ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Blake Snell was frustrated with his performance, but at least his toe came through OK.

The Tampa Bay ace Blake lasted one out into the fourth inning in his return from a broken right fourth toe as the Rays lost 10-2 to the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday.

“It’s fine,” Snell said of his toe. “Happy to get back out there. It was a game where I felt just different. I felt good but it was weird. I spiked some fastballs and I never do that.”

The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, who hurt the toe attempting to move a decorative display in his bathroom on April 14, allowed three runs, five hits and two walks and struck out three during a 65-pitch outing.

“Probably the only good thing to come out of this game was that Blake got to 65 pitches, so he should be pretty close to full-go his next time,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “From a health standpoint he was a 100-percent fine.”

The left-hander (2-2) had given up one run and nine hits over 19 innings in three starts before the injury.

Adalberto Mondesi hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs, Billy Hamilton had two hits and two RBIs and Jakob Junis gave up one run and four hits in five innings for the Royals, who stopped a five-game losing streak.

Junis (2-2) bruised his right hand on Yandy Diaz’s drive that resulted in an inning-ending double-play in the fifth.

His hand was swollen but tests showed no fracture.

“Just a little nerve in there that’s pinching,” Junis said.

Snell, signed to a $50 million, five year contract on March 21, said Tuesday that he still had some discomfort in the toe when he walks, but not when throwing off a mound.

The Rays decided that Snell was ready to return despite throwing just an 18-pitch bullpen session Saturday and eight pitches off a mound Monday.

Snell was replaced by Ryan Yarbrough with a runner on third and one out in the fourth.

“I knew they were a selective team but they were aggressive to start and then went back to selective,” Snell said. “I threw a lot of good pitches that, they just almost looked like they knew what was coming.”

Kansas City greeted Yarbrough with consecutive bunt singles, including Cam Gallagher’s that drove in a run, and Hamilton’s RBI double that made it 4-1.

Hamilton had a run-scoring triple and Mondesi hit his third homer, off Yarbrough, to put the Royals ahead 8-1 in the sixth.

“Smallball worked good for us with guys running all over the place, plus the power,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

Yarbrough, who set a team rookie record last year with 16 wins, including 14 in relief, was optioned to Triple-A Durham after allowing seven runs and eight hit over 4 1/3 innings.

Hamilton is 3 for 37 overall against the Rays.

Mondesi added an eighth-inning RBI single.

Tampa Bay went up 1-0 on Joey Wendle’s RBI double in the first before the Royals tied it during the second when third baseman Daniel Robertson was charged with an error for an errant throw on a slow roller by Hamilton.

Both Hamilton (first base) and Terrance Gore (third base) were both tagged out during rundowns on the same play to end the second with Whit Merrifield batting.

“None of it was by design,” Yost said. “It was just a total mess-up.”

Merrifield homered leading off the third.

Chapman High School athletes have competed during the past week in the KU Relays and Abilene Invitational.

At KU Taylor Briggs finished 10th in the girls 3200 meter run in 11:16.6 and 16th in the 1600 meters in 5:17.49. Aaron Modrow was 15th in the boys 3200 meters in 9:46.15, a new Chapman High School record.

At the Abilene Invitational in the girls competition McKenna Kirkpatrick finished first in the triple jump at 34’10,” fourth in the 400 meters in 1:05.8 and fifth in the long jump at 15’2.” Peyton Suther was second in the javelin with a throw of 113’7″ and fifth in the high jump with a mark of 4’8.”

Madeline Elliott finished fifth in the 3200 meter run in 13:11.2, Macy Bliss sixth in the discus with  throw of 98’5 and the 4×100 relay team of Shannon Anderson, McKenna Kirkpatrick, Peyton Suther and Marie Meuli finished third in 54.33.

The Chapman girls finished seventh at Abilene.

For the Chapman boys at the Abilene Invitational Blake Vercher won the long jump with a jump of 20’6″ and finished second in the 400 meters in 52.64. Mitchell Tiller was second in the pole vault at 12’6,” Kel Stroud fifth in the shot put with a throw of 44’4″ and fifth in the discus at 129’6.” Izek Jackson was fifth in the long jump with a jump of 19’5,” Dalton Harvey sixth in the shot put at 44’3,” Eli Winder third in the 800 meters in 2:06.42 and sixth in the triple jump at 38’5,” and the 4×400 relay team of J.P. Mitchell, Brandon Colston, Eli Winder and Blake Vercher finished fifth in 3:42.01.

The Chapman boys finished sixth at Abilene.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Jalen Beeks took over from opener Ryne Stanek in the second and struck out seven in 4 2/3 shutout innings, Mike Zunino homered for the second straight game and the Tampa Bay Rays beat Kansas City 5-2 Tuesday night, sending the Royals to their fifth straight loss.

Homer Bailey (2-2) failed in his attempt to win three straight starts for the first time in five years, getting taken out after Tampa Bay’s first four batters reached in the second inning.

Zunino had three of Tampa Bay’s seven hits and drove in two runs.

AL East-leading Tampa Bay clinched its seventh series win in eight series and extended its winning streak against the Royals to 10 games. Kansas City is an AL-worst 7-17.

Beeks (1-0) allowed two hits and two walks, retiring eight straight in one stretch.

Emilio Pagán struck out two in a perfect ninth for his second save in two nights, the first two saves of his major league career, completing a six-hitter.

Bailey (2-2) gave up four runs, three hits and four walks in one inning-plus, his ERA rising to 5.63. Bailey, who went 1-14 last year, was coming off his first consecutive winning starts since July 2017.

Joey Wendle hit a two-run single in the first, ending an 0-for-16 start.

Zunino hit an RBI single in the second, when Jake Newberry entered with the bases loaded and allowed Brandon Lowe’s run-scoring single and Yandy Díaz’s sacrifice fly that boosted the Rays’ lead to 4-0. Zunino homered off Tim Hill in the sixth.

Martin Maldonado hit his first homer for the Royals, a seventh-inning drive off Austin Pruitt, who threw a run-scoring wild pitch in the eighth.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs acquired pass rusher Frank Clark from the Seattle Seahawks for a package of picks Tuesday, then quickly agreed with him on a $105 million, five-year contract, as they continue to overhaul their much-maligned defense.

The Chiefs sent the No. 29 overall pick in this year’s draft and a second-round pick in 2020 to Seattle, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The person spoke about the trade terms and contract details on condition of anonymity because they were pending a physical.

Clark planned to head to Kansas City to complete that in the next 48 hours.

The trade, first reported by the NFL Network, also includes a swap of third-round picks in this year’s draft. That means the Chiefs will move up eight spots on Friday night.

Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said last week that he was aggressively trying to upgrade the defense, and he acknowledge the window for winning a Super Bowl title began last season. That’s when Patrick Mahomes took over at quarterback and had an MVP season as a first-time starter, leading Kansas City to a third straight AFC West title and the conference championship game.

“We want to take the next step,” Veach said. “Certainly, it goes without saying our offense we pretty efficient last year and I think we are always looking to improve and get better.”

Seattle already had the 21st pick overall pick Thursday night, and now general manager John Schneider has an additional first-day selection as he begins rebuilding his own defense.

Clark was chosen by the Seahawks in the second round of the 2015 draft, though most agreed he was a first-round talent docked by off-the-field concerns. But he quickly became a dependable edge rusher, piling up 36 sacks over his first four seasons with a team-best 14 this past season.

The Seahawks placed the franchise tag on him after the season, but Clark had yet to sign the $17.128 million deal as rumors of a trade swirled. Several other teams also inquired about landing him ahead of the draft as Seattle tried to accumulate additional picks.

“This time, and the trade deadline, there’s some speculation about a lot of players,” Schneider said on Monday. “We’re involved in a lot of deals. We take a lot of pride in that. We wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we weren’t listening to everybody.”

Kansas City ultimately won the bidding for him.

Veach has spent most of the offseason rebuilding one of the league’s worst defenses, one that played a key role in their AFC title game collapse. They lost in overtime to New England when the Patriots won the coin toss, marched downfield and scored the winning touchdown in a 37-31 victory — never giving Mahomes and one of the NFL’s most potent offenses a chance with the ball.

In a matter of days, the Chiefs fired defensive coordinator Bob Sutton, hired new coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and began sifting through their personnel as they switched from a 3-4 to a 4-3 system.

They got rid of longtime safety Eric Berry and high-priced linebackers Justin Houston and Dee Ford, sending the latter to San Francisco for a second-round pick next year, and carved out enough cap space to find replacements. They signed safety Tyrann Mathieu, cornerback Bashaud Breeland, linebacker Damien Wilson and defensive end Alex Okafor in free agency, then traded safety Eric Murray to former GM John Dorsey and the Cleveland Browns for defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah.

All told, the Chiefs have signed or traded for five new defensive starters.

“We didn’t win the Super Bowl,” Veach said, “so we can get better. I think all across the board, there is talent that we can acquire, and we can get more depth on both sides of the football. I think that’s what makes it fun and exciting. There’s certainly some specific areas that may be more apparent. But I think the things you do in free agency protect yourself in the draft, so you don’t have to take a player that you feel is a second- or third-round value in the first round.”

The Seahawks have also been busy retooling their defense this offseason, adding defensive ends Cassius Marsh and Nate Orchard as they shopped Clark. They are expected to continue to target help in the pass rush and the defensive backfield in the first couple of rounds of the draft.

The additional first-round pick Thursday night also gives Seattle some flexibility.

Schneider has a tendency to move around in drafts, and it’s possible the Seahawks could trade down and acquire additional picks. They still only have five selections overall, and in nine previous drafts in charge, Schneider has never made fewer than eight selections.

CHICAGO (AP) — Former Kansas guard Charlie Moore is returning home to Chicago to play for DePaul.

Coach Dave Leitao announced the move Tuesday, making DePaul Moore’s third school. He began his career at California and played one season at Kansas.

Moore averaged 2.9 points in 35 games as a sophomore after sitting out the Jayhawks’ 2017-18 Final Four season. He scored 12.2 points per game as a freshman at California in 2016-17.

Moore announced last month he was transferring, with Kansas coach Bill Self saying then he wanted to be closer to family. Moore starred at Morgan Park High School on Chicago’s South Side and was the 2015-16 Illinois Mr. Basketball.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas center Udoka Azubuike will return for his senior season, giving coach Bill Self the 7-foot center he hoped to build his offense around last season.

Azubuike averaged 13.4 points and 6.8 rebounds before undergoing season-ending wrist surgery last season. The Jayhawks went on to finish 26-10 and lose in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Azubuike, who led the nation in field-goal percentage as a sophomore, briefly considered heading to the NBA. But the recovery from his wrist injury meant he could not participate in the NBA’s combine or work out for NBA teams, making his return to Kansas a prudent decision.

The Jayhawks are still putting the finishing touches on this year’s recruiting class, and keeping Azubuike in the fold for one more season helps to round out the roster.

Four other players have said they will not return: Quentin Grimes, Dedric Lawson, K.J. Lawson and Charlie Moore.

NEW YORK (AP) — Austin Romine drove in the winning run in the 10th inning with his third RBI single, and the New York Yankees overcame a bullpen collapse that followed another scoreless start by James Paxton to beat the Kansas City Royals 7-6 Sunday.

After adding All-Star slugger Aaron Judge to their ever-growing injury list, the Yankees escaped a couple late jams and got back over .500.

Jake Diekman (0-1) walked Mike Tauchman and Gio Urshela leading off the bottom of the 10th, and 23-year-old Thairo Estrada made his big league debut as a pinch hitter and sacrificed against Ian Kennedy.

Romine drove a fly that bounced on the center-field warning track for his first career walk-off hit.

Judge became New York’s major league-high 13th player on the injured list, a day after straining his left oblique muscle. Manager Aaron Boone called the injury “pretty significant” without giving a timeframe for the outfielder’s return.

With most of the Bronx Bombers out for repair, Clint Frazier started for the first time in the majors as a cleanup man and hit a three-run homer for a 5-0 lead in the fifth. He has six home runs and 17 RBIs in his return from a concussion that wrecked his 2017 season.

Paxton allowed three hits and became only the second Yankees pitcher to strike out 12 or more in consecutive starts. He left with a 5-0 lead but the Royals went ahead with a surprising six-run eighth. They loaded the bases against Chad Green, and Adam Ottavino gave up Adalberto Mondesi’s two-run double, Alex Gordon’s three-run homer and Hunter Dozier’s home run off the back of the right-field bullpen on the next pitch.

Tauchman doubled off Wily Peralta leading off the bottom half and tied the score 6-6 on Romine’s two-out single.

Aroldis Chapman allowed a leadoff single in the ninth to Billy Hamilton, who stole second and third but was stranded when Mondesi struck out and Alex Gordon flied out. Frazier stranded Brett Gardner at third when he struck out against Scott Barlow in the bottom of the ninth and snapped his bat over a leg in frustration.

Zack Britton (1-0) gave up a leadoff single to Dozier in the 10th and picked off speedy pinch runner Terrance Gore, causing concern when the reliever appeared to turn an ankle while applying the tag at first to end a rundown. Britton then got a pair of called third strikes, giving New York pitchers 20 strikeouts.

