KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Ned Yost will return as the Royals’ manager next year following Kansas City’s poorest season since 2005.

Kansas City announced a one-year extension Sunday before the season finale against Cleveland.

“The harmony in the organization is really important,” general manager Dayton Moore said. “We’re at a point in time right now where we think continuity is even more crucial than it has been in the past. We’ve seen the improvement of a lot of the players that are on the field right now. We’re really pleased with the coaching staff.”

Yost became Royals manager on May 13, 2010, and led the team to the 2015 World Series title, the team’s first since 1985 and second ever.

“Ned’s been a huge part of the success of this organization and we feel it’s important to keep that together,” Moore said. “I enjoy working with him, personally and professionally, and I’m excited about next year.”

Moore acknowledged that Yost’s contract status remains year to year.

“Ned and I spoke about this in spring training, we spoke about it early on in the season,” Moore said. “He was leaning towards wanting to come back. We would just see how it would develop over the course of the season, and here we are.”

Yost also managed Milwaukee from 2003-08.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer combined for a five-hitter, Francisco Lindor homered and scored twice, and the Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals 2-1 on Sunday.

Carrasco (16-10) was working with a limited pitch count in a tuneup before an anticipated start in Game 2 of the American League Division Series against Houston on Saturday. He went five innings, allowing one run on three hits, walking two and striking out six.

Carrasco finished the season with a 3.38 ERA.

Bauer took over in the sixth, hurling four scoreless innings of relief while striking out two for his first career save.

Bauer ended the season with a 2.21 ERA, second in the American League to Tampa Bay’s Blake Snell.

Carrasco struck out 231 on the year, leading the Indians. Bauer struck out 221.

The Indians opened the scoring after Lindor led off the game by reaching on an error when Eric Skoglund (1-5) fumbled his grounder. After stealing second, Lindor then stole third and scored when Alcides Escobar failed to catch the throw to third for the second error of the inning.

Lindor drilled a 1-0 pitch into the stands in left-center field to lead off the third, extending the Indians’ lead to 2-0. He hit seven of his 38 homers this year against the Royals.

The Indians finished the season 91-71, their sixth straight year above .500. It is their longest streak since they had winning records eight years in a row from 1994 through 2001.

Skoglund allowed two runs, one earned, on five hits and two walks, striking out three over five innings.

The Royals got on the board in the fifth when Brian Goodwin led off with a hit and stole second, then scored on Meibrys Viloria’s single.

Whit Merrifield closed the season with a single in the eighth, extending his hitting streak to a career-best 20 games. The streak was also the longest of the year in the majors.

Merrifield finished the season with 192 hits and 45 stolen bases, leading the majors in both categories.

Kansas City’s attendance fell by 555,213 from the previous year — nearly 7,000 per game — and finished at 1,665,107, its lowest since 2010. The club stumbled to its worst season since 2005, when it set a team record for most losses at 106. The 104 losses this year matched the 2004 team for the second-worst record in franchise history. This was the fifth time the club lost at least 100 games.

Manager Ned Yost will be back in 2019, however. The Royals announced a one-year extension before the game.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — This is the Josh Donaldson the Cleveland Indians were hoping for after rolling the dice in an Aug. 31 trade with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Donaldson, a former AL MVP, hit a grand slam and double during a 10-run seventh inning, powering the Indians past the Kansas City Royals 14-6 Friday night.

With the win, the AL Central champion Indians improved to 90-70, marking the third time in team history they’ve won at least 90 games in three straight seasons.

“We should be winning 90 games with the team we’ve got in here and this division the way it is right now,” said Jason Kipnis, an eight-year veteran with the Indians. “It’s been ours to lose the last couple years and we don’t want to waste it.”

Kipnis’ homer in the Cleveland third was the game’s only run in the first six innings.

But the Indians then broke loose for their first 10-run inning since doing it on Sept. 30, 2012, against the Royals in Cleveland led by Donaldson, who struggled the first two months of the season, then missed three months with a left calf strain before the trade.

If he can produced at the plate in the postseason, Donaldson could be a difference-maker for the Indians. Friday’s performance was the best evidence yet he’s close to the player who powered Toronto into the 2015 postseason.

