Royals’ quartet plays in what could be final K.C. game

Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain and Alcides Escobar tipped their caps and likely said goodbye to Kansas City’s fans, and then the playoff-bound Arizona Diamondbacks ended the regular season with a 14-2 win over the Royals on Sunday.

The foursome joined the Royals in 2011 and keyed the team’s run into consecutive World Series, including a championship in 2015. They are all eligible for free agency after the season.

Manager Ned Yost pulled the group together with one out in the fifth inning. The players hugged behind the pitchers’ mound, then waved their caps to the cheering crowd as they walked off the field. Salvador Perez, who also debuted with Kansas City in 2011, embraced the group on the top step of the dugout. The Royals played a video honoring the players after the game, and fans stayed and applauded.

The players also got standing ovations for each of their at-bats. Hosmer homered in the first inning and hugged Moustakas as he crossed the plate.

Before the quartet arrived, Kansas City hadn’t been to the postseason since winning the 1985 World Series. The Royals had the worst record in the majors from 200009, losing 100 or more games four times.

“They’ve created a legacy for this organization and a standard to try to move forward and uphold,” Yost said before the game. “They’ve turned this organization into a model of consistency. It’s been a great run. It’s all attributed to them.

“But not only did the fortunes of the Kansas City Royals turn around, but the fan base has been wrapped up in this team for years and years with these kids. It’s really kind of transformed the city a little bit too and energized the city in a small part. Their presence here as effected this city in a pretty big way.”

Gregor Blanco had three hits, two walks and three stolen bases for Arizona. Jeremy Hazelbaker hit a three-run homer in the fifth off starter Jason Vargas (18-11), who finished

tied for the major league lead in victories.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

ASTROS 4, RED SOX 3 Jose Altuve coasted to his third AL batting title despite going hitless in two at-bats, and the Houston Astros scored four times in the seventh inning to rally from a threerun deficit and beat the Boston Red Sox 4-3 on Sunday in a preview of their AL Division Series matchup.

Altuve finished the season with a .346 average to easily beat Avasail Garcia of the Chicago White Sox, who finished at .330, for the batting crown. The Astros second baseman is the third right-handed hitter since 1900 to win three or more batting titles.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

BREWERS 6, CARDINALS 1 Getting a start only because the Milwaukee Brewers were eliminated from the wild-card race the previous day, Aaron Wilkerson pitched seven strong innings Sunday to highlight a season-ending 6-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. A September call-up who fared poorly in his only other start in a costly loss in Pittsburgh, Wilkerson allowed no hits until the sixth inning. He allowed two hits and a run in picking up his first major-league victory.

The Brewers, who were not expected to be a contender in 2017, finished with an 86-76 record after being the last team to be eliminated. Both teams switched starting pitchers for the finale after the Brewers were eliminated from playoff contention the previous day. Wilkerson replaced Zach Davies for the Brewers and Jack Flaherty subbed for Carlos Martinez for the Cardinals.

REDS 3, CUBS 1 Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant each had a light day of work as the Chicago Cubs prepared for the playoffs by playing much of their roster during a 3-1 loss to Deck McGuire and the Cincinnati Reds in the regular-season finale on Sunday.

Most of Chicago’s starting lineup was gone by the fifth inning. Rizzo flied out leading off the first, and then was replaced in the field by Taylor Davis. Bryant and shortstop Addison Russell were pulled after the NL Central champion Cubs batted in the fourth.

Chicago (92-70) is trying to become the first team to repeat as World Series champions since the New York Yankees won three in a row from 19982000. It will face Washington in the NL Division Series beginning on Friday.

PIRATES 11, NATIONALS 8 Gio Gonzalez gave up five runs in the first inning of yet another concerning outing for a Washington Nationals starting pitcher, and the NL East champions wrapped up the regular season Sunday with an 11-8 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Gonzalez (15-9) needed 39 pitches across 16 arduous minutes to record the game’s first three outs, while his ERA rose from 2.75 to 2.96 just in that opening inning. The Pirates batted around as the lefty walked two batters, hit Jordan Luplow to force in a run with the bases loaded and allowed Max Moroff’s three-run double along with Jacob Stallings’ RBI single.

This came a day after 2016 NL Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer left his last pre-playoffs start for Washington in the fourth inning after feeling something wrong with his right hamstring.

DODGERS 6, ROCKIES 3 Corey Seager had three hits to break out of a funk and the Los Angeles Dodgers headed into the postseason on a high note, holding off the playoff-bound Colorado Rockies 6-3 in the regular-season finale Sunday. At 104-58, the Dodgers finished tied for the second-most wins in franchise history with the 1942 squad (104-50) in Brooklyn. The ’53 team went 105-49.