Royals avoid sweep by shellacking Padres

Salvador Perez swatted a two-run homer, Michael A. Taylor added a solo shot and drove in four runs, and the host Kansas City Royals survived a big day from Manny Machado to defeat the San Diego Padres 15-7 on Sunday.

Rookie right-hander Jonathan Heasley (2-7) picked up his first win since June 10 as the Royals averted a three-game sweep. The Padres saw their lead for the NL's third wild-card berth shrink to 1 1/2 games o