Salvador Perez homered twice and drove in four runs, Jac Caglianone and John Rave added solo shots and the Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago Cubs 12-4 on Monday night. Chicago’s Matt Shaw and Carson Kelly went deep off Noah Cameron (4-4) in the second,

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The Chicago Cubs quietly climbed to the top of the National League ahead of the All-Star break thanks to a long losing streak by the defending champions Los Angeles Dodgers, but the Milwaukee Brewers have closed the gap in the NL Central thanks to a 10-game winning streak.

The Royals are in fourth place in the AL Central and trail in the Wild Card race by 5 1/2 games. They lost 2 of 3 in their first series following the All-Star break in Miami and are 2-4 in their last 6 games.

The Red Sox departed Chicago with a 6-1 win on Sunday, avoiding a sweep against the major league-leading Cubs thanks to Wilyer Abreu’s two home runs and Alex Bregman’s one.

Wilyer Abreu hits two of Boston's three home runs en route to a 6-1 win over Chicago.