Michael Wacha dominates for 8 innings as Royals blank Guardians 3-0 for their 11th win in 12 games

CLEVELAND (AP) — Michael Wacha dominated Cleveland's lineup by allowing just four singles over eight innings as the Kansas City Royals stayed scorching hot with a 3-0 win on Friday night to end the Guardians' winning streak at seven games.

Wacha (8-8) was in control from his first pitch to his 103rd and cooled off the Guardians, who just returned from a 6-0 trip to Colorado and Los Angeles.

Rookie Carter Jensen hit a two-run homer in the ninth for the Royals, who have won 11 of 12 and are 23-16 since the All-Star break.

Wacha, who leads the AL with 18 quality starts, walked none and struck out a season-high 10. The Guardians only got one runner past second base against the right-hander. Wacha improved to 6-1 against AL Central teams in 2026.

Steven Cruz loaded the bases in the ninth on two singles and a hit batter before retiring Angel Genao on a comebacker for his sixth save.

Clinging to a 1-0 lead, Jensen gave the Royals two huge runs in the ninth by belting his 19th homer, a shot to right off reliever Craig Yoho.

Tanner Bibee (5-14) suffered another tough loss for Cleveland. He only allowed one run in six innings, but the Guardians' offense couldn't get anything going against Wacha.

Bibee came in getting an average of just 3.17 runs of support per game — third-lowest in MLB.

After missing some early scoring chances, the Royals finally pushed across a run in the fifth inning against Bibee.

Bobby Witt Jr., whose return from the injured list earlier this month has helped fuel Kansas City's recent tear, doubled and went to third on a flyout. Salvador Perez brought him home with a hard groundout.

Royals LHP Daniel Lynch (4-4, 2.93 ERA) starts against LHP Foster Griffin (15-4, 3.19), who is 3-1 with Cleveland since coming over in a deadline trade.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Kansas City Royals' Josh Rojas (40) gestures from second base after hitting a double in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Guardians' Tanner Bibee pitches in the first inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals in Cleveland, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Kansas City Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. celebrates in the dugout after scoring in the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Cleveland Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio, left, tumbles over Kansas City Royals' Jac Caglianone, right, on a pick off attempt in the third inning of a baseball game in Cleveland, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Kansas City Royals' Michael Wacha (52) pitches in the first inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Cleveland, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday that his administration has entered a sweeping agreement with Venezuela that, if realized, could give the U.S. access to vast amounts of the South American country’s untapped oil reserves, at cost.

Trump in a social media post announcing the agreement said it was negotiated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez.

“The United States of America has just entered into an Agreement with the Country of Venezuela on, THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!” Trump wrote.

Rodríguez’s government in a statement said the deal involves the development of 17 fields with a proven potential of 65 billion barrels. It said the agreement could draw $100 billion in investment into Venezuela's oil industry and yield over $209 billion in taxes for Caracas.

Rodríguez in a posting on Telegram predicted the deal “will have a significant impact on our nation’s revival.”

The agreement allows for the United States to partner with an unnamed private operator in Venezuela to create a new private company to take hold of the reserves, according to a U.S. official familiar with the contours of the deal.

The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, added that Rodríguez granted the company 100-year rights to develop the oil fields.

The deal gives the United States 55% effective output of the new private company -- including an ownership stake and rights to buy oil at cost. The company would be the second largest corporate holder of proven reserves after Saudi Aramco, according to the official.

The announcement comes nearly nine months after the U.S. military at Trump’s direction carried out an operation to capture Venezuela’s then-President Nicolás Maduro and spirit him to the United States to face federal narcoterrorism and drug trafficking charges.

Trump faces mounting pressure to address high gas prices as the war in Iran on Friday reached a six-month milestone with no conclusion in sight. The U.S. has tapped its strategic petroleum reserves, which in early August fell below 300 million barrels, down by more than 100 million barrels since the start of 2026.

The U.S.-Israel war against Iran has led to a dramatic slowdown of Gulf oil moving through the Strait of Hormuz, which about 20% of the world petroleum passed through prior to the conflict.

The average price of gas in the U.S. stood at about $4.09 a gallon on Friday, according to AAA. The average price was $3.21 at the same time last year.

A significant drop in U.S. gas prices tied to the agreement should not be expected immediately. Experts have repeatedly warned that a substantial boost in Venezuelan oil production will not happen quickly as repairing and expanding infrastructure takes years and requires billions of dollars.

Persuading big American oil companies to return the region could face headwinds given the political uncertainty and decades of badly damaged infrastructure.

Days after the ouster of Maduro, Trump gathered oil executives at the White House and called on them to rush back into Venezuela. Executives expressed interest in the opportunity but there was also a measure of caution given their past experience in the country.

Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil, the largest U.S. oil company, said at that moment he saw the country as “un-investable.”

But Trump has insisted that his administration has brought a measure of stability to Venezuela.

He has argued that Venezuela stole U.S. oil when former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez moved decades ago to nationalize hundreds of foreign-owned assets, including those owned by American oil companies.

Rodríguez, in one of her early moves after taking power, signed a law that opens the nation’s oil sector to privatization and reversed a bedrock tenet of the self-proclaimed socialist movement that has ruled the country for more than two decades.

Rubio said on X that the agreement would usher in billions in private investment into Venezuela and lead to lower gas prices in the United States.

“This deal is a huge win for both the American and Venezuelan people,” Rubio posted.

The oil bought from the new company would go toward filling the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve and toward military use, according to the U.S. official.

Venezuela has one of the largest oil reserves in the world, with an estimated 303 billion barrels of crude oil in the ground. That’s about 17% of the world’s supply, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Unlike other parts of the world, where geologists have to search for untapped oil, the reserves under Venezuela’s soil are largely mapped and known, experts say. But because of dilapidated infrastructure, the country only produces about 1% of the world’s oil.

Maduro remains jailed in the U.S. He has pleaded not guilty.

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Garcia Cano reported from Caracas.

President Donald Trump waves after arriving off Air Force One, Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)