DETROIT  — In a lost year for Jonathan Sanchez, even a small improvement is something to hold on to.

Sanchez failed to end his 10-game winless streak Friday night in a 4-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers, but even four runs in 5 2/3 innings was better than what he has done lately. In his previous two starts, he allowed 12 runs on 14 hits and 12 walks in 10 innings.

“He was definitely better,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “His strike ratio was better and his command was better. He just made two mistakes — one was a two-run triple and one was a two-run homer.”

Sanchez acknowledged that he made progress, but was far from content.

“The results are still not good enough,” he said. “Today was better, yes, but I have to do more in the second half of the season. I just have to do better.”

The Royals couldn’t do much with Tigers rookie Drew Smyly, who struck out a career-high 10 batters in six innings. Nine of the strikeouts came in the first four innings.

“You just can’t see much here in the first four innings,” Yost said. “That’s not an excuse — we have a pitcher out there who can take advantage of it as well, but it is really tough for hitters.”

The win got the Tigers (42-42) back to .500 for the first time since May 15. They had failed the last eight times when needing one win to reach the mark.

Smyly (4-3) allowed two runs on six hits. He didn’t walk a batter. Four Detroit relievers finished, with Jose Valverde pitching the ninth for his 16th save in 19 tries.

“Tonight was exceptional, because he’s not an overpowering pitcher,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “But he’s got a good feel for pitching, and I like him a lot. I think he has a chance to be an outstanding pitcher in two or three years, and some people don’t think it will take that long.”

The Tigers broke the scoreless tie in the third, when Ramon Santiago and Austin Jackson singled before coming home on Quintin Berry’s fourth triple.

Smyly only allowed one hit through four innings, but the Royals tied it in the fifth. With one out, Mike Moustakas bounced a ground-rule double over the 420-foot sign in center field, and Smyly seemed in pain after the pitch. He was checked by trainer Kevin Rand, but stayed in the game.

“On that pitch, I just tweaked my side,” he said. “I just needed to stretch it out a bit.”

The next batter lined out, but Brayan Pena made it 2-1 with a double and Jason Bourgeois tied the game with a run-scoring single. The Royals put runners on second and third in the sixth. Smyly got Moustakas to end the inning.

In the bottom of the inning, Delmon Young hit a 3-1 pitch deep over the bullpens in left for his eighth homer — his second in two days — and a 4-2 Detroit lead.

NOTES: Smyly was the first Tigers rookie to reach double figures in strikeouts since Mark Leiter had 10 in 1991, and the first to do it without a walk since Eric Erickson in 1918. … Sanchez walked three batters, giving him 15 in his last three starts. … The Tigers are 67-47 against Kansas City since Jim Leyland took over in 2006.

– Associated Press –

TORONTO — The All-Star break next week is arriving at just the right time for Luke Hochevar.

The Kansas City right-hander won for the third time in four starts after leaving the game with a sprained ankle, Eric Hosmer had three RBIs and the Royals beat the Toronto Blue Jays 9-6 on Thursday night.

Hochevar (6-8) gave up two runs and four hits in five innings before leaving with his injury. He sprained his right ankle while covering first base on Colby Rasmus’ infield single in the fifth.

“I hit the bag on the inside and just rolled it in,” Hochevar said. “It wouldn’t have been bad if it wasn’t on the inside. When I was pushing off the rubber it extended it and it was biting me pretty good. It’s a good thing we have the All-Star break coming up and I’ve got eight days (of rest).”

Hochevar stayed in the game and struck out Jose Bautista to finish the inning, but was replaced by Tim Collins in the sixth.

“He was fine but I didn’t like the look on his face,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “When he came in (to the dugout) he lobbied to go back out for the sixth but I wasn’t going to.”

Hochevar, who improved to 4-1 in seven career starts against Toronto, said his ankle isn’t so sore that he couldn’t pitch again before the break if he was scheduled for another start.

“It’s stiff and it’s tender and it bother me to push off the rubber but I think it would be fine,” he said.

All-Star Billy Butler snapped a season-long 0-for-24 hitless streak against Toronto pitching and Yuniesky Betancourt homered as the Royals won for the second time in six games. Salvador Perez tied a career-high with four hits, all singles, and extended his hitting streak to a career-best 11 games. Kansas City finished with a season-high 16 hits.

“(Perez) has been a big boost to our club, both defensively and offensively,” Yost said.

Collins worked 1 1-3 innings and Greg Holland got the last two outs of the seventh. Aaron Crow got two outs in the eighth but gave up Yunel Escobar’s RBI single before Jose Mijares came on and surrendered a two-run triple to pinch-hitter Ben Francisco before Kelvin Herrera got J.P. Arencibia to ground out to end the threat.

Jonathan Broxton finished in the ninth for his 21st save.

“Each guy we put out there got into a little bit of trouble but we found a way to make it work,” Broxton said.

Arencibia hit two home runs for the Blue Jays and Henderson Alvarez (5-7) gave up five runs and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings. Toronto lost for just the ninth time in 14 meetings against Kansas City dating to last season.

Kansas City opened the scoring with in a five-run, 10-batter third against Alvarez, an inning that started and ended with Jeff Francoeur grounding out to third base.

In between, Alcides Escobar, Hosmer and Billy Butler hit RBI singles. A fourth run scored on Brett Lawrie’s throwing error and Mike Moustakas capped the rally with a sacrifice fly.

“We put that big inning together and that was huge for us,” Hosmer said. “We capitalized on the mistakes and that’s key for us.”

Butler’s infield single to third base was his first hit against the Blue Jays this season. Lawrie tried to throw Butler out from foul territory behind third base, but sent his throw into right field, allowing Escobar to score.

“I thought it was going to be a double down the line and clear the bases and (Lawrie) snared it,” Butler said. “I could have easily had 10 hits this year against them but I got one.”

Arencibia cut it to 5-2 in the third when he followed Kelly Johnson’s leadoff double with a two-run drive into the second deck in left, his first career homer off his former University of Tennessee batterymate.

“Arencibia’s been a thorn in my side the last couple of times I’ve faced him,” Hochevar said. “I’ve got to figure out a way to get him out.”

Toronto’s catcher went deep again in the seventh with a one-out solo drive, his 13th homer of the season, off Collins. It was his third multihomer game of the season and sixth of his career.

Kansas City made it 8-3 with a three-run eighth against reliever Francisco Cordero. Alex Gordon had an RBI single and two runs scored on Hosmer’s base hit to shallow right, with Jarrod Dyson racing around to score from second when the throw went to first base.

Toronto cut it to 8-6 in the bottom half on Escobar’s RBI single and Francisco’s triple, but Betancourt led off the ninth with a solo homer off Drew Carpenter, his sixth.

“Tack on runs in the eighth and ninth inning were huge for us, obviously,” Yost said.

NOTES: The Blue Jays purchased the contract of RHP Sam Dyson from Double-A New Hampshire. Dyson replaces RHP Scott Richmond, who was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas on Wednesday. Dyson made his major league debut in the seventh, pitching to two batters. … Blue Jays RHP Brandon Morrow (strained left oblique) has reached 150 feet while throwing on flat ground. Morrow has been out since June 12, and there is no timetable for his return. … The Royals released C Humberto Quintero, who was designated for assignment June 27. … Earlier Thursday, Broxton lost out to Texas RHP Yu Darvish in fan voting for the final All-Star Game roster spot. … Toronto released veteran LHP Jamie Moyer after the 49-year-old went 1-1 in two starts at Triple-A.

– Associated Press –

TORONTO — When Luis Mendoza couldn’t keep his sinker down, the Toronto Blue Jays took advantage.

Carlos Villanueva pitched six shutout innings, Yunel Escobar drove in two runs and the Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals 4-1 Wednesday night.

Three of Toronto’s four runs came on sacrifice flies, leaving Royals manager Ned Yost frustrated that Mendoza was unable to get ground balls.

“The only thing was he couldn’t get the ball down in crucial situations,” Yost said. “All three runs came on sac flies on pitches that were up.”

Every Blue Jays starter had at least one hit as Toronto won for the fourth time in six games. The Blue Jays are 6-1 against Kansas City this season and have won nine of the past 12 meetings dating to 2011.

Jeff Francoeur’s RBI triple in the seventh provided the only run of the game for the Royals, who have lost five of six.

“You give (Villanueva) credit for doing what he did but our offense just didn’t do it today,” Kansas City’s Alex Gordon said.

Toronto opened the scoring in the second when Rajai Davis tripled and scored on Kelly Johnson’s sacrifice fly.

The Blue Jays added two more in the third. Edwin Encarnacion led off with a ground ball to second and was safe when Mendoza and Eric Hosmer got tangled up at first, with Mendoza catching the throw by failing to step on the base.

“I was kind of late getting over to the bag,” Hosmer said. “Me and Mendy kind of called it at the same time. I think I just broke too late and probably should have let Mendy take care of that right there.”

Yost saw it differently from the dugout.

