Andrus at his locker after that season-ending loss, answering every q

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Billy Burns entered as a pinch runner in the ninth, but ended it two innings later with his bat.Burns sacrifice fly scored Raul Mondesi in the 11th inning as the Kansas City Royals defeated the Minnesota Twins 4-3 Tuesday night, staving off postseason elimination.The defending World Series champions are five games behind Baltimore for the second AL wild card with five to play. The Orioles lost 5-1 at Toronto on Tuesday night.Mondesi drew a walk from Tommy Milone to lead off the inning, stole second and moved to third on Jarrod Dysons sacrifice bunt. Whit Merrifield and Eric Hosmer were walked intentionally to load the bases before Burns hit a fly ball to center field that was deep enough to get Mondesi home.My approach was try to get the barrel on it, Burns said. I was very confident if I got it to the outfield, Mondi was going to score, so that was really what I was trying to do. The only thought was did I hit it far enough, fortunately with Mondi over there and the outfielder wasnt able to run straight in on the ball and get that momentum that played a factor.Rookie Brooks Pounders (2-1), the eighth Royals pitcher, picked up the victory, getting the final two outs of the 11th inning.The Twins used nine pitchers, matching a club record for an extra-inning game. Milone (3-5) was charged with the loss.Twins rookie starter Jose Berrios was pulled after 4 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on four hits. Berrios, who has an 8.61 ERA in 13 starts, said he was surprised to see manager Paul Molitor come out to remove him after only 77 pitches.I knew that I gave up those two runs in the fourth inning, but I felt good, Berrios said. I felt comfortable and I felt like I was doing a good job of getting the batters out. But, hes the manager, so thats his position. You have to respect that and move on.Royals starter Ian Kennedy was removed after five innings and 106 pitches. He gave up three runs on five hits, while striking out five and walking three. He yielded a solo home run to Eduardo Escobar in a 10-pitch at-bat in the fourth inning.Juan Centeno doubled home Escobar in the second inning for the first run. Max Keplers two-out fifth inning single scored Brian Dozier.The Royals bullpen shutout the Twins the final six innings with Peter Moylan getting perhaps the biggest two outs of the game. Moylan inherited runners at second and third with one out in the sixth. He struck out Bryon Buxton and retired James Beresford on a grounder.I knew with a runner on third base that I probably needed to strike out Buxton and then was able to get Beresford, which was perfect, Moylan said. I knew I had one base open, so I didnt have to attack the zone, which I normally would have.The Royals scored two in the fourth on Hosmer run-producing single, his 101st RBI, and Merrifield came home when Kendrys Morales grounded into a double play. Jarrod Dysons two-out single in the fifth scored Paulo Orlando to tie the score at 3.Pinch runner Terrance Gore stole second and third, his 11th steal in 12 attempts, in the Kansas City eighth, but Merrifield bunted into an inning ending double play.NEWMAN VISITSNASCAR driver Ryan Newman, who is a friend of Royals manager Ned Yost, visited the team and was in uniform before the game.SCHAFER BATS FIFTHTwins LF Logan Schafer batted fifth for the first time this year and the seventh time in his career. He was 1-for-25 in his previous six starts as the No. 5 hitter. He went 1-for-4.TRAINERS ROOMRoyals: RHP Dillon Gee has a blood clot in his lung and shoulder and wont pitch again this year. Gee had shortness of breath after pitching 2 2/3 innings in relief Sunday at Detroit and was taken to the hospital when the blood clots were detected. He also had surgery in July 2012 while with the Mets for a blood clot in his shoulder.Twins: 1B Joe Mauer, who is hitless in his past 15 at-bats, is still bothered by a sore quadriceps and not in the lineup.UP NEXTTwins: RHP Ervin Santana is 5-9 with a 4.65 ERA in 20 career starts against the Royals. This is his fifth start this season against the Royals.Royals: LHP Jason Vargas will make his third start after rehabbing from 2015 reconstructive elbow surgery Luke Bolton Jersey . Still, Brewers manager Ron Roenicke thought taking him out before the fifth inning was an unusual move. "Im looking up at the board and hes got two hits given up and one