Royals top Pirates to win fifth in a row

Adalberto Mondesi hit a two-run homer and Whit Merrifield added a solo shot Saturday as the Kansas City Royals won their season-best fifth straight game, 7-4 over the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates. Frazier added his fifth homer, a shot to right in the third, for a 3-1 Pirates lead. The Royals answered in the third after Merrifield singled, and Mondesi tied it 3-3 with his fourth homer, to center.

Adalberto Mondesi hit a two-run homer and Whit Merrifield added a solo shot Saturday as the Kansas City Royals won their season-best fifth straight game, 7-4 over the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates. Salvador Perez added an RBI single for the Royals (19-28).

Josh Bell, Bryan Reynolds and Adam Frazier hit solo homers for Pittsburgh (14-29), which has lost three straight. Kansas City's Carlos Hernandez, in his first career start, pitched three innings, allowing three runs and three hits, with two strikeouts and no walks.

Kyle Zimmer (1-0) pitched a scoreless 2 1/3 innings. Greg Holland pitched the ninth for his fifth save. Pirates starter Trevor Williams (1-7) got roughed up for six runs and 10 hits in five innings.

The start was delayed a half hour because of a police event at adjacent Arrowhead Stadium. Merrifield got an early home run derby going with a solo shot to left, his ninth, in the first.

The Pirates countered in the second when Bell hit his sixth homer, a shot to left, and Reynolds made it 2-1 with a homer to center, his fourth. Frazier added his fifth homer, a shot to right in the third, for a 3-1 Pirates lead.

The Royals answered in the third after Merrifield singled, and Mondesi tied it 3-3 with his fourth homer, to center. Mondesi opened a three-run fifth with a base hit. He stole second and scored on Perez's single to give the Royals a 4-3 lead. Maikel Franco hit a ball off the wall in left but went into a home run trot and was out at second, with Perez going to third.

Hunter Dozier walked and Alex Gordon hit a fielder's choice chopper. Williams, using his glove, flipped the ball over catcher Jacob Stallings' head. That error allowed Perez to score. Kelvin Gutierrez walked to load the bases before Edward Olivares's sacrifice fly gave Kansas City a 6-3 lead. In the seventh, Pittsburgh reliever Kyle Crick gave up two singles and a walk, then walked Nicky Lopez to force in a run to make it 7-3.

Pittsburgh cut it to 7-4 in the eighth on Frazier's RBI groundout after Erik Gonzalez doubled and stole third. --Field Level Media

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