Royals slide into 1st place

Yordano Ventura outpitched Sonny Gray in a matchup of talented young starters Monday night, and Escobar drove in the go-ahead run as Kansas City beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-2, to take over the AL Central lead from Detroit with its eighth consecutive victory.

The Royals trailed the Tigers by eight games on July 21, but their 16th win in 19 games wiped away the deficit and gave them the lead at the latest point in a season since 2003.

“We’re playing great,” said Escobar, who drove in a run in the second inning before his two-out single off Gray (12-6) in the seventh gave Kansas City the lead for good.

Orioles 11, Yankees 3 — At Baltimore: Chris Davis hit a two-run homer after replacing an injured Manny Machado, and AL East-leading Baltimore beat New York and dropped the Yankees to a season-high seven games out of first place.

Rays 7, Rangers 0 — At Arlington, Texas: Drew Smyly allowed three hits in his first win since the David Price trade, Matt Joyce had a two-run single and Tampa Bay beat Texas.

Marlins 6, Cardinals 5 — At Miami: Giancarlo Stanton hit two home runs and made a spectacular diving catch in right field to help Miami beat St.

Mets 5, Phillies 3 — At Philadelphia: Slumping Anthony Recker hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer, Jonathon Niese pitched seven sharp innings and New York beat Philadelphia.