run, and Im taking him out after the fourth inning," Roenicke said. Ederson Moraes Jersey .500 on the season. The Jets are now 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs. The game started the same way the Vancouver game started the night before, with the Jets taking the first two penalties of the game and killing off the first, but the Oilers getting on the board first, scoring on the second man-advantage. http://www.authenticmanchestercityshop.com/Authentic-Benjamin-Mendy-Manchester-City-Jersey/ . The team said Saturday that Lopez was hurt during its 121-120 overtime loss at Philadelphia on Friday. The Nets said they would issue another update next week after consultation with their doctors. Kyle Walker Jersey . Catch all the action on TSN2 at 11pm et/8pm pt. The nine-time Big 12 champion Jayhawks are positioning themselves for another title, as they have run out to a flawless 6-0 mark in conference play thus far. Sergio Aguero Jersey .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. ARLINGTON, Texas -- Elvis Andrus refuses to be defined by what happened last October, and those two errors the Texas Rangers shortstop made on routine plays.There was the misplayed grounder in that disastrous seventh inning of the ALDS-deciding fifth game at Toronto. Later came a dropped throw on what would have been a sure force out in the inning punctuated by Jose Bautistas go-ahead homer and emphatic bat flip .Tears flowed from Andrus eyes after that loss, a gut-punch finish likely just short of the feeling the Rangers had in 2011 after twice coming within a strike of winning their first World Series.But out of that also came a fresh determination and drive for Andrus, who at 28 and in his eighth season is the teams longest-tenured position player.I put it on my shoulder, and Im built for that. I knew it was going to be a challenging year for me, Andrus said. But at the same time I was excited, I was excited to actually how see what I was made of, and the regular season is the first step. I think that Im way more ready for the postseason this year.The AL West champion Rangers, in the playoffs for the fifth time in seven years, clinched home-field advantage for the entire postseason. They host Game 1 of the AL Division Series on Thursday against the wild-card game winner -- either Baltimore or those Blue Jays.With a career-best .302 batting average in the regular season, Andrus had his first .300 season. He also had career highs with eight home runs , 69 RBI and 46 extra-base hits, and his 70 strikeouts were the fewest in his career.Andrus views and treats third baseman Adrian Beltre like a big brother -- Im the one being annoying, Andrus said with a smile, a reference to some of their often entertaining interactions on the field and in the dugout.Beltre knows what happeened to Andrus in Toronto last year could have happened to anybody.ddddddddddddWe talked about it after that happened, and that kind of pushed him to learn from that mistake and have more motivation to come this year and do what he did, Beltre said. This year has been really good for him, and it was nice to see that instead of breaking him, it kind of made him stronger. Elvis has a really good mentality.General manager Jon Daniels said it still stands out to him, seeing an emotional and accountable Andrus at his locker after that season-ending loss, answering every question candidly. He said his shortstop immediately embraced the idea that he wanted to work to get better.Daniels also spoke this week about Andrus taking more of a leadership role this season with younger players on the team, like Beltre and former teammate and current Rangers special assistant Michael Young have with the shortstop.Elvis works hard every offseason, so that part isnt new, Daniels said. Elvis has been to the postseason a lot. ... Since hes been here, hes only been on winning teams, and I think he understands how hard it is, and not to take it for granted. Thats what I saw this winter, was him kind of taking that realization and putting it into action.Andrus has seen the replays of those ALDS errors and that seventh inning a few times, and said it doesnt affect him. Those clips are sure to be shown quite a few times this postseason, as long as the Rangers keep playing.I would like to see that quite a few times, especially before every game, Andrus said. See what it did to me. ... I have no problem with that.More October baseball just makes for a better Elvis comeback. ' ' '