KANSAS CITY, Mo.— The Baltimore Orioles took their second game from the Royals within a span of 24 hours Thursday afternoon with another comeback victory over Kansas City at Kauffman Stadium.

With their 5-3 win over the Royals, the Orioles (25-14) went 11 games over .500 for the first time this season and ensured their stay in first place in the American League East for the night.

The victory was their seventh straight on the road. Their 13-6 road record is the best in the majors.

Shortstop J.J. Hardy — who fueled a ninth-inning rally to force extra innings in the Orioles’ 15-inning win Wednesday night — hit a two-out, broken-bat single in the seventh inning to break open a score tied at 3.

Hardy, who entered the day hitting .357 in May, took Aaron Crow’s pitch to right field for the game-winning hit. Wilson Betemit scored the tying run earlier in the inning when Chris Davis’s liner to center went past center fielder Jarrod Dyson, allowing Betemit to score from first.

“Everybody’s contributing,” said Orioles center fielder Adam Jones, who hit his team-high 13th homer of the season, a two-run shot in the fourth inning. “We’re not leaning on one guy in particular. We’re just trying to win games as a team.”

And left-hander Brian Matusz (3-4) turned in his third quality start in his last five outings, yielding three runs on seven hits through six innings. He walked one and struck out two.

The Orioles’ bullpen, fresh off eight innings of work Wednesday night, tossed three scoreless innings to preserve the win, with Luis Ayala, Pedro Strop and Jim Johnson tossing scoreless frames in the seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively. Johnson earned his 14th save.

— Baltimore Sun

KANSAS CITY, MO. Adam Jones hit a two-run homer, J.J. Hardy also drove in a pair of runs and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Royals 5-3 on Thursday for their seventh straight road win.

The Orioles also improved to 12-1 when Jones goes deep, including a victory over the Royals the previous night, when his homer in the 15th inning decided the game.

Jones has homered 13 times this year; he didn’t hit No. 13 until June 25 last season.

Brian Matusz (3-4) won for the third time in four starts after enduring a career-worst 12-decision losing streak. He allowed three runs on seven hits and a walk in six innings.

Relievers Luis Ayala and Pedro Strop made it through two innings unscathed, and Jim Johnson worked the ninth for his 14th save. He’s converted 22 straight since Aug. 14, 2011.

Luke Hochevar (3-4) pitched well for six innings. His only real miscue was the two-run homer by Jones in the fourth. But the right-hander ran into trouble in the seventh, allowing back-to-back singles by Wilson Betemit and Chris Davis, the start of a three-run inning for the Orioles.

Hochevar was pulled after Davis’s base hit, which centre-fielder Jarrod Dyson grossly misplayed. The ball bounced in front of him and went to the wall, allowing Betemit to score.

Reliever Aaron Crow came into the game and got two quick outs, but then walked No. 9 hitter Luis Exposito and leadoff hitter Xavier Avery to load the bases. Hardy followed with a two-run single that broke the tie and sent the Orioles on to yet another road victory and their longest streak of them since 1999.

Kansas City had ample opportunities to pick up a couple wins against Baltimore, but instead wound up with a pair of frustrating losses in the two-game, midweek series.

Jonathan Broxton blew a two-run lead in the ninth inning of the opener Wednesday night, and the Royals eventually lost their third straight extra-inning game. They jumped out to a three-run lead after three innings Thursday before the Orioles mounted their comeback.

Humberto Quintero’s two-run double and Johnny Giavotella’s RBI single to right brought in the runs for Kansas City, but that’s all that Matusz allowed in an otherwise strong outing.

Hochevar was just as good most of the afternoon.

After watching his ERA balloon to a run per inning, the former No. 1 overall draft pick put together seven innings of three-hit ball in his last start against the White Sox. Hochevar ran his scoreless innings streak to 10 before making a mistake on a 3-2 pitch to Jones.

NOTES: There was a three-man umpire crew after Ed Rapuano left prior to the game for family reasons. … The fire department was called to Kauffman Stadium when smoke was seen atop the scoreboard, where fireworks are shot off. Firefighters climbed up and extinguished the residue causing the smoke. … Royals RHP Luis Mendoza will start Friday night’s opener against Arizona. Orioles RHP Jake Arrieta will take the mound Friday night at Washington.

