KANSAS CITY — Neither the Detroit Tigers nor the Kansas City Royals saw this sweep coming.
Jose Guillen homered and drove in three runs, Gil Meche pitched seven solid innings and the Royals beat Detroit 8-4 Thursday to complete another three-game sweep of the Tigers.

KANSAS CITY — Luke Hochevar pitched six strong innings and Joey Gathright drove in the only runs, helping the Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers 2-0 on Wednesday night and handing Justin Verlander his AL-leading seventh loss.
Hochevar (3-2), the first overall pick in the 2006 draft, limited the Tigers to four singles while striking out five and walking three. He lowered his earned run average to 3.94 in five starts since being called up from Triple-A Omaha on April 20.

KANSAS CITY — Jose Guillen drove in a pair of runs to help the Kansas City Royals rally to beat the Detroit Tigers 3-2 on Tuesday night.
With the game tied 2-2 in the eighth inning, Guillen doubled with two outs off Francisco Cruceta (0-1). Esteban German ran for Guillen. After Billy Butler walked, Mark Teahen had an infield single, but Edgar Renteria committed a throwing error on a backhanded flip to second base, allowing German to score an unearned run.

MILWAUKEE — The ninth inning for the Milwaukee Brewers’ new closer by committee was as adventurous as some of Eric Gagne’s recent outings. There was one difference, though: the Brewers held on for the win.
With Gagne yanked from the closer’s role Sunday after faltering in back-to-back outings, relievers Salomon Torres and Brian Shouse helped make Jeff Suppan’s seven solid innings stand up by holding on for a 5-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
“I feel good about every reliever I’ve got down there,” Brewers manager Ned Yost said. “These guys make their money by being ready.”

KANSAS CITY — Twelve straight losses to the Baltimore Orioles was a dirty dozen for Kansas City Royals.
Brian Bannister allowed two singles in eight innings and the Royals beat Baltimore 4-0 Sunday to end their skid against the Orioles.
It was Kansas City’s first victory over Baltimore since July 25, 2006.

MILWAUKEE — Jason Isringhausen got his wish.
After blowing his major league-leading fifth save on Friday night in a 4-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Cardinals’ embattled reliever will no longer close games, manager Tony La Russa said Saturday.
“He’s still prepared to pitch important innings, but for a while we’ll try to keep him out of the ninth inning,” La Russa said. “If we’re playing well, there’s still going to be games where you can’t cherry pick his situations because if we’re playing well, you need your bullpen.”

MILWAUKEE — Eric Gagne no longer wants to be called the Brewers’ closer. He’s pitching his way out of that role, anyway.
The former NL Cy Young Award winner gave up a two-run single with two outs in the ninth inning to Ryan Ludwick, and St. Louis held on for a 5-3 victory over Milwaukee on Saturday that snapped a season-long three-game skid.
“I don’t deserve that ninth inning right now. It’s pretty simple,” Gagne said.

KANSAS CITY — Aubrey Huff and Melvin Mora homered, Steve Trachsel earned his first victory since April 4 and the Baltimore Orioles beat Kansas City 7-4 Friday night for their 11th straight victory over the Royals.

KANSAS CITY — Daniel Cabrera threw a three-hitter to remain perfect against Kansas City, Nick Markakis backed him with a three-run homer, and the Baltimore Orioles snapped a five-game losing streak with a 4-1 victory against the Royals on Thursday night.

KANSAS CITY — David DeJesus and Alex Gordon both homered and the Kansas City Royals, the lowest-scoring team in the AL, banged out 14 hits in a 9-4 victory Wednesday night over Jered Weaver and the Los Angeles Angels.