By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals conjured up a little more late-game magic Wednesday night.

This time, they didn’t wait until the ninth inning.

Shut down most of the night by the Twins’ Phil Hughes, the Royals finally broke through with six runs in the eighth. Nori Aoki drove in the go-ahead run, and Billy Butler and Salvador Perez each drove in a pair during the surge, sending the Royals to a 6-1 victory.

“That’s kind of who we are,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We’re a team that plays with a lot of heart, with a lot of energy and a lot of passion.”

In the series opener, the Royals were shut out until the ninth inning, when Alex Gordon hit a two-run homer for a 2-1 win. This time, it was a series of bloopers and infield singles that gave Kansas City the offense it needed in the waning innings.

“We’re just living on a high right now,” said Jarrod Dyson, whose bunt single scored the tying run. “We’re going out and having fun and playing like we’re 5 years old.”

Wade Davis (8-2) pitched a perfect eighth for the win, helping the Royals extend their lead over Detroit to 2 1/2 games in the AL Central. They have won 11 of their past 13 at home.

Minnesota has lost four straight and eight of 11 overall.

“We’ve scored two runs in two games here,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “That’s not going to win very many games.”

The Royals’ big rally began when Raul Ibanez led off the eighth with a blooper to right, and Mike Moustakas beat out an infield hit with a dive to first base. Two batters later, Dyson’s bunt allowed pinch runner Lorenzo Cain to slide home and knot the game 1-1.

Aoki followed with a slicing single to left field to give the Royals the lead, and Butler and Perez added four more runs with two well-timed hits to provide plenty of cushion.

“I can remember probably two hard-hit balls tonight. That’s how baseball is going to go,” Hughes said. “That’s a team over there that finds a way and battles.”

Most of the game had been an entertaining duel between Hughes (14-9), who had won his last four starts, and Liam Hendriks, a former Twins pitcher making his Royals debut.

Hughes gave up singles in each of the first two innings before finding his groove, allowing one other baserunner until his fateful eighth. Hendriks retired the first 14 batters he faced, and never ran into trouble until Kennys Vargas singled with one out in the seventh.

Oswaldo Arcia followed with a double off the wall to give Minnesota a 1-0 lead.

Hendriks, making a spot start for ailing Yordano Ventura, finished out the inning without any more damage. The Australian wound up allowing four hits while striking out five without a walk.

“That was awesome,” he said. “It was a good way to start off in Kansas City.”

CROWD BUILDS

There was a crowd of 17,668 on hand, about 4,000 more than for the series opener. Yost had mentioned the sparse attendance Tuesday night, and he applauded the energy showed by the fans that turned out Wednesday. “It was electric,” Yost said.

LATE-GAME BLUES

The Twins had been 41-2 when taking a lead into the eighth inning. Now, they have lost two straight in such fashion. “We’ve got two pretty good starts back-to-back nights and haven’t found a way to win,” Hughes said. “Those are games you really hope you can take.”

WADE IN THE WATERS

Davis extended his scoreless inning streak to 28 2-3, best in the majors. He’s allowed two runs over his last 50 outings for a 0.34 ERA — and one earned run in his last 48 innings.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: Twins RHP Ricky Nolasco was feeling better after gutting through a bout with the flu the previous night. Nolasco scattered three hits over seven innings in a no decision.

Royals: 2B Omar Infante (shoulder inflammation) could return to the starting lineup Friday, Yost said. Christian Colon started in his place for the second straight night.

UP NEXT

Twins: LHP Tommy Milone makes his third start since arriving in Minnesota. He allowed five runs on 10 hits in 4 1-3 innings against Detroit his last time out.

Royals: RHP Jeremy Guthrie allowed one run over eight innings his last time out in Texas. He faced the Twins 10 days ago at Target Field, lasting seven innings in a 12-6 win.

By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Royals were trailing the Twins by a run in the ninth inning Tuesday night, and Kansas City manager Ned Yost was on the top step of the dugout, conferring with catching coach Pedro Grifol about the potential decisions he would have to make.

