Royals 8, Orioles 6: Alex Gordon went 4-for-4 with a pair of three-run homers and a career-high six RBIs as Kansas City rallied to earn a split of the four-game series with visiting Baltimore.
Gordonâ??s first blast gave the Royals a 5-3 lead in the fifth inning and his second made it 8-3 in the seventh while teammate Billy Butler added three hits, scored twice and knocked in a run. James Shields (6-3) allowed three runs â?? all in the third inning â?? and nine hits over seven innings for his sixth victory in his last seven starts.
Baltimoreâ??s Adam Jones belted a three-run homer off Aaron Crow in the ninth and Greg Holland came on to get the final two outs for his 12th save. J.J. Hardy and Manny Machado (one RBI) recorded three hits apiece while Nick Markakis knocked in two runs for the Orioles.
Norichika Aoki reached on a bunt single to open the bottom of the first inning before coming home on Butlerâ??s two-out single to right field. The Orioles started the third with four straight hits, capped by a Markakis two-run single, and Machado followed with a sacrifice fly for a 3-1 lead.
Gordon lined a 1-1 pitch just inside the right-field foul pole with two outs in the fifth off Baltimore starter Ubaldo Jimenez (2-5), who yielded five runs over five innings. Shields worked out of a two-on, no-out jam in the top of the seventh and Gordon hammered his second blast to right field in the bottom of the frame.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The teams wore uniforms of the Kansas City Monarchs and the Baltimore Black Sox of the 1920s as a special tribute to the history of the Negro Leagues. â? Gordon had not gone deep since April 9 against Tampa Bay and notched his third multi-homer contest â?? the first since Aug. 11, 2012 at Baltimore. â? Jones was 2-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to 13 games.
