ANAHEIM, Calif. — Eric Hosmer hit a two-run homer in the 11th inning, and the surprising Kansas City Royals took a 2-0 lead in the AL Division Series with a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night.

Alex Gordon had an early run-scoring single and Salvador Perez added an RBI infield single in the 11th for the Royals, who became the first team in major league history to win three straight extra-inning playoff games.

In its first postseason appearance since 1985, Kansas City's playoff roll just can't be slowed by the majors' best regular-season team. Hosmer had three hits and scored two runs as the Royals moved to the brink of the AL Championship Series.

Game 3 in the best-of-five series is Sunday in Kansas City, where Angels left-hander C.J. Wilson faces James Shields.

After 10 innings of intense, pitching-dominated baseball, the Royals broke out. Lorenzo Cain beat out a one-out infield single off losing pitcher Kevin Jepsen, and Hosmer smacked a no-doubt homer to right field, setting off a celebration for several dozen blue-clad fans in a sea of red at the Big A.

Albert Pujols had a tying RBI single in the sixth for the Angels, but the majors' most productive offense has been mostly helpless against the Royals.

Giants 3, Nationals 2WASHINGTON — Put Jake Peavy on the San Francisco Giants, and he suddenly turns into quite a postseason performer.Same for a couple of rookies, Hunter Strickland and Joe Panik.Seems that October aura manager Bruce Bochy has cultivated with the Giants rubs off on anyone joining the club.The intense Peavy took a no-hitter into the fifth inning, Strickland and the rest of San Francisco's rested bullpen barely protected a lead, and the wild-card Giants won their league-record ninth consecutive postseason game by beating Stephen Strasburg and the Washington Nationals 3-2 on Friday in an NL Division Series opener.“Nobody is scared of the moment,” Peavy said.

Orioles 7, Tigers 6BALTIMORE — Think for a second about postseason heroes in Orioles history.Once you move past the Brooks Robinsons, Frank Robinsons, and Rick Dempseys of franchise lore, there's another pantheon reserved for guys who will never end up in the club's Hall of Fame, but provided a moment of excellence in October so crucial, so memorable that they should never ever have to buy a beer in town again.Move over Moe Drabowsky, Tito Landrum and Jeff Reboulet. Delmon Young has just joined your ranks.With a pinch-hit, three-run double in the bottom of the eighth in the Orioles' 7-6 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Friday afternoon, Young helped put his club ahead, 2-0, in the best-of-five American League Division Series.Or maybe it was Bruce Lee, the late martial arts legend, who came up so monumentally big at Camden Yards before a screaming, chanting, announced sellout crowd of 48,058.“We call him Bruce Lee. He doesn't lose a fight,” Orioles slugger Nelson Cruz said of Young. “Every time he comes up, he delivers.”

Cardinals 10, Dodgers 9LOS ANGELES — Matt Carpenter dug in against Clayton Kershaw, fouling off pitches and fighting an 0-2 count. He finally broke through, smacking a go-ahead three-run double that rallied the St. Louis Cardinals to victory.Carpenter's hit highlighted an eight-run seventh inning, and the Cardinals went on to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-9 in a fiery NL Division Series opener Friday.“It makes it more fun when you're playing against somebody that is known as being the best pitcher in the game,” said Carpenter, who also homered off Kershaw. “When I get in those at-bats versus him I just try to fight. He's coming right after me, seems like every time I face him I'm down 0-2 and I got to fight my way back.”It was 92 degrees at gametime, and things quickly got more heated in a surprising slugfest.