That’s when Yost heard a voice pipe up.

“The bat boy who never says anything turns around and says, ‘Esky is going to get a hit and Gordo’s taking him in the fountain,'” Yost said. “I said, ‘OK. Sounds like a pretty good plan.'”

One that worked out perfectly, too.

Alcides Escobar led off with a blooper to shallow right for a single, and Alex Gordon swatted the second pitch he saw over the right-field wall to give the AL Central-leading Royals a dramatic 2-1 victory over Minnesota — and help them avoid their first three-game skid since mid-July.

“Got a slider over the plate and put a good swing on it,” Gordon said. “Really didn’t have any offense going all night and was able to muster up something, so that was great.”

The Royals had been shut down all night by Ricky Nolasco, who scattered three hits over seven innings. But after going quietly in the eighth, they managed to break through against Perkins (3-1), who had converted 18 consecutive saves on the road.

“We had a really good game out of Ricky. I feel bad for him because he pitched seven shutout innings and threw the ball well,” Perkins said. “He and the team don’t have anything to show for it. It’s not a fun feeling.”

Wade Davis (7-2) earned the win with a perfect ninth inning in relief.

Danny Duffy was nearly as sharp for the Royals as Nolasco was for Minnesota. The left-hander allowed four hits and a pair of walks over 6 2-3 innings, but was in line for the loss after giving up a double to Brian Dozier and a slicing single to Joe Mauer to start the seventh.

The Royals had several chances to push a run across much earlier — and with much less drama.

Billy Butler was hit by pitches from Nolasco on two occasions, and the first time — in the second inning — he advanced to third before getting stranded. Christian Colon was left standing on second in the third inning, and Jarrod Dyson was picked off first base in the sixth.

Dyson was also picked off first base in Monday night’s 1-0 loss to the Yankees.

The Twins also had opportunities to push across an early run. Trevor Plouffe grounded into inning-ending double plays in the second and fifth, and Danny Santana was picked off first base in the fourth. Eduardo Escobar was stranded at second base in the sixth.

Those missed chances proved to be important when the ninth inning rolled around.

“I don’t think anybody saw that coming,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said, “a bloop and a blast and a big walk-off for them.”

SPARSE CROWD

There were only 13,847 fans in attendance, and the empty seats certainly caught Yost’s eye. “We’re in a pennant race,” he said. “We’ve been working hard to try to make our fans happy and make our fans proud of us for a lot of years, and we’d like them out here to enjoy a night like this with us, because this was a special night. A fun night. I just wish there could have been more out here to enjoy it with us.”

NOLASCO’S BUG

Nolasco may have benefited from a warm, muggy night at Kauffman Stadium, where the temp at first pitch was 91 degrees. He’d been battling a flu bug that’s been going through the clubhouse. “The heat may have helped him,” Gardenhire said. “He sweat some of that out.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: OF Byron Buxton, one of baseball’s top prospects, is headed for the Arizona Fall League. Buxton is still recovering from post-concussion symptoms — primarily headaches — that he sustained after an outfield collision at Double-A New Britain on Aug. 13.

Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura will miss his start Wednesday night with soreness in his back, and 2B Omar Infante could miss a couple days with shoulder inflammation. “Everybody is dealing with something this time of year,” Yost said. “My feet hurt.”

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Phil Hughes (14-8, 3.65 ERA) tries to win his fifth straight when he faces Kansas City for the fifth time this season.

Royals: RHP Liam Hendriks makes his Royals debut after arriving in a trade from Toronto. Hendriks spent his first three seasons with Minnesota. “It’ll be interesting,” Hendriks said of facing his former team. “It could be really good or really bad.”

 By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The question was lobbed at Royals manager Ned Yost as he was wrapping up his postgame news conference after an 8-1 loss to the New York Yankees on Monday night.

“After scuffling two straight days, are you concerned about the offense?”

“Oh yeah,” Yost replied, dripping with sarcasm as thick as syrup.