“Mendoza has got to get out of the way,” Yost said. “I could hear (Hosmer) screaming `I got it, I got it,’ and if I can hear him, Mendy’s just got to put on the brakes as best he can and let Hos take the play.”

Adam Lind followed with a double, sending Encarnacion to third, before Escobar and Davis hit back-to-back sacrifice flies.

“We shortened up the infield to try to take advantage of his good two-seamer and keep the ball on the ground and see if we could cut off one or two of those runs,” Yost said. “All three of those pitches he got up.”

Escobar added an insurance run in the eighth with a two-out RBI single off Kelvin Herrera.

“I thought we did an excellent job of manufacturing some runs,” Blue Jays manager John Farrell said.

Starting for the second time this season after making 22 relief appearances, Villanueva (3-0) allowed just four hits, three of them singles. He walked none and matched a season-high with seven strikeouts.

“Carlos did an outstanding job,” Farrell said. “He was efficient. To give us the six innings was obviously a plus.”

Jason Frasor replaced Villanueva in the seventh but couldn’t keep the shutout bid alive. Moustakas hit a two-out single and scored when Francoeur tripled to left on a ball that skipped past Davis and rolled all the way to the wall.

Darren Oliver pitched the eighth and Casey Janssen finished in the ninth for his 11th save in 12 opportunities.

Coming off a win over Minnesota in his last start, Royals right-hander Luis Mendoza pitched well but was unable to earn consecutive victories for the first time this season. Mendoza (3-5) allowed three runs and nine hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out a career-high nine.

NOTES: Encarnacion extended his hitting streak to 10 games. … Kansas City recalled RHP Nate Adcock and RHP Louis Coleman from Triple-A Omaha and designated OF Mitch Maier for assignment. … Toronto optioned RHP Scott Richmond to Triple-A Las Vegas following the game and will promote another pitcher Thursday. … Jamie Moyer allowed seven runs and 10 hits in six innings in his second start at Las Vegas on Tuesday, taking the loss in a 7-3 defeat to Reno. Blue Jays manager John Farrell said no decision has been made on the 49-year-old left-hander’s future with Toronto. … Lind moved up to fifth in Toronto’s batting order, with Johnson dropping to the eighth spot. … Kansas City DH Billy Butler went 0 for 3 with a walk. Butler is 0 for 23 against Toronto pitching this season.

– Associated Press –

TORONTO — Adam Lind hit a three-run homer, Brett Cecil won for the first time in three starts and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals 6-3 on Tuesday night.

Lind’s sixth homer was the big blow in Toronto’s six-run fourth inning. The win put the Blue Jays over .500 at 41-40 at the midpoint of the season.

The Royals lost for the fourth time in five games since matching their season high with a four-game winning streak.

Cecil (2-1) allowed three runs and five hits in six-plus innings to win for the first time since June 17 against Philadelphia, his first start after being promoted from Triple-A Las Vegas. The left-hander walked one and struck out three.

Jason Frasor and Darren Oliver each worked one inning before Casey Janssen finished in the ninth for his 10th save in 11 chances.

Cecil set down the first six batters in order but ran into trouble in the third, when Jeff Francoeur and Salvador Perez led off with singles and scored on Jason Bourgeois’ triple. Alex Gordon followed with a sacrifice fly as the Royals opened a 3-0 lead.

The Blue Jays managed just two hits, both singles, through the first three innings but erupted for six runs and eight hits in the fourth off Vin Mazzaro (3-3).

Brett Lawrie started the inning with a single, Colby Rasmus bunted for a hit, Jose Bautista flied out and Edwin Encarnacion drove in Lawrie with an infield single. Kelly Johnson struck out and Yunel Escobar beat out an infield hit to load the bases for Rajai Davis, who lined a two-run single through the right side. Lind followed with a homer off the facing of the second deck in right.

Starting for the first time since June 22, Mazzaro allowed six runs and a season-high 13 hits in 5 1-3 innings.

Cecil left after Mike Moustakas doubled to begin the seventh. Frasor came on and got Francoeur to ground out, with Moustakas advancing to third. Perez followed with a fly ball to right, but Bautista threw out Moustakas at the plate for his major league-leading 11th outfield assist.

NOTES: Toronto signed RHP Marcus Stroman, the 22nd overall pick in the June draft. … Royals LHP Everett Teaford, who beat the Blue Jays on Monday for his first victory of the season, is expected to start again Sunday at Detroit, Kansas City’s final game before the All-Star break. … Lawrie had two of Toronto’s eight hits in the fourth. … All nine Blue Jays batters had at least one hit.

– Associated Press –