The Associated Press

BALTIMORE — Adam Jones homered and J.J. Hardy drove in two runs to support another strong start from Wei-Yin Chin as the Baltimore Orioles scored a 5-2 victory over the New York Yankees on Tuesday night. The victory before 24.055 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards gave Baltimore (23-14) a split of the two-game series with New York (20-16) and its first win over the Yankees at home this season. New York had taken the first four meetings in Baltimore. Jones gave the Orioles a lead with his second-inning solo homer, and Hardy got an RBI double in the fifth and a run-scoring infield single in the sixth. He didn’t get an RBI when his double-play grounder scored a run in the third. All of that was enough for Chen (4-0), a pleasant surprise for the Orioles in his rookie season. He lasted seven innings, giving up just a two-run homer to Curtis Granderson in the seventh that cut the Orioles’ lead to 4-2. Granderson may have gotten a break on that homer when a fan wearing a Yankees jacket reached out of the seats and appeared to either knock the ball away from left fielder Xavier Avery or possibly deflect it into the stands. The Orioles scratched out an insurance run in the bottom half of the seventh. Jones scored on catcher Chris Stewart’s second passed ball of the night. Chen allowed four hits and two walks while striking out four. He kept the Yankees off-balance by often speeds, especially using a good changeup as the game went on. Pedro Strop relieved Chen and escaped a jam in the eighth. Closer Jim Johnson finished it for his 12th save. He’s now converted 20 consecutive save opportunities dating back to last season. The Orioles beat CC Sabathia (5-1), who had a 16-2 record against them coming into the game. Baltimore took a 1-0 lead when Jones homered to lead off the bottom of the second. Jones sent a 1-0 pitch from Sabathia into the left field seats for his 11th homer this season. The Orioles added a run in the third but could have done more. Steve Tolleson doubled to start the inning and went to third on Avery’s bunt single. Sabathia plunked Robert Andino to load the bases with no outs. However, the New York starter got Hardy to ground into a double play. Tolleson scored, but the Orioles couldn’t do anything else in the inning and settled for a 2-0 lead. They made it 3-0 in the fifth when Hardy’s RBI double scored Avery, who had walked. NOTES: The Yankees received some bad news before the game when it was announced that closer David Robertson is going on the 15-day disabled list with a strained ribcage muscle. Robertson hasn’t pitched since Friday and felt pain since then. He underwent tests Tuesday, and the DL decision was made. New York called up Cody Eppley from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Rafael Soriano will be the new closer. He saved Monday’s 8-5 win over the Orioles. … Orioles left fielder Nolan Reimold, sidelined for two weeks due to a bulging neck disk, might need a second epidural injection. Reimold said he has been dealing with left thumb and forearm tingling and left shoulder soreness, and he doesn’t know whether to expect gradual or immediate improvement. … Baltimore reliever Matt Lindstrom was diagnosed with a partially torn ligament in his right middle finger, and he plans to see a specialist. He went on the disabled list Friday due to soreness in the finger. … Yankees right-hander Ivan Nova said his sprained right ankle felt better Tuesday, leaving him hopeful that he would be able to make his start Saturday against the Reds. Nova might push his bullpen session back from Wednesday to Thursday or skip it altogether, but it wouldn’t impact his ability to start Saturday.

BOSTON — 

If it’s not one thing, it’s another for the faltering Red Sox.

They lost to the Orioles in 13 innings last night, 6-4, not scoring a run after the fifth inning. Boston has dropped three straight games at Fenway and has fallen to 11-14. The Sox are already seven games out of first in the AL East.

It is the third straight season the Red Sox have begun the season at 11-14, the worst string of slow starts in 40 years. Boston was 9-16 in 1972, 11-14 in ’73 and 10-15 in 1974.

When Boston has had good pitching, it fails to hit. And sometimes when it hits a lot, its pitchers cannot take advantage. Right now, the Sox are faltering at home after a fine road trip.

“We’re playing the same kind of ball,” manager Bobby Valentine said, “but we’re not getting the big hit, and that’s because we’re not getting the pitches to do it with.”

Franklin Morales gave up two runs in the 14th and took the loss. That nullified a very strong effort by some other Sox relievers, one of them being Alfredo Aceves. He went 2-2/3 innings and struck out six.

Jon Lester failed to even his record at 2-2 despite leaving the game with the lead after six innings. The no-decision maintained his career record versus Baltimore at 14-0.

Valentine said that it looked as though Lester was “fighting the umpire” early, the plate ump being Jim Reynolds.

“I think everything I throw is a strike,” Lester said. “I went back and looked at the tape, and they were balls. I’ve got to do a better job of controlling my emotions out there.”

Vicente Padilla blew the save in the seventh. It was the fourth blown save by the Red Sox bullpen this season, although two came in the same loss.

Lester’s struggles to return to All-Star form continued as he gave up three runs in six innings. In his last six starts of 2011, Lester was 1-4 and allowed 19 earned runs in 31-2/3 innings. In his first six starts of 2012, he is 1-2 and has allowed 19 earned runs in 33 innings.

That adds up to a 2-6 record and 5.29 ERA over his last 12 starts.

“Other than the home run (by Mark Reynolds) in the third,” Lester said, “I thought the early innings were pretty good. Things kind of got away from me in the fourth a little bit.”

Boston led after two, 1-0. Lester gave the lead right back, though, when he served up a fat pitch to Reynolds in the top of the third. Batting .136 at the time, Reynolds drove it well over the Monster seats for his first home run of 2012.

The Red Sox then rallied in the fourth to give Lester another lead, this time scoring twice. Lester, however, immediately coughed up the lead again.

He walked Adam Jones leading off the fourth, then gave up an extremely short triple to Matt Wieters. He poked a little fly ball down the right field line, and it landed just fair before the foul pole, then rolled past Cody Ross to make it a 3-2 game.

Wilson Betemit followed with a single to center, and it was 3-3.

Boston scored in the fifth, the Orioles in the seventh, and nobody scored again until Chris Davis singled in what proved to be the winning run in the 13th.