Luke Hochevar

Alex Gordon belted a three-run homer and the Kansas City Royals roughed up Charlie Furbush, then weathered Luke Hochevar's struggles in a 13-6 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday night. Alcides Escobar drove in three runs and scored three times forthe Royals, who led 9-2 after three innings. Melky Cabrera and Billy Butler had two RBIs apiece. Hochevar struggled with the big lead and was battered for six runs before he was yanked in the fourth. Greg Holland (3-1) wiggled out of trouble to earn the victory, and Everett Teaford kept Detroit off the scoreboard for the final three innings in a game that began in 90-degree heat and took 3 hours, 24 minutes to finish.

Alex Gordon extended his hitting streak to 13 games with an RBI double in a four-run first inning and Luke Hochevar won another afternoon start as the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago Cubs 6-3 Sunday. Hochevar is 9-3 with a 4.43 ERA in 14 day starts the past two seasons, compared to 2-11 with a 5.28 ERA in 21 appearances at night. He picked up just his second victory in his last 10 starts, with both coming in afternoon games. Hochevar (5-8) departed after 5 2-3 innings.

Mike Aviles homered and drove in four runs to help the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 10-3 on Sunday. The Twins have lost six in a row and were swept in a three-game series by the Royals for the first time since Aug. 4-6, 1998. Minnesota dropped to 9-18, the worst record in the majors. Minnesota fell to nine-games below .500 for the first time since finishing the 2000 season 69-93. Aviles, who matched his career high with four RBIs, hit a three-run homer in the eighth off Twins reliever Dusty Hughes.

Justin Masterson won his fifth straight start, a stunning personal turnaround from last season, Jack Hannahan homered twice and Shin-Soo Choo hit a three-run shot, leading the Cleveland Indians to a 9-4 win over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday night. Masterson (5-0) allowed three runs and five hits in 6 2-3 innings. A year ago, the right-hander started 0-5, lost 11 straight games over two seasons and went winless over a stretch of 17 starts - a club record of futility. He's a different pitcher in 2011.

Luke Hochevar gave up one hit in seven innings and Jeff Francoeur homered and drove in three runs to help the Kansas City Royals beat the Seattle Mariners 6-5 on a rainy Friday night for their fifth victory in six games. Ichiro Suzuki led off the game with a double, the only hit Hochevar (2-1) would allow. Suzuki advanced to third on a Milton Bradley ground out and scored on Jack Cust's fielder's choice grounder. Hochevar, the first player picked in the 2006 draft, retired 16 in a row after walking Luis Rodriguez with two out in the second before exiting after seven innings and 100 pitches.

Wilson Betemit went 4 for 4 with two doubles, and the Kansas City Royals beat the mistake-prone Detroit Tigers 9-5 on Sunday. Luke Hochevar pitched seven solid innings for Kansas City, and every Royals starter had a hit. Miguel Cabrera, Jhonny Peralta and Alex Avila all homered for Detroit, but the Tigers made four errors. Hochevar (1-1) gave up the three homers, but Detroit managed only two other hits off him. He easily outdueled Rick Porcello (0-2) in a matchup of former first-round draft picks.

Melky Cabrera's RBI single scored Chris Getz from second in the 12th inning Tuesday night, lifting Kansas City past the Chicago White Sox 7-6 and giving the Royals their fourth straight win in their final at-bat. Chris Getz singled leading off and was sacrificed to second and then Cabrera connected of Tony Pena (0-1) for his third hit of the game. Jeremy Jeffress (1-0) got two outs for the win in Kansas City's first four-game winning streak since September 2009. The Royals bullpen threw six shutout innings after the White Sox scored four in the first off Luke Hochevar and took a 6-4 lead in the sixth.

Luke Hochevar recovered from a shaky start to earn his first win since May 26 and Yuniesky Betancourt stole home, leading the Kansas City Royals to a 6-4 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Sunday. The top pick in the 2006 amateur draft, Hochevar (6-5) gave up three runs in the first two innings but none after that. He allowed eight hits over six innings, striking out five and walking one. Hochevar missed nearly three months this season with a right elbow sprain. Mitch Maier had a two-run single in the Royals' four-run second.