KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Texas right fielder Shin-Soo Choo lost Lorenzo Cain’s routine fly in the sun, and the ball glanced off his glove for an RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning that lifted the Kansas City Royals over the Texas Rangers 4-3 Sunday.
Choo tried to shield his eyes, but even sunglasses didn’t help on Cain’s sliced flyball. The Royals snapped a five-game losing streak, and also ended a 12-game skid against the Rangers.
Kelvin Herrera (2-2) pitched a spotless ninth. Jason Grilli (2-5), acquired by Rangers from Toronto on July 2, took the loss.
Alcides Escobar led off the ninth with a single and Alex Gordon walked on four pitches. With one out, Grilli hit Whit Merrifield with a pitch to load the bases. After Jorge Bonifacio struck out, Cain delivered the game-winning hit, with some luck.
Rangers right-hander Yu Darvish, who is 0-4 in his past six starts, allowed three runs in 6 2/3 innings. He gave up eight hits, walked one and struck out one.
Darvish’s wild pitch in the first allowed Merrifield to score. Mike Moustakas’ two-out double in the third scored Eric Hosmer, who had walked.
Royals starter Ian Kennedy yielded solo home runs to Drew Robinson in the third and Mike Napoli in the seventh.
Kennedy left after 6 2/3 innings and the score tied at 2. Kennedy, who is winless in his past 12 home starts, gave up two runs on five hits. After throwing 25 pitches in the first inning, he navigated his way into the seventh on 74 more pitches.
The Royals took a 3-2 lead in the seventh when Drew Butera, who had singled, scored an unearned run. Merrifield doubled and Butera came home when left fielder Nomar Mazara misplayed the ball.
ASTROS 5, TWINS 3 Mike Fiers struck out a season-high 11 over seven strong innings and Nori Aoki had two hits and two RBIs to help the Astros beat the Minnesota Twins 5-3 on Sunday. The AL West leaders took two of three from the Twins coming out of the All-Star break. Houston trailed in the fourth before Yuli Gurriel doubled, Marwin Gonzalez walked and Aoki hit a two-run double for a 3-2 lead. Fiers (6-4) allowed two runs on four hits and no walks.
TIGERS 6, BLUE JAYS 5 (11) Alex Avila, Justin Upton and Miguel Cabrera drew walks in the 11th inning, the last with the bases loaded, giving Detroit a 6-5 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. Avila was walked by Jeff Beliveau (1-1) leading off the 11th and advanced on Jose Iglesias’ sacrifice. Toronto wasted leads of 3-0 and 5-4. MARINERS 7, WHITE SOX 6 (10)
Nelson Cruz hit a go-ahead home run for the second straight day, a leadoff drive off Chris Beck in the 10th inning Sunday that led the Seattle Mariners over the Chicago White Sox 7-6 Sunday. Cruz connected on a 3-0 pitch. Seattle has won four in a row while the White Sox lost their fourth straight, despite two Avisail Garcia home runs helping Chicago to an early 5-0 lead.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
PIRATES 4, CARDINALS 3 Adam Frazier’s game-ending single capped a two-run rally in the ninth inning that lifted Pittsburgh to a 4-3 victory Sunday. Francisco Cervelli reached on an infield single leading off the ninth against Brett Cecil (1-3), and Jordy Mercer’s one-out double scored pinch-runner Josh Harrison with the tying run. Jose Osuna grounded out, David Freese was intentionally walked and Frazier lined a single to center. Wade LeBlanc (4-2) pitched a hitless ninth. Yadier Molina had put St. Louis ahead 3-2 with an eighth inning home run. Cardinals starter Carlos Martinez (7-8) allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings. Cardinals rookie Magneuris Sierra, brought back from Double-A Springfield on Saturday, had four hits, stole a base and scored a run.
BRAVES 7, DIAMONDBACKS 1 Matt Kemp hit a three-run homer and Brandon Phillips doubled three times, leading Atlanta over the reeling Diamondbacks 7-1 Sunday for a three-game sweep. Jaime Garcia threw seven strong innings as the Braves (45-45) reached .500 for the first time since April 17, when they were 6-6. Kemp and Matt Adams hit homers a four-run third inning. The Diamondbacks lead the NL wild-card standings, but have lost a season-worst five straight, eight of nine and 11 of 14.
NATIONALS 14, REDS 4 Daniel Murphy hit two of Washington’s five home runs and had five RBIs to lead the Nationals to a 14-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday. Adam Lind and Jose Lobaton added two-run shots and Anthony Rendon had a solo homer, his third home run in two games, to help the Nationals to their third win in the four-game series and fourth straight victory overall.