CINCINNATI (AP) — Hunter Dozier’s quiet night turned into a clutch http://www.oriolesfanproshop.com/authentic-ubaldo-jimenez-jersey , game-winning effort for the Kansas City Royals.Dozier led off the ninth inning with a tie-breaking home run, then teamed with shortstop Adalberto Mondesi for a key out in the bottom of the inning as the Royals beat the slumping Cincinnati Reds 4-3 Tuesday night.“It felt like a quiet night until the ninth,” said Dozier, who snapped a 0-for-17 skid with his homer to left field. “A lot happened in a short amount of time.”Dozier’s 11th homer of the season, off Raisel Iglesias (2-5), left Kansas City needing two wins in its last five games to avoid tying the franchise record of 106 losses in a season, set in 2005. The Royals (55-102) have won three of their last four games, after a five-game losing streak.The Reds had runners on first and second with one out in the ninth against closer Wily Peralta, but Mondesi fielded Scott Schebler’s grounder and threw to Dozier at third, forcing Brandon Dixon. Jose Peraza followed with a hard grounder that Dozier was able to knock down with a diving backhand stop, leaving the bases loaded. Joey Votto grounded out harmlessly, and Peralta earned his 14th save.“They made some good plays,” Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman said. “I was shocked that Dozier got to that ball. I thought it was down the line and would at least tie the game.”Kansas City manager Ned Yost felt Dozier’s play on Schebler’s grounder to Mondesi was more difficult than it looked.“He went for the ball at first,” Yost said. “He had to peel back to get to the bag. His athleticism allowed him to do that.”Kevin McCarthy (5-4) walked the first batter he faced to lead off the eighth and the Reds ended up loading the bases with no outs on Votto’s checked-swing dribbler up the third base line. But Eugenio Suarez grounded into a force out at the plate http://www.oriolesfanproshop.com/authentic-joey-rickard-jersey , Scooter Gennett struck out and Phillip Ervin hit a fielder’s-choice grounder to Dozier, ending the threat.Cincinnati went 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position and now are 8-for-75 (.107) in that situation over their last 13 games. The slumping Reds (66-92) have lost four straight, all against teams with worse records than their own. The Reds have also lost five of six, and their interleague losing streak reached seven games.Ryan O’Hearn hit his 12th homer of the season, a two-run shot off Matt Harvey, in the fourth inning, to give the Royals a 3-0 lead. The Reds’ Dilson Herrera delivered a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the fifth before Gennett tripled and Ervin drove him in with the game-tying run in the seventhHarvey overcame a 51-minute rain delay with one out in the bottom of the third inning. He lasted five innings and gave up six hits and three runs with six strikeouts. The former Mets’ right-hander didn’t allow a walk. He has a 7-7 record and 4.46 ERA in 23 games with the Reds, and a 4.92 ERA overall in 2018.“It was frustrating,” Harvey said. “I was pretty sharp in the first three innings. After the delay, I wasn’t as sharp.The delay cost Eric Skoglund a shot at his second win of the season and first since April 28 against the White Sox. The Royals rookie, making his 12th start of 2018 and fourth since missing three months with a strained ulnar collateral ligament, didn’t return when play resumed.ROCKY TOPThe Reds announced that they were resuming an affiliation with Double-A Chattanooga. The Reds and Lookouts were affiliated from 1988 through 2008.IT’S LORENZENRHP Michael Lorenzen (3-2), trying to convince the Reds that he can make the conversion from reliever to starter Pedro Alvarez Jersey , will get his third and final chance this season against the Pirates in Sunday’s series finale.NEW HIGHWhit Merrifield singled with one out in the fifth inning to extend his hitting streak to a season-high 15 games. The streak is the fourth of at least 12 games this season for Merrifield, the AL’s hits and stolen base leader going into Tuesday.UP NEXTRoyals: RHP Heath Fillmyer (3-2) will make his first career start against the Reds in his final 2018 start.Reds: LHP Cody Reed (1-2) makes his first career start against the Royals, who made him their second-round pick in the June 2013 draft. SAN FRANCISCO — The Arizona Diamondbacks will put their first-place status in the National League West on the line Wednesday night when they wrap up a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants.The Diamondbacks (72-60) have come up short in two low-scoring affairs, 2-0 and 1-0, in the first two games of the series to drop into a tie with the Colorado Rockies (72-60) atop the West.Arizona has been atop the division or tied for the top spot every day since Aug. 7.Article continues below ...The two wins by the Giants (67-67), meanwhile, allowed them to trim two games off what was an eight-game deficit in the West, and 1 1/2 games off what was an eight-game deficit in the NL wild-card race.Having already thrown two shutouts in the series and with eight wins in their last 10 games against Arizona, the Giants are scheduled to throw their hottest pitcher, rookie right-hander Dereck Rodriguez (6-1, 2.30), in an effort to creep even closer in both postseason chases.Rodriguez hasn’t lost since June 9, a 13-game (12-start) run in which he’s gone 5-0 with a 1.82 ERA.One of the wins during that stretch came in his only previous meeting with the Diamondbacks on June 30. He blanked Arizona that day, allowing six hits in 6 1/3 innings in a 7-0 win.The Diamondbacks http://www.oriolesfanproshop.com/authentic-tim-beckham-jersey , scoreless in their last 23 innings against Giants pitching, have wasted brilliant efforts by starters Patrick Corbin and Clay Buchholz in the first two games of the series. Counting Zack Greinke’s outing Sunday against Seattle, Arizona has allowed just five runs in its last three games.Seeking to end a run of four losses in their last five games, the Diamondbacks are slated to pitch left-hander Zack Godley (13-7, 4.59), who has been roughed up to the tune of 11 runs and 15 hits in 10 innings in his last two starts.He pitched a gem in San Francisco on April 9, going seven shutout innings in a 2-1 win, but the Giants have gotten the better of him since, claiming 10-3 and 9-6 wins in June and July, respectively, as Godley has been tagged for 14 runs and 14 hits in just 7 1/3 innings.Andrew McCutchen and Brandon Crawford have homered against Godley this season.The Giants might have to go Wednesday without one of their difference-makers during a four-game winning streak.Outfielder Steven Duggar suffered what appeared to be a dislocated left shoulder when diving back into first base after drawing a one-out walk in the ninth inning.Clearly in pain, Duggar stayed in the game and wound up scoring the winning run on Gorkys Hernandez’s walk-off single.The Giants labeled the injury a bruise after the game and said Duggar would be re-evaluated before the series finale.Duggar’s two-run single accounted for the only runs in Monday’s 2-0 win.The Diamondbacks not only fell into a tie for the West lead by virtue of Tuesday’s loss, but also allowed the third-place Los Angeles Dodgers (71-61) to move within one game of the top spot.Arizona visits Los Angeles for four games beginning Thursday night.