Twins Take Royals 4-1

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Phil Hughes threw seven sharp innings, Kurt Suzuki hit his third homer of the season and the Minnesota Twins beat first-place Kansas City 4-1 on Saturday night to snap the Royals' three-game winning streak.

Hughes (13-8) allowed one run, seven hits and struck out six to outlast hard-throwing rookie Yordano Ventura (9-9), who threw six innings of one-hit ball before the Twins broke through in the seventh.

With runners on second and third, Ventura threw a 99-mph fastball that shattered Danny Santana's bat — but Santana reached base when Billy Butler tried to throw out Suzuki at home. He avoided Perez' tag, allowing the Twins to tie it.

Brian Dozier followed with his 25th double of the season to score pinch-runner Eduardo Escobar and put the Twins ahead for good.

Game three this afternoon at Target Field with Tommy Milone scheduled to start for the Twins against Jeremy Guthrie for KC.  Pre-game coverage begins at 12:05 with the first pitch at 1:10 on 1340 KROC AM.

Angels catch A's

UNDATED (AP) — The Oakland Athletics have some company atop the American League West following their fourth-straight loss, and the Detroit Tigers are a game closer to the AL Central lead.

The Los Angeles Angels have caught up with the A's by downing the Rangers 5-4 in Texas. Albert Pujols and Howie Kendrick hit solo homers before Kole Calhoun's two-run single put the Angels ahead 5-0 in the fourth inning.

Matt Shoemaker improved to 11-4 as the Halos picked up their fourth straight win.

Atlanta knocked off the A's for the second straight day. Julio Teheran allowed two runs in six innings as the Braves downed Oakland 4-3 to stay six games behind the NL East-leading Nationals. Chris Johnson hit a pair of RBI singles for the Braves.

Detroit has climbed to within a half-game of the AL Central-leading Royals and moved a half-game ahead of Seattle for the final AL wild-card berth.

David Price struck out seven while holding the Mariners to a run and three hits in eight innings of the Tigers' 4-2 victory in Detroit. Nick Castellanos hit a solo homer and an RBI single to help the Tigers win for only the fourth time in 11 games.

Elsewhere in the majors:— Clayton Kershaw went the distance on a five-hitter, but Ryan Braun smacked a two-run homer and Carlos Gomez added a solo shot in Milwaukee's 3-2 triumph over the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Yovani Gallardo gave up a run and six hits in eight innings to help the Brewers earn their third straight win and extend their lead in the NL Central to three games over St. Louis. The Dodgers pace the NL West by 4 ½ games over San Francisco.

— Jedd Jyorko hit a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning and had five RBIs in San Diego's 9-5 win over the Cardinals. Jake Goebbert had a bases-loaded triple to help the Padres storm back from an early 4-0 deficit.

— Washington pulled out a 4-3 comeback win over Pittsburgh as Wilson Ramos doubled home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth. The Pirates carried a 3-0 lead into the eighth before Kevin Frandsen hit an RBI single and Adam LaRoche tied it with a two-run homer.

— Cleveland whipped Baltimore 6-0 as Carlos Carrasco limited the Orioles to three hits and no walks in seven innings. Carlos Santana hit a three-run homer and Michael Brantley added a two-run shot as the Indians beat the AL East-leading Orioles for the second straight night.

— Toronto is within 6 1/2 games of the AL East lead after Melky Cabrera supplied a tiebreaking, two-run double in the seventh inning to push the Blue Jays past the White Sox 6-3 in Chicago. Jose Reyes and Nolan Reimold each had two hits and an RBI for the Jays, who blew a 3-0 lead after former White Sox ace Mark Buehrle left the mound in the sixth inning of his first game back at U.S. Cellular Field.

— The Yankees' five-game losing streak is over after Derek Jeter hit an RBI single in the ninth inning to lift New York past Tampa Bay 3-2. Martin Prado hit a two-run homer to put New York ahead 2-0 in the second, but the Rays chipped away before Jeter collected his first hit of the game and 3,435th of his career.

— The Giants erased a 5-1 deficit before Gregor Blanco hit a tiebreaking, RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to beat the Phillies 6-5. Blanco also hit an RBI single in the Giants' four-run sixth.

— David Ortiz launched his 400th and 401st home runs while going 3-for-5 with six RBIs in Boston's 10-7 comeback win over Houston. The Bosox trailed 6-3 until Ortiz smacked his second two-run blast of the night to spark a four-run fifth.

— Cliff Pennington's seventh-inning error at shortstop allowed Marcell Ozuna to score the tiebreaking run in Miami's 2-1 win against Arizona. Jeff Baker tied the game with an RBI triple in the fourth.

— Juan Lagares and Wilmer Flores drove in two runs apiece as the New York Mets topped the Chicago Cubs 7-3. Jon Niese gave up three runs in six-plus innings to win his second straight start since a four-game skid.

— Cincinnati's game at Colorado was postponed due to a water main break outside Coors Field. It will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader on Sunday.

Bailey heads to DL

DENVER (AP) — The Cincinnati Reds have placed pitcher Homer Bailey on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right elbow. The Reds also transferred first baseman Joey Votto, who is suffering from a knee injury, to the 60-day DL. He will be eligible to be reinstated on Sept. 4.

Manager Bryan Price said earlier this week that Bailey thought he hurt his elbow while batting in his last start on Aug. 7.