings.

The light-hitting shortstop had not gone deep in 140 at-bats, and his only long ball this season came on April 17.

Escobar, however, sent a drive to left field with two outs in the 14th inning Tuesday night to give the Royals a 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

He connected on a 3-1 pitch from Taylor Rogers (1-2), ending a game that took 4 hours, 12 minutes. Rain also delayed the start by 24 minutes.

“I knew right away,” Escobar said. “When I hit the ball, I said, ‘Game over.’ Of all my home runs, this is the best one because this is my first walk-off homer.”

Scott Barlow (1-0) worked four hitless innings, striking out five straight batters during one stretch, to earn his first major league win.

“My phone has been blowing up saying congrats,” Barlow said. “It’s certainly one I’ll remember forever.”

The Twins have eight walk-off losses, four in extra innings.

“We’re getting practice,” manager Paul Molitor said. “It’s hard to explain. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen so many in a relatively short span. We kind of put ourselves in that situation by not scoring once again. Having all those opportunities and I don’t know how many innings we went hitless there.”

Matt McGill, the fourth Minnesota pitcher, tossed 3 1/3 hitless innings before Rogers was brought in with one out in the 14th.

“You hate to have it come down to one pitch on a homer like that,” Molitor said. “It’s the way you lost, but there were certainly a lot of things up to that point we could have done better to give ourselves a better chance.”

The Royals tied it in the eighth when Addison Reed walked Jorge Soler with the bases loaded to score Jon Jay, who led off the inning with a single.

The Twins loaded the bases in the 10th against rookie Jason Adam, but came away empty. Adam hit Miguel Sano with a pitch and walked Max Kepler and Robbie Grossman. Byron Buxton flied out after Adam had thrown nine straight balls.

Twins right-hander Kyle Gibson, who hasn’t won since March 31, pitched seven scoreless innings. The 2009 first-round draft pick out of Missouri gave up five hits, walked one and struck out eight.

Gibson worked out of jams in the third, fifth and sixth as the Royals went 0 for 9 with runners in position and stranded 10 overall.

In the third, Jay had a bunt single, extending his hitting streak to 11 games, and stopped at second on Whit Merrifield’s single, but Gibson struck out Mike Moustakas to end the inning.

Alex Gordon singled and moved to second on Escobar’s groundout in the fifth. Jay walked with two outs before Gibson struck out Merrifield.

Moustakas led off the sixth with a double and went to third on a passed ball with one out, but Gibson struck out Soler and retired Hunter Dozier.

Royals left-hander Danny Duffy yielded one run and four hits with four walks over six innings.

Sano, who has a hit in 16 consecutive games against the Royals, had a broken-bat single to left field with the bases loaded in the third to score Ehire Adrianza. Sano has 27 RBIs in those 16 games.

Brian Dozier attempted to score from second, but Gordon threw him out at home for his 84th career outfield assist.

ROSTER MOVE

The Twins sent RHP Myles Jaye to the Indians for cash. Jaye was 3-3 with a 4.25 ERA in eight starts at Triple-A Rochester. He went 1-2 with a 12.08 ERA in five games last year for Detroit. The last time the two teams made a trade was August 2011 and it involved Jim Thome.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: RHP Ervin Santana (finger surgery in February) pitched 3 1/3 innings, allowing one run and two hits, in his second minor league rehab start with Class A Fort Myers at Clearwater. He threw 59 pitches, 33 for strikes. He walked one, struck out three, hit a batter and had a wild pitch. … RHP Michael Pineda (elbow surgery) threw a bullpen at Target Field. … 1B Joe Mauer (neck strain) stood in to track some pitches with Pineda on the mound. “We’ve been pleased on almost a daily basis that his activity has increased, including more intensified baseball work,” Molitor said of Mauer. “Today the reports were good. He hit, he took grounders, he ran.”

Royals: RHP Nathan Karns (right elbow inflammation) is on a throwing program at the club’s complex in Arizona.

UP NEXT

Twins: Rookie RHP Fernando Romero is coming off his first career loss, 2-1 at Seattle. He allowed two runs on five hits and two walks over seven innings.

Royals: Rule 5 draft pick Brad Keller will make his first career start after going 1-1 with a 2.01 ERA in 21 relief appearances.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Miguel Sano belted a two-run homer, Eddie Rosario hit a three-run double and the Minnesota Twins snapped a four-game skid with an 8-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.

Lance Lynn (3-4) pitched six effective innings to win his second consecutive start after a dreadful stretch in his first season with the Twins.

Sano extended his hitting streak against the Royals to 15 games. He is batting .373 with six home runs and 26 RBIs in those 15 games.

The slugger drove a 1-1 pitch from Jakob Junis out to center field with Brian Dozier aboard in the fifth inning.

Rosario drilled a three-run double in the eighth off Burch Smith. Dozier’s sixth-inning single scored Mitch Garver, who added a two-run double in the ninth.

Lynn allowed two runs and six hits. He’s given up two runs and 11 hits over 12 2/3 innings in his past two outings.

The right-hander worked out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the second by striking out Alcides Escobar and retiring Ramon Torres on a grounder. The Royals went 4 for 19 with runners in scoring position and stranded 12 overall.

Fernando Rodney got four outs for his 11th save in 14 chances. He gave up a ninth-inning homer to Jorge Soler.

Jon Jay had four hits for Kansas City, including three doubles, to extend his hitting streak to 10 games.

Junis (5-4) permitted three runs on six hits and walked a career-high four. He struck out seven.

The Royals tied it at 2 in the fifth when Mike Moustakas’ double scored Jay and Whit Merrifield, who walked.

Kansas City got two runs in the eighth. Zach Duke’s throwing error on Jay’s bunt single allowed Escobar to score. Merrifield’s single knocked in Torres with the second run.

NOT SO SWEET AT HOME

The Royals have lost 19 of 26 at Kauffman Stadium.

ROSTER MOVES

Twins: Claimed INF Taylor Motter off waivers from Seattle. Motter has a .197 batting average in 132 games over three major league seasons with the Mariners and Rays. He will report to Triple-A Rochester.

Royals: RHP Scott Barlow was recalled from Triple-A Omaha, where he was 1-1 with a 3.94 ERA in seven games. LHP Eric Stout, who yielded two homers and three runs in one-third of an inning Sunday at Texas, was optioned to Omaha.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: RHP Ervin Santana (right middle finger surgery) will make his second minor league rehab start Tuesday for Class A Fort Myers. . 1B Joe Mauer (neck strain) has been taking batting practice and grounders at Target Field. “He hasn’t had any setbacks,” manager Paul Molitor said. “We don’t want to get too excited about the potential of him being ready sooner than later.” Mauer could be activated Thursday when the Twins return home.

Royals: LHP Eric Skoglund (Grade 1 UCL strain) was relieved after an MRI revealed he won’t need Tommy John surgery. “They said the UCL looks strong, it was just the fluid buildup,” Skoglund said. “It’s exciting news that nothing was going on with the UCL. Just kind of get strong now in that area and let that fluid get out and get back to work. I was freaking out when I was in Texas. It wasn’t a good feeling, especially when I found out it (surgery) was a possibility.”

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Kyle Gibson, a Missouri product, is 6-4 with a 3.46 ERA in 16 career starts against the Royals.

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy is coming off his best outing of the year, when he allowed one run in a season-high 7 2/3 innings to beat the Rangers.