KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- There will be no World Series parade this year through the Kansas City downtown streets.

The title defense ended for the Royals despite scoring three runs with two outs in the eighth to beat the Minnesota Twins 5-2 Wednesday night.

Kendrys Morales drove in the go-ahead run with a double, and Alex Gordon added a two-run single as the Royals topped the Twins for the 15th time in 18 games this year.

However, soon after the Royals' big eighth inning, the Baltimore Orioles rallied to beat the Toronto Blue Jays, eliminating the 2015 World Series champion Royals from wild-card and postseason contention.

"It is what it is," Kansas City manager Ned Yost said of the finality that the 2016 postseason will be sans Royals. "The injuries were what they are. The circumstances are what they are. Again when I say, our players look themselves in the mirror and know they've given their very best every single day, we all do that. We've given our best every single day."

Joakim Soria (5-8) claimed the victory after pitching a scoreless inning, while Taylor Rogers (3-1) took the loss after allowing three runs in one-third of an inning.

Wade Davis gave up a double in the ninth but claimed his 27th save in 29 chances.

"We just tried to keep it at one, with Gordon, and we just couldn't put them away," Twins manager Paul Molitor said. "It's just a little frustrating for these guys. We're seeing some people perform well to some degree, and it's just tough to keep losing games late like that, especially when you have opportunities to score."

The Twins tied in the sixth when Kennys Vargas drove a Kevin McCarthy slider for a homer to right with two out and Miguel Sano aboard. McCarthy then walked Max Kepler and Eduardo Escobar before being replaced by Peter Moylan, who stranded the runners by retiring John Ryan Murphy on a crisp ground ball back to the mound.

Twins starter Ervin Santana gave up two runs on four hits with one walk and three strikeouts.

"It was good," Santana said of his season, which concluded with a 3.38 ERA that belies a 7-11 record. "I was disappointed because, you know, I didn't want to leave early, but that's part of the game. It's just, like I said, prepare for the next season."

Eric Hosmer put the Royals ahead in the third with a two-out, two-run homer. Hosmer made a Santana 92 mph fastball disappear over the right field fence on an 0-1 pitch. Santana may have been distracted by Jarrod Dyson, on base after an infield single, as he threw over to first in a pickoff attempt moments before serving up the Hosmer blast.

The Twins had just two baserunners -- a Kepler second-inning double and a Sano fourth-inning walk -- in the first four innings off left-hander Jason Vargas, who was making only his third start after rehabbing from August 2015 reconstructive elbow surgery.

Jason Vargas, however, ran into some difficulty in the fifth, giving up three hits.

With one out, Escobar singled and, with the count full on Murphy, Jason Vargas picked Escobar off first. That prevented a run as Murphy laced a double to left center. Bryon Buxton beat out an infield single to second baseman Whit Merrifield with Murphy taking third. Jason Vargas retired the dangerous Brian Dozier, who has 42 home runs, on a fly ball to Dyson in shallow center to strand the runners.

Jason Vargas was removed after five scoreless innings and 87 pitches, having allowed four hits and one walk one while striking out six, five with changeups.

"(The changeup) is usually what keeps me in the ballgame if I'm able to be effective with my fastball," Jason Vargas said. "I was able to keep it down as a strike or below the zone if I needed to. It was working tonight.

"It's nice to be able to keep the team in the ballgame especially after we had a lead. It was nice we were able to rally back and make it a pretty exciting finish."

NOTES: Twins 1B Joe Mauer, who has played only one game since Sept. 18 because of a quadriceps injury, is available to pinch-hit. Mauer does not want to be shut down for the season. ... Royals Hall of Fame broadcaster Denny Matthews will not be in the booth for the final five games. He returned to Illinois Wesleyan, class of 1966, to receive a distinguished alumnus award. ... Royals INF Christian Colon has not started since Sept. 19. ... The Twins have lost 17 of their past 19 road games. ... Twins RHP Kyle Gibson and Royals LHP Danny Duffy are the Thursday probables for the series finale. Gibson was an All-Big 12 selection in 2009 at the University of Missouri.