MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Salvador Perez had a career-high five hits, including a double, a triple and an RBI, to lead the Kansas City Royals to a 10-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Monday night.

Paulo Orlando added three hits and two RBIs in the rain-delayed game for the Royals, who put All-Star outfielder Alex Gordon on the disabled list on Monday with a fractured right wrist.

Ricky Nolasco (1-3) gave up six runs on eight hits and struck out three in 2 2/3 innings for the Twins (11-33), who have the worst record in the majors.

Peter Moylan (1-0) picked up the win in relief of Ian Kennedy, who gave up two runs on five hits in 3 1/3 innings of a start that had to be cut short thanks to the 41-minute rain delay in the third inning.

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas State will return to the Sprint Center this upcoming season when the Wildcats play host to Pac-12 foe Washington State in the Wildcat Classic on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2016.

K-State has played at least one game at the Sprint Center in 10 consecutive seasons, including seven matchups in the Wildcat Classic dating back to 2007. The Wildcats are 6-1 all-time in Wildcat Classic games.

“We always want to have a (non-conference) game in Kansas City at the Sprint Center,” said head coach Bruce Weber. “It’s not only a great opportunity to play in the same arena as the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship, but it’s also a terrific, world-class venue for our players which I know our tremendous fan base with pack with purple once again.”

The two-game agreement calls for a return contest at the Spokane Arena in Spokane, Wash., on Dec. 20, 2017.

Tickets for the Wildcat Classic will be available first to men’s basketball season ticket holders and Ahearn Fund members and can be purchased through the K-State Athletics Ticket Office by calling (800) 221.CATS or online atwww.kstatesports.com/tickets when 2016-17 season tickets go on saleWednesday, June 8. General public tickets will go on sale through the Sprint Center, www.axs.com, and the K-State Ticket Office on Monday, Sept. 12.

Tickets are priced at $150 for courtside, $50 for lower-level sides, $30 for lower-level ends and corners, $20 for upper-level sides and $10 for upper-level ends. Season ticket holders who order tickets by Sept. 1 can receive lower-level side tickets for $40, lower-level ends and corners for $20 and upper-level sides for $15.

Groups of 12 or more can purchase tickets for $15 each in the lower-level end behind the baskets and upper level sidelines and $7 each behind the baskets in the upper level.

An allotment of $10 student tickets will be available to K-State students through the ticket office in the fall.

Fans have packed the Sprint Center with purple for its seven previous Wildcat Classic games, including an average of more than 15,000 for its last four contests against UNLV, Alabama, Florida and Texas A&M. Overall, this will be the 26^th contest in the building, which includes the annual Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship (2008-16), the CBE Hall of Fame Classic (2010, 2015) and the 2013 NCAA Tournament.

The game will mark the seventh meeting between the schools and the first at a neutral site. K-State holds a 4-2 edge in a series that dates back to 1941 with wins in three of the last four meetings since 2004. The Wildcats swept a home-and-home series in 2009 and 2010, earning an 86-69 win at home before a 63-58 victory in Pullman.

The Wildcats will return a veteran roster in 2016-17 with nine returning lettermen and six players returning with starting experience, highlighted by All-Big 12 Third Team selection Wesley Iwundu and All-Newcomer honorees Barry Brown andDean Wade. Overall, the squad returns five of their top six scorers from last season, along with nearly 70 percent of their rebounding, assist, steal and minute totals. Iwundu (11.9 ppg., 4.5 rpg.) is the team’s top returner in scoring, assists and steals, while rising senior D.J. Johnson (9.3 ppg., 5.2 rpg.) is the leader among three returning players (along with Iwundu and Wade) who averaged better than 4 rebounds per contest a season ago.

The squad will also be boosted by the return of a healthy Kamau Stokes, who started 20 of the first 21 games before a knee injury sidelined him for the rest of the year, as well as the continued development of redshirt freshmen Isaiah Maurice and Dante Williams, who measure at 6-foot-10 and 7-foot, respectively.

