Chase Headley, Starlin Castro and Didi Gregorius hit early home runs and the New York Yankees beat Kansas City, 7-3, Thursday night, sending the World Series champion Royals to their 12th loss in 16 games.

Kansas City dropped three of four at Yankee Stadium.

Before the game, manager Ned Yost insisted he wasn’t worried about his team, saying ‘‘it’s a group that doesn’t panic.’’

Nathan Eovaldi (3-2) worked around eight hits in five innings, and overcame getting struck on the leg by Lorenzo Cain’s hard one-hopper at the outset.

On Eovaldi’s last pitch, Salvador Perez nearly launched a go-ahead, three-run homer, but right fielder Carlos Beltran caught the ball at the top of the wall. Eovaldi wiped his brow as he walked off the mound while Perez put both hands on the top of his helmet.

Relievers Kirby Yates and Dellin Betances each followed with a perfect inning to hold a 5-3 lead.

After the Yankees scored twice more, Andrew Miller worked a 1-2-3 eighth and Chasen Shreve threw a scoreless ninth.

Alex Gordon hit a solo home run and an RBI single for Kansas City. The Royals outhit the Yankees 9-7.

Ian Kennedy (4-3) lost in his first game back in the Bronx since the Yankees traded him after the 2009 season.

Castro homered in the first, then Headley connected in the second for his first extra-base hit this season — and ending a drought of 166 at-bats without a home run dating to last year.

Gregorius added a two-run drive in the fourth.

Chien-Ming Wang, another former Yankees pitcher, gave up an RBI single to Castro and a bases-loaded walk to Brian McCann in the seventh.

Orioles 7, Tigers 5 — Jonathan Schoop hit a tiebreaking two-run triple in the seventh inning, and host Baltimore rallied from a five-run deficit to beat Detroit for its fifth straight victory. After hitting 12 homers in their previous three games, the Orioles stormed back without benefit of the long ball. Schoop’s triple was the only extra-base hit in a seventh inning that included five singles.

Phillies 7, Braves 4 — Cameron Rupp hit a three-run double with two outs in the 10th inning, and Philadelphia beat host Atlanta after blowing a four-run lead. Rupp had been 3 for 22 on the trip and was hitless in four at-bats on the night before his drive into the left-center gap off Ian Krol.

Padres 3, Brewers 0 — James Shields had a season-high nine strikeouts in seven innings to lead San Diego to a shutout victory over host Milwaukee to win its third straight game for the first time this season. Shields (2-5) allowed seven hits and one walk, Brandon Maurer pitched the eighth, and Fernando Rodney pitched the ninth for his 11th save.