The only damage the Royals could muster against Michael Pineda came on a solo homer by Mike Moustakas. Otherwise, Kansas City went quietly in the makeup of a game rained out in June, losing back-to-back games for the first time since late July.

“Pineda was really good tonight,” Yost said. “He’s got a 94 mph fastball. He has a really good changeup. … He had two different types of breaking balls, a real hard slider that cut and a slurvy, slower breaking ball that was really, really good. He pitched a great game.”

Pineda (3-2) retired 10 straight after the homer by Moustakas, and wound up striking out five without a walk over 6 1-3 innings. That was enough for his first win since April 16.

“He’s got so much cut on his fastball,” catcher Brian McCann said. “I feel like he could literally throw it every pitch and be successful. When he’s like that, he’s as good as anybody.”

Jacoby Ellsbury drove in a run in the seventh inning with the 1,000th hit of his career, then added a two-run homer in the ninth. Derek Jeter added a pair of RBIs in his final scheduled trip to Kauffman Stadium, and Stephen Drew and Martin Prado had solo home runs.

“It’s nice when you have a lot of people contribute,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

James Shields (12-7) allowed six runs over 6 2-3 innings for Kansas City.

“We’ve been playing really, really good baseball the last month or so. We’re definitely not going to let just one little game take care of us,” Shields said. “We’re going to move onto this next series and hopefully we’ll win it.”

If you’re willing to count the makeup game against New York as a true series, it was the first time in their last 11 that the Royals have dropped one.

“It’s going to happen,” outfielder Alex Gordon said. “We’ll bounce back. We’ll be OK.”

Jeter, who is retiring after the season, answered a standing ovation as he stepped to the plate in the third inning with a groundout to shortstop that gave New York a 1-0 lead.

Moustakas tied the game with his 15th homer in the bottom half.

Drew gave the Yankees the lead back in the fourth with his home run, and they piled on four more runs off Shields in the seventh to put things out of reach.

The last of the runs was scored by Ellsbury, who came home on a sacrifice fly by McCann. Ellsbury initially was ruled out at the plate, but the call was overturned after a 2-minute video review showed his left leg sliding just under catcher Salvador Perez’s tag.

Still, the Royals lead the AL Central by 1 1/2 games over idle Detroit. So when Yost was asked whether the loss was an easy one to flush, he replied this time without a hint of sarcasm.

“Absolutely,” he said.

GORDO’S GRAND

Gordon played in his 1,000th game for the Royals, making the 30-year-old outfielder the 10th player in franchise history to reach the milestone.

BRONX BOMBERS

The Yankees homered at least three times in a game for the seventh time this season, but it was the first time they had done it since July 9 at Cleveland.

CRACKED SHIELDS

Speaking of homers, Shields gave up at least two in a game for the seventh time this season, tied for second-most in the majors behind the Brewers’ Marco Estrada with nine.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: 1B Eric Hosmer was cleared to begin taking dry swings after sustaining a stress fracture in his right hand on July 20. “It feels good. It’s healed up very nicely,” Hosmer said. “We’re ready to start the hitting progression.”

Yankees: 1B Mark Teixeira (left hamstring) and OF Brett Gardner (right ankle) were held out of the starting lineup. Girardi hopes both will be available Tuesday in Detroit.

UP NEXT

Royals: After taking three of four in Minnesota last week, the Royals open a three-game set against the Twins at home. LHP Danny Duffy is on the mound for Kansas City.

Yankees: RHP Brandon McCarthy makes his ninth start with the Yankees to open a three-game series in Detroit, one of the clubs they’re chasing in the AL wild-card race.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer has been cleared to begin swinging a bat after missing the past month with a stress fracture in his right hand.

Hosmer had another round of X-rays before the Royals’ game against the Yankees on Monday, and they showed enough progress that he can begin taking dry swings. The hope is that Hosmer can ramp it up to hitting off a tee and in the cage in the next week.

Hosmer says he expects to be back for the final couple weeks of the regular season, and that he plans to be in the starting lineup when he returns. Designated hitter Billy Butler has been having his best stretch of the season while filling in at first base.