KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Joe Mauer hit a two-run homer in his first four-hit game in nearly two years, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 5-3 Saturday night.

Mauer, who is 13 for 28 against Royals starter Joe Blanton (2-2), homered with Brian Dozier aboard in a three-run first. Aaron Hicks’ grounder scored Trevor Plouffe, who missed the cycle by a home run, with the other run.

Plouffe’s tripled scored Mauer in the fifth to extend the lead to 4-0.

Glen Perkins pitched a flawless ninth for his major league-leading 27th save.

Twins starter Mike Pelfrey was chased after the Royals’ first four hitters in the fifth reached base, the last on Lorenzo Cain’s two-run single. Kendrys Morales drove in another run on a grounder to pull Kansas City to 4-3.

Brian Duensing (3-0), the second of seven Twins pitchers, was credited with the victory.

The brother – sister duo of Cooper Schroeder and Alaina Schroeder, Manhattan,  captured top honors in the 5K portion of the Coors Freedom Run in Junction City.

Cooper Schroeder, 15, finished first in 17:22. ” I come out here just to have fun..” Schroeder added he tries to run 35-40 miles per week.  His sister Alaina Schroeder, 19, was the top female finisher in 18:05. On her run, ” It was fast. It was really flat. After the first mile I didn’t have anyone to really run with so I just tried to get into a groove and stick with it, and then book it out at the end.”

Alaina finished fifth overall in the race.

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In the 10K portion of the Freedom Run, Chris Melgares, 19, Manhattan, finished first in 32:38. He just tried to start the race conservative. “It’s kind of early in the year for a fast 10K so I just wanted to make sure that I didn’t burn out too early. It went pretty well. I felt pretty comfortable the whole way.”

The top female finisher in the 10K was Dani Hoover, formerly of Junction City. On being the top finisher Hoover noted it felt good. She was chasing another woman in the race. ” And finally caught her the last mile.” Hoover explained, ” I guess I just tried to run even pace the whole way and channel some of that hometown energy.”

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Both races started and ended in downtown Junction City.

The Junction City Blues American Legion baseball team split with Concordia Friday night.

The Blues won game one of the double header 11-1, but came up short in game two’s 5-4 loss.

Junction City is now 12-6 on the season.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Lorenzo Cain had three hits and scored the winning run in the 10th inning as the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 3-2 on Friday night to snap a four-game losing streak.

Cain led off the bottom of the 10th with a double, went to third on a wild pitch by Aaron Thompson (1-3) and scored on Jarrod Dyson’s fielder’s choice grounder to first baseman Joe Mauer.

The Twins challenged the call, but after a 99-second review the ruling on the field stood.

Wade Davis (4-1) worked a spotless 10th and lowered his ERA to 0.26.

The Royals tied it 2-2 in the eighth when Kendrys Morales’ two-out single drove home Cain, who had singled and stole second. Morales leads the Royals with 51 RBIs.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer was back in the starting lineup Thursday night after missing a three-game sweep at the hands of Houston with a sprained right ring finger.

Hosmer said he isn’t 100 percent, but he felt good enough after taking swings against Jason Vargas in a simulated game earlier Thursday to play in the series opener against the second-place Twins. Kansas City leads the AL Central by 4 1/2 games.

Meanwhile, Vargas threw 40 pitches as he recovers from a left flexor strain. He’s scheduled to throw 60 pitches on Tuesday with a side session in between.

Fellow starter Yordano Ventura made his second rehab start Wednesday night at Triple-A Omaha, and manager Ned Yost said a decision has not been made on whether he needs a third.

The Junction City Reds jumped out to an early lead on Buhler #1 Team and captured a 14-6 victory on Wednesday.

Twelve runs in the first three innings allowed the Junction City Reds to put the game away early.

A passed ball, a sacrifice fly by Jared Benton, and a two-run single by Mauricio Gomena during the first inning and a walk by Keaton Babcock in the second inning supplied the early offense for the Junction City Reds.

Babcock got on base four times in the game for the Junction City Reds. He scored two runs and had two RBIs.

Babcock got it done on the hill on the way to a win. He allowed four runs over two innings. He struck out two, walked two and surrendered three hits.

Gilbert couldn’t get it done on the mound for Buhler #1 Team, taking a loss. He lasted just two innings, walked six, struck out four, and allowed five runs.

The Junction City Reds built upon their lead with seven runs in the third. A bases loaded walk scored Benton to get the Junction City Reds on the board in the inning.

The Junction City Reds tacked on another two runs in the fourth. A passed ball scored Kade Danielson to start the scoring in the inning. That was followed up by Babcock’s single, scoring Jamaal Bradford.

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Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber has announced the signing of prep school shooting guard Ron Freeman ( Inglewood, California / Junipero Serra / Future College Prep School ) on Thursday.

“We are excited to add Ron to our team and complete our recruiting class,” said Weber.  He noted that Freeman is not only a great shooter but has terrific jumping ability, and exceptional length for both the shooting guard and small forward spots, ” I think his time in the prep school ranks where he played against some of the top players in the country will prove to be very valuable to his development.”

Freeman will receive the Wildcats’ 13th and final scholarship for the 2015-16 season.

A 6-foot-5, 175 pound shooting guard from Inglewood, California, Freeman comes to K-State after spending the past year at Future College Prep School in Haror City, california, where he played for head coach Les Bean on a team that went 40-14. He averaged 16.6 points on 48 percent shooting from the field, including 38 percent from 3-point-range, with 7.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 2.4 steals, and 1.8 blocks per game.

Prior to his stint at Future College, Freeman played two seasons at Junipero Serra High School in Gardena, California where he was rated as the No. 15 recruit in the state of California by ESPN.  Freeman also played two seasons at Morningside High School in his hometown of Inglewood.

HOUSTON (AP) — Jose Altuve had three hits and scored the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning to help the Houston Astros complete a three-game sweep of a the Kansas City Royals with a 6-5 win on Wednesday night.

The game was tied at 5 in the seventh when Kelvin Herrera (1-2) plunked Altuve on the forearm. Altuve stole second and reached third on a lineout. He put Houston on top when he beat the tag at the plate on a fielder’s choice by Chris Carter.

The play was reviewed and upheld.

The Astros trailed early before taking a 5-3 lead after a four-run fifth inning. A two-run triple by Jarrod Dyson off Josh Fields tied it in the seventh before Altuve scored the go-ahead run.

Luke Gregerson (3-1) pitched a perfect ninth for the win.

Carter and Marwin Gonzalez hit solo homers for Houston and Evan Gattis drove in two runs.

The Junction City Brigade were sailing along with a 4-0 lead over the Topeka Golden Giants…..and then problems began.

The Golden Giants scored two runs in the sixth and then got the game tied in the top of the ninth when a base hit scored pinch runner Kellen Myers.

The game went to extra innings, With the Golden Giants’ Cam Huber singling to right-center to score two runs for Topeka to give them a 6-4 lead.  That proved to be the final score after the Brigade went down in order in the bottom half of the eleventh.

After the game Junction City coach Seth Wheeler said, “It’s tough, it’s tough.” And Wheeler added, “I think through nine innings we played well enough to win it. But sometimes you don’t.”

Junction City, 16-10, has reached the All-Star game break. The Mid-Plains League All-Stars with members of the Brigade on the squad and Wheeler coaching, will host a summer collegiate baseball team from Puerto Rico in the All-Star game Sunday night at Rathert Field. The contest is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.