“Kind of stating the obvious, isn’t it?” manager Terry Francona said when asked if was good to see him drive the ball. “We don’t want him to make outs, but it’s nice to see him hitting the ball like that.”

His leadoff double set the stage for a nine-hit inning, but it was his grand slam that ultimately delivered the game-winning runs.

Still, it wasn’t Donaldson booming extra-base hits that keyed the rally, Francona said.

“I thought it all kind of started with Kip laying a bunt down,” Francona said. “Little things turn into big things. You play the game right and you get rewarded for it.”

After Donaldson’s double, Yonder Alonso hit an RBI single and Melky Cabrera followed with a hit that chased Royals starter Ian Kennedy (3-9).

Kipnis, who made his 12th start in center field, greeted reliever Tim Hill by beating out a sacrifice bunt to third baseman Hunter Dozier for an infield single and the rout was on.

“It always does that,” Kipnis said. “Sometimes, that’s exactly what the offense needs, where the little thing — the bunt over —- gets the big inning. We would have been happy with two runs . but you see what getting guys on and causing havoc on the bases and putting the ball in play does for an offense.”

Roberto Perez added an RBI single before Francisco Lindor hit a chopper to first baseman Ryan O’Hearn against a drawn-in infield. A wild throw home let two more runs score.

One out later, reliever Jake Newberry walked Jose Ramirez and gave up an RBI single to Edwin Encarnacion before Donaldson launched his fifth career grand slam and second this season. He also had one in April for the Blue Jays.

Adam Rosales, who pinch-ran for Alonso earlier in the inning, doubled and later scored on a double by Greg Allen, who pinch-ran for Kipnis.

The 10 runs were the most the Royals had allowed in an inning this season.

It was a welcome outburst for the Indians, who had only scored two runs in the first 16 innings of the series and open the AL Division Series on next Friday at the Houston Astros.

Mike Clevinger (13-8) was the beneficiary of the bonanza. He allowed one run on three hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Clevinger finished the season with an even 200 innings for the first time in his career, which was a big personal goal for the 27-year-old right-hander.

“Still, there’s a bigger goal than my 200 innings,” Clevinger said.

His counterpart, Kennedy, went six strong innings before facing three batters in the seventh.

“He threw the ball well,” manager Ned Yost said. “It just got away from us there.”

Brian Goodwin hit a grand slam in the Royals ninth off Adam Plutko as part of a five-run inning. It was the second career grand slam for Goodwin, acquired in a July trade with Washington. He also had one March 31 for the Nationals.

Whit Merrifield extended his hitting streak to 18 games for the Royals. It’s the longest active streak in the majors and one shy of his career best.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — After last week’s 24-point loss to Texas Tech that knocked them out of the top 25, Oklahoma State came to Kansas on Saturday needing a big win. Almost right away, you could tell that wouldn’t be a difficult goal.

Taylor Cornelius passed for 312 yards and four touchdowns, Justice Hill ran for 189 yards and the Cowboys (4-1, 1-1 Big 12) cruised to a 48-28 win over the Jayhawks (2-3, 0-2 Big 12).

Oklahoma State found the end zone on each of its first three possessions and scored on their first four, setting the tone early.

“I was proud of how our guys started the game,” coach Mike Gundy said. “Sometimes we’ve not played real good up here in the first half. I thought our defense and offense really took the field and motivated themselves and played well early in the game, which was very important.”

Kansas’ defense was simply no match.

“They had a really good gameplan, and they executed it,” coach David Beaty said. “That was the key.”

Cornelius got things going early, throwing to Tylan Wallace on a slant route for the 11-yard touchdown before hitting Landon Wolf for a 42-yard score on a deep ball the next drive.

Cornelius’ first incompletion didn’t come until the third drive, when he overthrew a wide-open Braydon Johnson streaking down the field. Kansas would not learn from that lucky break, though, as Tyron Johnson got open on almost an identical route on the next play on his way to a 64-yard score.

“It was just something we worked on all week, those shot plays,” Cornelius said. “Missed Braydon on the first one, then we were confident enough to come back with a different little scheme the next time. Tyron did a great job getting open. Just made the throw that time.”