Led by third-year head coach Ernie Kent, Washington State is set to return seven lettermen and three starters in 2016-17 from a team that posted a 9-22 overall record. Among the lettermen returning for the Cougars include senior forward and honorable mention All-Pac-12 selection Josh Hawkinson (15.4 ppg., 11.1 rpg.) and fellow rising senior guards Ike Iroegbu (12.7 ppg., 3.6 apg.) and Charles Callison (7.9 ppg., 3.0 apg.).

A full non-conference slate, as well as 2016-17 season ticket plan details, will be released in the coming weeks.

– www.k-statesports.com —

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TOM GILBERT
Associate Director for Athletics Communications | K-State Athletics

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The Kansas City Royals have placed All-Star outfielder Alex Gordon on the 15-day disabled list with a fractured right wrist.

The Royals announced the move on Monday before opening a series in Minnesota against the Twins.

Manager Ned Yost says Gordon will not need surgery but will miss three to four weeks. Gordon was injured in a loss to the Chicago White Sox on Sunday when he collided with third baseman Mike Moustakas.

Moustakas is listed as day to day with a bruised knee.

Gordon is hitting .211 with four home runs and 10 RBIs this season.

The Royals recalled infielder Cheslor Cuthbert to help fill in while Gordon is out.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) – Liberty forward Evan Maxwell is transferring to Kansas, where the school announced Monday that he will have to sit out next season under NCAA rules.

The 6-foot-10 Maxwell played two seasons for the Flames and started all but one game last season. He was second on the team with 10 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

He had a career-high 24 points with 12 rebounds in a game against Radford in December.

Maxwell joins a highly regarded recruiting class that includes Josh Jackson, the top-ranked in the nation, five-star forward Udoka Azubuike and forward Mitch Lightfoot. Maxwell will be eligible for the 2017-18 season.

CHICAGO (AP) – Todd Frazier tied for the AL lead with his 13th home run, Melky Cabrera drove in two runs and the Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 3-2 Sunday to avoid getting swept for the first time this season.

Carlos Rodon (2-4) allowed two runs and pitched into the seventh inning for his first victory since April 13. David Robertson got three outs for his 11th save in 13 chances, helping the AL Central leaders win for just the third time in 11 games.

Lorenzo Cain and Paulo Orlando had two hits apiece for the World Series champions, who had won six of their previous eight.

Yordano Ventura (4-3) gave up three runs and six hits in six innings for the Royals, who were trying for their first road series sweep. He is 3-0 in four home starts but 1-3 in five road games.

The Chapman Irish girls softball team has qualified for the Class 4A Division II State Softball Tournament.

Chapman, 16-6, will play Pratt, 17-5, in a first round game  at 7 p.m. Thursday at Field B at the Trusler Sports Complex in Emporia. The same side of the bracket finds LaCygne-Prairie View, 17-5, against Frontenac, 15-7. The opposide of the bracket has Haven, 18-3, against Hayden, 10-12, and Burlington, 17-0, against Colby, 15-5.

The tournament opens Thursday and continues on Friday.

CHICAGO (AP) – The Kansas City Royals have activated third baseman Mike Moustakas off the 15-day disabled list.

The Royals optioned Cheslor Cuthbert to Triple-A Omaha on Saturday after he hit .255 in 13 starts in place of Moustakas.

Moustakas was hitting .258 with seven home runs before a left thumb injury sidelined him this month. He went 2 for 8 with three strikeouts in two rehab games for Double-A Northwest Arkansas and rejoined the Royals on Friday.

Moustakas hit 22 homers in 2015 when he was an All-Star for the first time.

CHICAGO (AP) – Omar Infante, Paulo Orlando and Lorenzo Cain all doubled in a three-run sixth inning off Jose Quintana to lead the Kansas City Royals to a 4-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Friday night.

Orlando added an RBI single an inning later and Dillon Gee (1-1) allowed a run over five innings for his first victory since 2014. The Royals won for the fifth time in seven games and moved within 3 1/2 games of the AL Central-leading White Sox.

Quintana (5-3) who entered with an AL-best 1.54 ERA, gave up one hit while facing the minimum 15 batters through five. He retired 11 straight until Infante had the first of four straight one-out hits.

Quintana was charged with a season-worst four runs and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings.