Kansas City Royals

A.J. Burnett bounced back from a horrible start cut short by a self-inflicted injury to pitch five scoreless innings, Robinson Cano hit a three-run double and the New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 7-1 on Friday night in a game delayed by a wicked thunderstorm. The game was halted for 1 hour, 25 minutes with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning, when a deluge of rain made visibility difficult at Yankee Stadium. Spectacular lightning drew more "oohs" than each swing by Alex Rodriguez, who was 2 for 4 in his first game since hitting his 599th home run Thursday night.

Miguel Cabrera became the first player in 45 years to achieve the Triple Crown in the AL Central-champion Detroit Tigers' 1-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night. Cabrera went 0 for 2 with a strikeout, then left in the fourth inning of the regular-season finale. He received a standing ovation from the opposing fans. He finished with an American League-leading .330 average, 44 homers and 139 RBIs, becoming just the 15th player to achieve the milestone and the first since Boston's Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.

Vernon Wells hit a go-ahead two-run homer and made a long running catch to preserve a 3-2 victory for Andy Pettitte and the New York Yankees over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night. Pettitte (4-2) showed off his mastery of the Royals once more, allowing a run-scoring groundout by Lorenzo Cain and a solo homer by Billy Butler in seven stellar innings. The 40-year-old left-hander gave up five hits, struck out seven and improved to 15-3 in his career against the Royals. Kansas City hasn't beaten Pettitte in 14 starts dating to Sept.

Jeremy Guthrie ran his unbeaten streak to a club record 17 consecutive starts with a four-hitter in the Kansas City Royals' 2-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday night. Guthrie is 9-0 in the 17 starts, which started Aug. 8, 2012, against the White Sox. Left-hander Paul Splittorff held the Royals' record with 16 straight undefeated starts in 1977-78. It was first shutout and fourth complete game for Guthrie (4-0), who threw 11 or fewer pitches in every inning except when he threw 21 in the fourth and the eighth.

Matt Dominguez hit a three-run homer and Jason Castro added a solo shot to give the Houston Astros a 6-5 win over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night. The Astros trailed by one in the fourth inning before Dominguez launched his fourth homer of the season into the Crawford Boxes in left field to give Houston a 6-4 lead. Castro's homer came in Houston's two-run third inning before Kansas City took the lead on a three-run home run by Miguel Tejada in the fourth. It was his first homer since 2011.

Robinson Cano finally hit a home run at Kauffman Stadium, Vernon Wells went deep for the second straight game and the New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 on Sunday to wrap up a three-game sweep. Hiroki Kuroda (5-2) allowed only a sacrifice fly by the Royals' Alex Gordon and an RBI groundout by Alcides Esocbar over 7 2-3 innings. The right-hander at one point went 15 batters without allowing a hit to win for the fifth time in his last six decisions. The Yankees, who began the day in sole possession of first place in the AL East for the first time this season, scored all their runs off Ervin Santana (3-2)

The Los Angeles Dodgers have acquired outfielder Scott Podsednik from the Kansas City Royals for a pair of minor leaguers. The trade was announced before the Dodgers played Wednesday night at San Diego. The Dodgers began the day five games behind the Padres in the NL West. Podsednik hit .310 and stole 30 bases for the Royals this season. He had two hits for Kansas City in its 6-4 loss to Minnesota earlier in the day. The Royals got catcher Lucas May and pitcher Elisaul Pimentel from the Dodgers.

The Kansas City Royals have optioned Yamaico Navarro to Triple-A Omaha. Navarro, drove in three runs in the Kansas City Royals victory Thursday night over Baltimore, was acquired in a trade Saturday from the Boston Red Sox for Mike Aviles. Navarro started the previous two games at third base, going 4 for 7, although shortstop is considered his best position. He can also play second base and left field. Manager Ned Yost said he wants the 23-year-old Navarro playing everyday instead of sitting on the Kansas City bench.

The Kansas City Royals optioned Vin Mazzaro to Triple-A Omaha on Thursday. Mazzaro gave up three runs and four hits in 2 1-3 innings Tuesday. The move was announced before a game with the Seattle Mariners. Rookie right-hander Will Smith was recalled from Omaha and started. Mazzaro is 3-3 with a 6.12 ERA in three stints with the Royals this season, allowing 44 hits and walking 12 in 32 1-3 innings. __________________________________________________________________________________________ The Kansas City Royals signed 38-year-old catcher Jason Kendall to a minor league contract Thursday and assigned him to Class AA Northwest Arkansas.

Five players have been suspended for 50 games because they tested positive for steroids. New York Yankees pitchers Daury Aquino and Alexander de los Santos tested positive for metabolites of Stanozolol, as did Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Joel Matos and Kansas City Royals pitcher Freddy Rodriguez. Tampa Bay Rays catcher Jhancarlos Infante had a positive test for Boldenone. (Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)