Hill was a steady counterweight to the passing game, averaging 6.1 yards per carry on 31 rushes. He scored in the third quarter, running in from 10 yards out after a pair of big passes got the Cowboys in the red zone.

“Our plan going in was to let him carry the load, and it worked out well for us,” Gundy said. “He made the extra guy miss several times. We’re lucky to have a guy special enough to do that.”

Kansas turned to Carter Stanley for his first start under center all year, benching Peyton Bender who had previously started all four games. Stanley responded well, throwing for 247 yards on 24-of-32 passing and three touchdowns.

“I was definitely happy to be out there, no doubt,” Stanley said. “Felt good. But me personally, I know I can — on some simple stuff, some simple stuff that may not seem like a big deal — I know I can be a lot better in certain situations.”

True freshman Pooka Williams shined once again, picking up 97 yards rushing and 60 yards in the passing game. This included a 60-yard ground burst for a score in the Jayhawks’ first drive of the second half, his fourth touchdown on the year.

Texas ( 4-1 ) dominated the first half against Kansas State Saturday in Manhattan as the Longhorns rolled out to a 19-0 lead. They held Wildcat quarterback Alex Delton to 14 yards passing and the K-State offense to just 64 yards through two quarters.

But in the second half with quarterback Skylar Thompson directing the offense and K-State showing a lot of emotion K-State pulled back within five at 19-14 but a late time consuming drive by Texas sealed the win for the Longhorns.

After the game KSU coach Bill Snyder applauded the Wildcat offensive line for their play in the second half. “Our offensive line had an approach and an attitude leaving the locker room in the second half which I have not seen this year. It was one of anger. There was a determination, which is something that has been big in my terminology for a couple of weeks, to be successful. To win the battle, to win up front, and they did. Not always, but a good portion of the time. I think they had the biggest impact on scoring a couple times in the second half.

Texas coach Tom Herman was asked about his defense adjusting to SKylar Thomson starting the second half. “It wasn’t a slowness of adjustment, it was the kid was playing really good. He eluded pressure well, their quarterback played really, really well.

The Wildcats ( 2-3 ) play at Baylor next Saturday.

 

 

The Chapman Irish jumped out to a 16-0 first quarter lead and never trailed enroute to a 47-26 win over Rock Creek in Friday night football.

The irish did not surrender a point until the fourth quarter and led 41-0 entering the final period.

The Irish are 5-0 on the season.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Josh Donaldson hit a grand slam and double during a 10-run seventh inning, powering the Cleveland Indians past the Kansas City Royals 14-6 Friday night.

The AL Central champion Indians improved to 90-70, marking the third time in team history they’ve won at least 90 in three straight years.

Jason Kipnis’ homer in the Cleveland third was the game’s only run in the first six innings.

But the Indians then broke loose for their first 10-run inning since doing it on Sept. 30, 2012, against the Royals in Cleveland.

Cleveland began the nine-hit inning with a double before singles by Yonder Alonso and Melky Cabrera chased Royals started Ian Kennedy (3-9).

Kipnis and Roberto Perez greeted reliever Tim Hill with singles. Francisco Lindor followed with a chopper to first baseman Ryan O’Hearn against a drawn-in Royals infield, and his wild throw home let two more runs score.

One out later, reliever Jake Newberry walked Jose Ramirez and gave up an RBI single to Edwin Encarnacion. Donaldson, acquired Aug. 31 in a trade with Toronto, launched his fifth career grand slam and second this season. He also had one in April for the Blue Jays.

Adam Rosales, who pinch-ran for Alonso earlier in the inning, doubled and later scored on a double by Greg Allen, who pinch-ran for Kipnis.

The 10 runs were the most the Royals had allowed in an inning this season.

It was a welcome outburst for the Indians, who had only scored two runs in the first 16 innings of the series.

Mike Clevinger (13-8) was the beneficiary of the bonanza. He allowed three hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Brian Goodwin hit a grand slam in the Royals ninth off Adam Plutko. It was the second career grand slam for Goodwin, acquired in a July trade with Washington. He also had one March 31 for the Nationals.

Whit Merrifield extended his hitting streak to 18 games for the Royals. It’s the longest active streak in the majors and one shy of his career best.