Jun 11, 2014 5 min read

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Trevor Bauer had just watched the Royals score all their runs on four sacrifice flies in a 4-1 defeat, and the Indians’ starter was asked what bothered him most about the game.

The way Kansas City chipped away at him? The way the Cleveland hitters performed?

“That we lost,” Bauer replied.

Care to elaborate?

“That we lost four to one,” he said. “Next question.”

No surprise the Indians were feeling sour, though. In less than 24 hours, they had dropped both of their games to an AL Central rival in an abbreviated two-game set.

“They are a very difficult team to play,” Indians manager Terry Francona said. “We have a lot of respect on how good they are.”

The Royals, winners of four straight, tied a franchise record with four sacrifice flies. They also became the second team to score all four runs on sac flies since it became an official stat in 1954 – the Expos did it in an 8-4, 14-inning loss to the Cubs on May 28, 1980, according to STATS.

Yordano Ventura (4-5) allowed six hits while striking out three without a walk to win back-to-back starts for the first time. The only run he allowed came in the sixth, when Carlos Santana followed consecutive singles to start the inning with an RBI single.

By then, Bauer (1-3) had already allowed sacrifice flies to Jarrod Dyson, Omar Infante and Alcides Escobar. Billy Butler added another off reliever John Axford in the seventh.

The Indians loaded the bases off Wade Davis with nobody out in the eighth, but two strikeouts and a groundout ended the threat. Greg Holland worked a perfect ninth for his 19th save.

The Royals (33-32) moved over .500 for the first time since May 18

Minnesota 7, Toronto 2: For the first time, Toronto Blue Jays rookie Marcus Stroman wound up on the wrong side.

The Minnesota Twins sent Stroman to his first loss in three starts since joining the rotation on May 31, beating the Blue Jays 7-2 Wednesday.

Stroman (3-1) allowed three runs and a season-high nine hits in six innings. He walked none and struck out four.

“Definitely didn’t have my best stuff,” Stroman said. “I was up in the zone a lot.”

Manager John Gibbons said Stroman gave the Blue Jays all he could despite pitching with flulike symptoms.

“He gutted it out,” Gibbons said.

Stroman surrendered his second home run and first since May 11 when Josh Willingham connected in the first as the Twins took a 2-0 lead in the opening inning for the third straight game.

“It was probably the worst pitch of the outing,” Stroman said. “One of those that was supposed to be buried but it just kind of hung up there.”

Toronto has allowed its opponent to open the scoring in seven consecutive games, losing four.

Trevor Plouffe made it 3-0 with a sacrifice fly in the sixth and the Twins added three more in the seventh against reliever Bobby Korecky. A pair of infield singles and a walk loaded the bases before Kendrys Morales hit a three-run double.

Willingham capped it with an RBI single off Brett Cecil in the ninth.

Philadelphia 3, San Diego 0: Reid Brignac hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Philadelphia Phillies to a 3-0 victory over the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night.

The Phillies have won consecutive games for the first time since a three-game streak May 17-20.

Starters Cole Hamels and Tyson Ross matched zeroes, but didn’t get decisions. Hamels struck out a season-high 11 and allowed five hits in eight shutout innings for the Phillies. Ross struck out seven in seven scoreless innings, giving up four hits.

Jonathan Papelbon (2-1) tossed a scoreless ninth for the win.

Nick Vincent (0-2) walked Domonic Brown with one out and hit Carlos Ruiz on 1-2 pitch. Brignac then sent a 2-0 pitch into the right-field seats for his first homer with the Phillies and his second walk-off hit in two weeks. Brignac was just 8 for 40 with 19 strikeouts before going deep.

Tampa Bay 6, St. Louis 3: Desmond Jennings had a two-run single during a four-run fourth inning and the Tampa Bay Rays snapped a club-record 31-inning scoring drought en route to beating the St. Louis Cardinals 6-3 Wednesday night.

Tampa Bay won for just the second time in 16 games after having been shutout in its previous three contests. The Rays had scored 35 runs over the previous 15 games.

Yadier Molina had two RBIs for the Cardinals, who entered with three consecutive shutout pitching performances.

Milwaukee 3, N.Y. Mets 1: Jonathan Lucroy had three hits and Wily Peralta pitched into the seventh inning to send the Milwaukee Brewers past the slumping New York Mets 3-1 Wednesday night.

Lucroy doubled twice and drove in a run, raising his batting average to .341. Carlos Gomez and Jean Segura each had an RBI as the NL Central leaders wore down Jacob deGrom (0-3), still looking for his win after six mostly solid starts.

Cincinnati 5, L.A. Dodgers 0: Johnny Cueto matched his career high with 12 strikeouts in six innings, and Joey Votto and Jay Bruce – the missing core of Cincinnati’s batting order much of the season – each drove in runs Wednesday night, leading the Reds to a 5-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.