Gregorius, Gardner and Carter homer, Yanks beat Royals

NEW YORK >> Didi Gregorius, Brett Gardner and Chris Carter homered, and the New York Yankees beat Jason Vargas again in a 4-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday night.

A reversed call in the seventh inning kept the Yankees ahead and enabled Michael Pineda (5-2) to top Vargas for the second time in a week. The Royals, with the worst record in the AL, have lost five of seven.

Vargas (5-3) began the day with a 2.03 ERA, tied for second-best in the majors. But the lefty fell to 0-7 lifetime against the Yankees when he was tagged by Gardner and Gregorius, the only left-handed hitters in New York’s lineup.

The Royals trailed 3-2 in the seventh and had a runner on second with two outs. Alcides Escobar hit a grounder that second baseman Starlin Castro fielded behind the bag before making a one-hop throw to first baseman Chris Carter.

Umpire Marvin Hudson ruled safe and when Carter briefly turned around to look at him, Jorge Soler kept running and slid home ahead of a late throw. The Yankees challenged the call and were right, taking the apparent tying run off the board. TWINS 14, ORIOLES 7 >> Max Kepler homered and drove in four runs, Miguel Sano and Jorge Polanco each had a career-high four hits and Minnesota roared back to beat Baltimore. Minnesota trailed 5-0 in the second inning and 6-2 entering the fifth before cranking up the offense against Ubaldo Jimenez and an ineffective Baltimore bullpen.

A two-run double by Kepler helped the Twins knot the score in the fifth, Minnesota sent 11 batters to the plate in a six-run sixth and Sano added a two-run homer in the ninth. ANGELS 3, RAYS 2 >> Jefry Marte scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch in the seventh inning to help Los Angeles beat Tampa Bay.

The Angels, who have won six of eight, pushed across the run without a hit in the seventh inning against Tampa Bay relievers Jumbo Diaz (0-3) and Ryne Stanek. After walking Mike Trout intentionally to load the bases with two out, Stanek threw a ball in the dirt while facing Albert Pujols, allowing Marte to score easily.

Corey Dickerson and Logan Morrison homered off Angels starter J.C. Ramirez for Tampa Bay’s only two runs. REDS 5, INDIANS 1 >> Scott Feldman struck out a season-high nine while ending Cincinnati’s long stretch of ineffective starts, and Scott Schebler homered for the third straight game in leading Cincinnati over Cleveland.

Feldman (3-4) got the first victory by a Reds starter since May 9. He gave up four hits, including Jason Kipnis’ homer, while becoming the first Cincinnati starter in the last 10 games to make it through six innings.