Braves 4, Royals 3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- In the Braves' first-ever trip to Kansas City, Jason Heyward homered and drove in three runs as Atlanta topped the Royals 4-3 at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday.
Heyward's seventh-inning solo home run to right field off Tim Collins (2-2) snapped a 3-3 tie and provided the margin of victory.
Heyward hit a two-run double in the fifth to give Atlanta a short-lived 3-1 lead. Atlanta evened the score on Eric Hosmer's two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth.
Billy Butler gave the Royals a first-inning lead with a sharp single to center field, plating Hosmer.
The Braves answered with three runs in the fifth.
Chris Johnson doubled, Andrelton Simmons singled, and Jordan Schafer doubled to bring home Johnson, tying the score at 1. Heyward then delivered a liner down the right field line, driving in two runs.
Braves starter Kris Medlen (5-7) went seven innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and one walk while fanning five.
Jordan Walden blanked the Royals in the eighth. Craig Kimbrel closed out the Royals with a scoreless ninth, pitching around a leadoff walk to Mike Moustakas and a single by David Lough to collect his 22nd save in 25 tries.
Royals starter Ervin Santana pitched six innings, allowing three runs on six hits and three walks while striking out seven.
NOTES: The Braves are 41-9 in games in which they hit a home run, but 4-23 when they do not. ... The Royals lead the American League in final at-bat wins with 13, including their most recent win when they scored three in the eighth to beat the Chicago White Sox 7-6 on Sunday. The Royals are also tied for the major league lead, with the Texas Rangers, with 24 come-from-behind wins. They overcame multi-run deficits twice on Sunday. ... Atlanta has been shut out a big-league-high 11 times but still leads the National League East by six games. The Braves are just the third team in major league history to occupy first place at the 75-game mark of a season despite being shut out at least 10 times to that point. ... Kansas City has scored more than three runs in an inning only 13 times this year, last doing so June 14 at Tampa Bay. The Royals have scored more than four runs in an inning just five times, last accomplishing the feat June 13, when they put up eight runs in the sixth inning against the Rays.
