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MINNEAPOLIS -- Like the rest of the Kansas City Royals, this season has not been a smooth one for Yordano Ventura.They started a series at Minnesota by winning the way theyre designed to.Ventura won consecutive starts for the first time in two months, Kendrys Morales homered in his return from a one-game suspension and the Royals beat the Twins 7-3 Friday night.Ventura (8-9) struck out nine in seven innings, allowing four hits, one walk and three runs, throwing 105 pitches.He pitched a pretty good game, catcher Salvador Perez said. I think he just left a couple of pitches up.Ventura led the Royals to their fifth win in the last six games with a well-located fastball and a sharp curveball.Just focus and concentrate on making every single pitch, said Ventura, who posted a 5.15 ERA in the first half and has a 3.26 ERA after the All-Star break.Miguel Sano homered for the fifth time in the last seven games and Brian Dozier hit a two-run shot, giving Twins starter Kyle Gibson (4-7) a one-run lead he took into the fifth inning. The Royals hit the ball plenty hard, but the softest one made the biggest impact.Perezs bat broke on a two-strike, two-out, two-run bloop single with the bases loaded the gave the Royals a 4-3 lead.I hit it pretty good, Perez said, laughing.Third baseman Trevor Plouffe awkwardly backpedaled for the slow-rising ball, but it cleared his head and landed in front of diving shortstop Jorge Polanco. Perez leads the team with 27 two-out RBI.Those are the kind of breaks that have been going against us here a little bit, manager Ned Yost said. Doesnt have to be pretty. It just has to be effective.Eric Hosmer and Raul Mondesi hit RBI doubles for the Royals, and Paulo Orlando combined an RBI single with two lunging catches in center field to take hits from the Twins, who have lost four straight games after winning nine of 12 prior to the streak.They can play defense. We know that. That hasnt changed, manager Paul Molitor said.The Royals are 6-1 against the Twins this season, with 12 games left between them. After a rough July that all but dashed their dream of returning to the playoffs and defending their World Series title, the Royals are 7-4 in August. Their starting pitchers have a 3.01 ERA.After using eight pitchers, including utility infielder Eduardo Escobar, and giving up 25 runs to Houston while being swept Thursday in a doubleheader, the Twins needed Gibson to go deep into the game. He was removed two batters into the sixth.The right-hander hasnt been able to get in a groove this season, though. His first-inning ERA is 9.00, and he has recorded quality starts of six innings or more and three runs or fewer only six times in 16 turns. Lefties are hitting .330 in 188 at-bats against Gibson.They put the bat on the ball. Thats what theyre known for, Gibson said.Orlando is hitting .340 in 25 games since the All-Star break.SUMMER SWATSThe Twins have a major league-most 63 home runs in 42 games since June 26, and Dozier leads both leagues in that span with 15 of his 24 homers.WET WEATHERThe game started 50 minutes late because of steady rain that wiped out batting practice and lasted into the evening. This was the ninth weather-related delay at Target Field this year, a total of 11 hours and 54 minutes of waiting, plus a pair of postponed games including Wednesday.In seven seasons at the ballpark, the Twins have had 30 games delayed and 14 games postponed.TRAINERS ROOMRoyals: Morales returned from a one-game suspension served Thursday following his dropped appeal to Major League Baseball. Kansas Citys home run leader was punished for returning to the dugout following his ejection for arguing Aug. 2 at Tampa Bay about the strike zone.Twins: LH Tommy Milone was placed on the DL with left biceps tendinitis, the third pitcher shelved for injury in three days. LH Andrew Albers was designated for assignment after the game so the team could call up another reliever for the game Saturday.UP NEXTRoyals: Will keep RHP Dillon Gee (4-5, 4.54 ERA) in the rotation and start him Saturday, despite needing him in relief Wednesday in their 14-inning victory over Chicago. Gee struck out three in two perfect innings for the win.Twins: Will send RHP Tyler Duffey (7-8, 5.93 ERA) to the mound for the second game of the series, his 20th start of the season. He struck out eight in six innings for the victory in his last turn, against Houston. Womens Warriors Jerseys . Mickelson barely made the cut but had the best round of the day with nine birdies and an eagle coupled with two bogeys to sit two shots behind leader Craig Lee of Scotland. Lee shot a 69 for a 12-under 204 total. "I just love the fact I am in contention and have an opportunity in my first tournament of the year here in Abu Dhabi," Mickelson said. Authentic Warriors Jerseys . Houston won 3-0 to advance to face New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Last in the game, Di Vaio and Romero got into a shoving match with several Houston players. Romero appeared to elbow and kick Houston defender Kofi Sarkodie. http://www.cheapwarriorsjerseyschina.com/ . - Chris Tierney snapped a tie with a power-play goal late in the third period