New York improved to 11-10, its first winning record since it was 5-4. The Yankees headed on a nine-game western trip after a 6-3 homestand.

Paxton induced 18 swings and misses plus a pair of foul tips for strike three. He fanned 12 and walked one in six-plus innings.

The 30-year-old lefty had a fastball last Tuesday that averaged 97 mph when he pitched eight innings of two-hit ball with 12 strikeouts in an 8-0 win over Boston. His heater averaged about 95 mph against the Royals, and he mixed in curveballs and sliders that bewildered batters.

New York’s only previous pitcher with 12 or more strikeouts in back-to-back starts was in the broadcast booth calling this game for the YES Network: David Cone struck out 14 against Florida on June 7, 1998, and a dozen versus Cleveland seven days later. Paxton reached double digits in strikeouts for the third time in consecutive games and the 13th time overall.

New York went ahead when DJ LeMahieu doubled leading off and scored from third on a passed by Martin Maldonado. Mike Ford hit an opposite-field double to left-center in the second, his first big league hit after an 0-for-6 start, and scored on Romine’s single.

Royals starter Jorge López allowed five runs — four earned — in seven innings.

NEW YORK (AP) — Two starts into his final season, CC Sabathia has yet to allow an earned run.

Even at 38 years old, he’s still playing stopper for the Yankees while closing in on some impressive milestones.

Sabathia got his first win of the year and Brett Gardner hit a two-run homer as New York beat the Kansas City Royals 6-2 on Friday night.

“He’s the same guy every day, has been for the last 10 or 11 years,” Gardner said. “He’s a great teammate, he’s a great competitor and I think he sets a great example for all the young guys that we have in the room.”

Mike Tauchman also went deep and the Yankees got four solid innings from their bullpen. They bounced back from a listless performance against last-place Kansas City in the series opener, when they were held without an extra-base hit for the first time since Aug. 5.

Sabathia (1-0) gave up an unearned run and three hits over five innings, improving to 15-1 with a 2.71 ERA in 27 regular-season starts following a Yankees loss since 2017. He threw five shutout innings last Saturday against the White Sox to help New York snap a four-game skid.

“Just craftiness,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “Fastballs in, cutters on your hands, changeups away, fastballs away. A little bit of a sink, a little bit of a cut, moving it in and out.”

Sabathia overcame four walks and finished with five strikeoutsto leave him six shy of becoming the 17th pitcher and only third left-hander to reach 3,000.

“I can’t sit here and lie — I’m just ready for it to be over with,” Sabathia said. “I think it’ll be pretty cool. It will definitely be a relief so I can just go out and worry about the rest of the season and play and try to win a championship, because that’s all I’m really concerned about. But with it being so close, it’s hard for it not to be right there in your head.”

Sabathia, who has 247 career wins, was pulled after 86 pitches in his second start following offseason operations on his heart and right knee. He plans to retire after this season, his 19th in the majors.

“He’s going to be a Hall of Famer,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

Right fielder Clint Frazier threw out a runner at the plate to aid Sabathia, who is 22-12 against Kansas City. Tauchman launched his second big league homer leading off the fifth.

Luis Cessa permitted a run on back-to-back doubles by Hunter Dozier and Alex Gordon to begin the sixth, but pinned a runner at third base with consecutive strikeouts to preserve a 3-2 lead . Adam Ottavino, Tommy Kahnle and Zack Britton closed with hitless relief in an intermittent rain.

Gardner put New York ahead 2-1 in the third with his drive off Jakob Junis (1-2), making his first appearance at Yankee Stadium since his fastball broke Aaron Judge’s wrist last July. The right-hander dropped to 0-3 in the Bronx.

Judge doubled to start the sixth and scored when center fielder Billy Hamilton made a diving catch of DJ LeMahieu’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly. Luke Voit, who has reached base safely in 30 straight games dating to last season, hustled home on a passed ball.

Kyle Higashioka hit a leadoff double in the seventh and scored when Dozier made a throwing error from third base on Tyler Wade’s bunt single.

Adalberto Mondesi had an RBI single in the third, when the Royals took advantage of two Yankees errors — one by Sabathia. But he retired Gordon on a tapper in front of home plate with the bases loaded to end the inning.

“Made some big pitches when he really needed to and gave us what we needed,” Boone said. “That inning could have gotten away from us.”

K-State junior Austin Trice will transfer and not return to the Wildcat basketball team next season.

KSU said the 6’7 235 pound Trice, from Chicago, joined the men’s basketball team this past season. He averaged 1.9 points and 2.5 rebounds per game.