Kansas City Royals

James Shields took a three-hitter into the eighth inning, leading Tampa Bay over the Kansas City Royals 5-3 Wednesday for the Rays' 16th win in 21 games. Shields (12-7) retired 12 in a row after Alcides Escobar's two-out single in the third and allowed three runs and five hits in 7 2-3 innings. The right-hander struck out seven and walked one, improving to 4-0 with a 2.15 ERA in his last five starts. Escobar ended Shields' day with a two-out RBI triple in the eighth that pulled Kansas City to 4-2. Jake McGee allowed a run-scoring single to Alex Gordon, and Kyle Farnsworth retired Billy Butler on a grounder.

Pedro Ciriaco put Boston ahead with a two-run double in the seventh inning, Jon Lester had his third straight solid start and the Red Sox snapped a four-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night. The victory capped a day in which the Red Sox and the Dodgers discussed a major trade that would send Adrian Gonzalez, Boston's best hitter, to Los Angeles. Minutes before the game, Gonzalez was scratched from the lineup. In Los Angeles, first baseman James Loney was pulled from the lineup against the Miami Marlins.

Tony Abreu singled home the go-ahead run in the 12th inning, and the Kansas City Royals completed their comeback from a six-run deficit by beating the Boston Red Sox 10-9 on Saturday night. Just a few hours after Boston traded scheduled starter Josh Beckett to the Dodgers along with Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Nick Punto, the Royals scored three runs before substitute starter Aaron Cook got a single out. The Red Sox took a 9-3 lead after four innings lead thanks to four hits from Gonzalez's replacement, Mauro Gomez, including his first major league homer.

When Seattle faces the Kansas City Royals, everything looks up for the Mariners. John Jaso drove in four runs and Blake Beavan pitched into the seventh inning to lead the Mariners to a 6-1 victory over the Royals on Friday night, pushing the Mariners to 5-1 against Kansas City this year. After taking three of four games in Kansas City last week, the Mariners have dominated the first two games of the current four-game series with the Royals. The Mariners have hit .327 against Kansas City this year.

Adam Dunn homered and the Chicago White Sox went deep four times to back a solid start by Jake Peavy in a 5-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday. Tyler Flowers, Dayan Viciedo and Alexi Ramirez also connected, and the White Sox made it two straight wins to start the season after dropping 12 of 18 to Kansas City a year ago. The Royals, full of optimism after posting the majors' best record in spring training, will try to avoid a season-opening sweep Thursday. Dunn had two hits and scored twice.

Former AL MVP Miguel Tejada says he has reached a deal with the Kansas City Royals and is ready to return to the majors. The 38-year-old infielder told The Associated Press that he has a one-year contract for $1.1 million and another $400,000 in performance bonuses. The six-time All-Star last played in the big leagues in 2011 with San Francisco, hitting .239 with four home runs and 26 RBIs in 91 games. Tejada played 36 games in Triple-A for Baltimore last season, batting .259 with no homers and 18 RBIs, and was released in late June.

Wade Davis pitched out of bases loaded jams in the first two innings, Billy Butler and Jeff Francoeur homered and the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 3-0 on Wednesday night to sweep the three-game series. The Royals have won four straight and six of seven to move three-games above .500 for the first time since May 12, 2011, when they were 20-17. Butler homered in the first, while Francoeur led off the seventh with a home run to extend his hitting streak to seven games.

Erik Bedard pitched seven solid innings, Neil Walker had three hits and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 on Friday night for their 10th victory in the last 13 games. Bedard (4-6) allowed two runs and five hits as Pittsburgh captured the opening game of a series for the sixth consecutive time. The Pirates (30-27) also moved three games over .500 for the first time this season. Jason Grilli worked a perfect eighth and Joel Hanrahan retired the side in order in the ninth for his 16th save in 18 opportunities.

Alex Gordon's grand slam highlighted a five-run 10th inning for the Kansas City Royals, who rallied against the Detroit bullpen for an 8-3 win Thursday after Tigers ace Justin Verlander left with a thumb injury. George Kottaras put the Royals ahead 4-3 with a bases-loaded walk off Phil Coke (0-3). Darin Downs came on for Detroit after that, but Gordon broke the game open one out later with his homer over the center-field wall. Verlander is day-to-day with what the team said was cracked skin on his throwing thumb.

Elliot Johnson homered against his former team and the Kansas City Royals rallied from an early five-run hole, beating the Tampa Rays 9-8 on a cold, blustery Wednesday night. Lorenzo Cain and Jeff Francoeur each drove in a pair of runs for the Royals, who trailed 5-0 in the third inning before slowly chipping away at the Tampa Bay lead. They eventually pulled ahead with a five-run sixth off Rays reliever Jake McGee (0-2), and then held on through the final three innings for their second straight comeback win. Bruce Chen (2-0)