as the London Knights rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Erie Otters 5-3 in Ontario Hockey League action on Wednesday. Latrell Sprewell Jersey . Miller finished in two minutes, 6.09 seconds, one day before the first medal race on the Alpine schedule. The 36-year-old American also turned in the top time in Thursdays opening training session. Discount Warriors Jerseys . Deulofeu injured a muscle in his right leg in Evertons 4-1 win over Fulham in the English Premier League on Saturday. Barcelona says that its team doctors will "co-ordinate" with Evertons medical staff as Deulofeu recovers. ST. LOUIS -- Randal Grichuk showed off his impressive ability at a key moment for the St. Louis Cardinals.Grichuk made two big plays and Adam Wainwright pitched eight strong innings to help the Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1 on Saturday.Stephen Piscotty also drove in two runs as St. Louis won for the second straight night to move back into position for the second NL wild card, a half-game ahead of the New York Mets.The talent-wise weve seen, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Grichuk. Just being able to consistently put it together has been another challenge. Hes making huge strides in that direction.Grichuk made a perfect throw to the plate to cut down Jake Elmore trying to score from second in the eighth. Then he doubled in the bottom half, helping clear the way for a five-run rally. Matt Adams drove in the tying run with a grounder to second and Grichuk scored on Kolten Wongs single, giving St. Louis a 2-1 lead.What a great throw from the outfield and timely, Matheny said. We needed that play to happen right there. All the way around hes doing everything we could ask.Wong said Grichuks throw was the catalyst for the comeback.Defense has kind of been the thing this past couple weeks sparking our offense and sparking us to get these wins, Wong said. That play Randal made was awesome. We needed that.Wainwright (11-8) struck out seven and allowed six hits in his most impressive outing since he shut out San Diego on July 21. He was helped by double plays in the second and seventh and Grichuks throw in the eighth.It kind of had that feel in the air, and after I got that last out, Jhonny Peralta came up to me and he said were going to pick you up right here and then he went out and got a knock, and Grichuk got the double obviously, Wainwright said. They did a great job right there against a tough pitcher throwing very hard. Ill take it for sure.It was Wainwrights second straight win.It was nice to see him get rewarded for getting through a tough eighth, Matheny said. With his back against the wall is typically when he is at his best.Keon Broxtons 429-foot homer in the fifth gave Milwaukee a 1-0 lead. The Brewers have homered in eight straight games.Brewers starter Chase Anderson allowed three hits annd walked two in 5 2/3 innings.dddddddddddd. He was coming off five shutout innings against Pittsburgh last Sunday.Carlos Torres followed Anderson with 1 1/3 scoreless innings, but Corey Knebel (1-3) and Jhan Marinez faltered in the eighth. After Wongs single, Piscotty doubled home two more runs and Yadier Molina added an RBI single.Knebel has struggled recently, mainly against St. Louis.Its been with the Cardinals hitters certainly, but it comes down to making pitches, Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. The ball to Grichuk got the heart of the plate.EARLY EXITBrewers first baseman Hernan Perez was ejected by home plate umpire Carlos Torres after taking a called strike three to end the top of the eighth, stranding the bases loaded. Perez tossed his helmet and bat and voiced his displeasure with the call. After the ejection, he ran to the plate and made a kicking motion near the batters box indicating where he thought the pitch was.I havent seen it, Counsell said. Hernan doesnt argue very often. Im guessing it was outside.WEB GEMSWong, playing second for the Cardinals, made a whirling throw to start a 4-6-3 double play in the second inning and he made a diving play to throw out Jonathan Villar to end the third.Wong was amazing tonight, both sides of the plate, getting on base, Wainwright said. His defense the last week or so has been amazing to me. Hes just playing Gold Glove defense out there.TRAINING ROOMCardinals: RHP Trevor Rosenthal (right shoulder inflammation) threw live batting practice. ... RHP Michael Wacha (right shoulder inflammation) is expected to throw live batting practice Monday. ... SS Aledmys Diaz (right thumb fracture) went 0 for 5 in Double-A Springfields season-ending loss to NW Arkansas.UP NEXTBrewers: RHP Zach Davies (10-7, 4.01 ERA) gets the ball on Sunday. He has made a team-high 14 quality starts. He is 1-0 with a 1.88 ERA in two starts against St. Louis this season.Cardinals: RHP Luke Weaver (1-2, 3.96 ERA) pitches for St. Louis on Sunday. He has 22 strikeouts in his last three starts.---This version deleted incorrect reference to Chase Andersons record. Jerseys NFL Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic China Jerseys Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping NFL Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping ' ' '