KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Nelson Cruz homered and the first-place Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Royals 2-1 on Thursday night to snap a four-game losing streak. 
Cruz homered in the fourth after Chris Davis drew a walk to lead off the inning. It was Cruz’s 12th home run, which is second in the American League to the 15 of Chicago White Sox rookie Jose Abreu. Cruz’s 35 RBIs are tied for second in the AL.
Wei-Yin Chen limited the Royals to one run and seven hits over 5 1-3 innings with one walk and one strikeout. Chen, who is 5-1 in his past seven starts, was removed in the sixth after Salvador Perez walked and Alex Gordon singled with one out. Darren O’Day replaced Chen and struck out Danny Valencia and retried Johnny Giavotella on a fly to right.
Royals rookie right-hander Yordano Ventura struck out nine and walked one in 6 1-3 innings, allowing two runs and seven hits.
