Brad Keller kept up his recent pitching surge with another strong

KANSAS CITY Willie McCovey Jersey , Mo. (AP) —outing.Keller gave up a home run to the first batter of the game — Cedric Mullins — but quickly settled in to pitch eight strong innings in the Kansas City Royals‘ 9-2 win over the Baltimore Royals in a matchup of the teams with the worst records in the majors.“Every time he takes the mound, you expect him to keep you in the ballgame,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He just did what he does so well. He keeps the ball on the ground and did a nice job doing that.”Keller (7-5) gave up two runs and four hits with two walks and four strikeouts to improve to 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA in his last four starts.“I was just trying to get in a groove and throw strikes,” he said. “I just made a mistake (to Mullins). You’ve got a long game after that. You’ve got to flush it and lock it back in.Ryan O’Hearn homered among his three hits and drove in four runs, Whit Merrifield scored three runs, and Hunter Dozier and Cam Gallagher also went deep to help the Royals win for the fifth time in six games on their current homestand.“They’re not exactly household names yet, O’Hearn, Dozier and Gallagher,” Yost said. “But they’re doing okay. You watch Dozier who looks totally comfortable now. O’Hearn has always been a guy with a lot of confidence that he can hit. It’s nice to see Cam get off to a good start too.”With the scored tied 1-1 in the fourth, Andrew Cashner (4-13) gave up a sacrifice fly to Merrifield after loading the bases on two walks and a single. Dozier led off the fifth inning with a 423-foot home run to left field to make it 3-1.“(Cashner) was having trouble gripping his breaking ball,” Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. “He never really got a feel for it. He’d throw a couple and it’s just hard to go through that many hitters, especially lefthanders, without a feel for a breaking ball. I think the last home run is the one that’s going to stick with him. He could have come out of that with three runs Mel Ott Jersey , not being able to do the things he normally does.”The Orioles pulled within a run in the sixth when Mullins led off with a double just beyond the reach of Dozier at third, advanced to third on a fly ball and scored on Trey Mancini’s sacrifice fly to the wall in right.The Royals answered in the bottom of the inning as Gallagher hit his first home run of the season, ending Cashner’s night.“I think he was trying to get it out over the plate but it backed up on him,” said Gallagher, who was recalled from Triple-A Omaha Friday after the Royals traded catcher Drew Butera to the Colorado Rockies. “He just left it middle-in and I was able to get a good swing on it.”Cashner, who has given up a career-high 21 homers, allowed four runs and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out one.“That was probably some of the worst stuff I’ve carried into a game,” Cashner said. “My sinker was not there tonight. (My) offspeed pitches were not there. (I) didn’t really command anything for a strike.”O’Hearn added a two-run single off Yefry Ramirez later in the sixth to push Kansas City’s lead to 6-2. Dozier’s RBI single in the eighth drove in Merrifield for his third run scored of the game, and O’Hearn added a two-run homer off Ryan Meisinger to cap the scoring.TRANSACTIONSOrioles: OF Joey Rickard was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk. … RHP Jhan Marinez was reinstated from the 10-day disabled list (right hamstring strain). He cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Norfolk. … OF Craig Gentry was designated for assignment.Royals: Butera was traded to the Colorado Rockies for LHP Jerry Vasto, who was assigned to Triple-A Omaha. … OF Brian Goodwin was reinstated from the 10-day disabled list.TRAINER’S ROOMOrioles: OF Mullins, who missed Wednesday’s game with a hip injury, was back in the lineup in the leadoff spot. “I’m feeling good,” he said prior to Friday’s game. “I’m excited to get back out. I’ve been with the trainers; we’ve had some intense treatment going on http://www.giantsfanproshop.com/authentic-evan-longoria-jersey , but I feel really good.”Royals: C Salvador Perez was held out of the lineup for precautionary reasons with a mild strain of his left thumb. Perez, who missed Wednesday’s game against Detroit, hurt the thumb on Tuesday when he lost his grip on the bat during a swing against the Tigers. Manager Ned Yost said Perez could have caught Friday, but swinging would be difficult. Perez was replaced in the lineup by Gallagher.UP NEXTOrioles RHP Dylan Bundy (7-13, 5.37 ERA) will face another Royals rookie pitcher as RHP Heath Fillmyer (2-1, 4.21) takes the mound for Kansas City. Fillmyer will make his first career start against the Orioles. Bundy is 1-1 with a 5.87 ERA all-time against Kansas City, including one start this year May 8 in Baltimore, in which he gave up seven earned runs without recording an out. CINCINNATI (AP) — The sight of Cincinnati’s Billy Hamilton speeding home with the potential tying run didn’t shake up Yonder Alonso.Cleveland’s first baseman calmly fielded Joey Votto’s bouncer and made a strong throw to catcher Roberto Perez, cutting down Hamilton for the first out of the ninth inning. Just like that, the Reds went from second and third with nobody out to first and second with one out, and Cleveland held on for a 4-3 win on Wednesday night.“He’s a fast runner, so I had to make sure to not only throw with a lot of zip, but that it was accurate Matt Williams Jersey ,” Alonso said. “It was huge. It gave us first and second with one out. That opens up a lot of different things.”Melky Cabrera lofted a go-ahead two-run homer into the left-field seats in the sixth inning, and the Indians extended their winning streak to five games.The Indians held the Reds scoreless after a three-run first. In the sixth, Cody Reed (0-1) walked Alonso before allowing Cabrera’s third homer of the season.“It’s nice,” Alonso said about having Cabrera in the lineup. “He enjoys the game. He plays with a chip on his shoulder.”Four relievers combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings before Brad Hand escaped trouble with Alonso’s help in the ninth for his 28th save in 33 opportunities.“Hoo, boy,” Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. “I don’t know where to start. Cody Allen gave us two innings of high-leverage relief. A lot of good things happened in that game.”Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman had no problem with the decision by Hamilton, who reached third on Jose Peraza’s ground-rule double.“Billy was going on contact because it is Billy,” Riggleman said. “If Votto hit it in a position where he could score, it’s tied. What was supposed to happen if Billy’s out is I wanted Peraza to go to third. I know (Eugenio) Suarez had a rough night, but I want him up there with a man on third and less than two outs.”Suarez, second in the NL in RBIs going into the game, struck out five times, the last in the ninth.Greg Allen had two hits and drove in a run http://www.giantsfanproshop.com/authentic-evan-longoria-jersey , helping the Indians finish their first sweep of a three-game series against the Reds since 2015 and the first in Cincinnati since 1999. The AL Central leaders have won seven of eight overall.The free-falling Reds were 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on base while slipping to 4-11 since winning three straight in late July over the Phillies.Shane Bieber allowed Scooter Gennett’s RBI single and Preston Tucker’s two-run homer in the first. It was Tucker’s first homer for Cincinnati since being acquired from Atlanta on July 30 as part of the package for Adam Duvall.Bieber regrouped from there and lasted 4 1/3 innings, allowing seven hits and two walks with five strikeouts and a wild pitch.Dan Otero (2-1) got Phillip Ervin to fly out with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth to earn the win.After walking five in four innings of his season debut on Aug. 8, Reds starter Robert Stephenson walked four while giving up two hits and two runs with two strikeouts and a wild pitch in 1 2/3 innings. He threw 57 pitches, just 26 of them strikes.BEEN A WHILEThe Reds’ lead over the Indians was their first since they scored seven runs in the ninth inning of a 7-4 win at Cleveland on July 10. The Indians outscored Cincinnati by a combined 37-8 in between Reds leads.PITCH COUNTStephenson has needed a combined 133 pitches to get through 5 2/3 innings of his first two starts, issuing a total of nine walks along the way.MOPCleveland’s Jose Ramirez became the first unanimous winner of the Ohio Cup Most Outstanding Player award in voting by Cincinnati and Cleveland media. He hit five home runs and drove in 11 runs while the Indians were winning four of the six games in the intrastate rivalry.TRAINER’S ROOMIndians: RHP Josh Tomlin, out since July 16 with a right hamstring strain, will pitch on Saturday for either Triple-A Columbus or Double-A Akron. Tomlin threw 4 1/3 innings in a rehab appearance on Monday.UP NEXTIndians: RHP Carlos Carrasco (14-6, 3.50 ERA) is scheduled to start the opener of a brief three-game homestand against Baltimore on Friday.Reds: RHP Anthony DeSclafani (6-3, 4.45) is 2-0 with a 0.64 ERA in three career starts against the Giants, his opponent in the opener of a three-game home series on Friday.