MINNEAPOLIS -- Erik Kratz had played in only five games for

Preminiem Geregistreerd op: 22 Mei 2019 Berichten: 285

MINNEAPOLIS -- Erik Kratz had played in only five games for Kansas City since being acquired from Toronto in a trade on July 28. Bill Russell Jersey . But the big guy always stayed ready and that discipline paid off Monday night to keep the Royals rolling. Kratz homered twice after replacing an ailing Salvador Perez, and Jason Vargas pitched seven strong innings to lead the first-place Royals to a 6-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins. "You put your work in before the game as a bench guy to be ready to go in," Kratz said. "Some people could say well, Salvi plays every day, so why not take a day off? In my opinion, whats the point of taking a day off if that might be the day you come in and play?" Vargas (10-5) allowed one run on four this and struck out three, but had his scoreless innings streak snapped at 17 when Oswaldo Arcia hit a solo homer in the seventh. Perez had two hits and two RBIs before leaving in the seventh because of discomfort in his right knee, helping the Royals win for the 21st time in 26 games. Kansas City extended its lead over the idle Detroit Tigers in the AL Central to two games. Trevor May (0-2) gave up three runs on seven hits and walked four in 4 2-3 innings for the Twins. When Perez left, Kratz came in as a pinch hitter and broke his bat on a pitch from Anthony Swarzak, but still managed to muscle it over the wall in left field for a 4-0 lead. Kratz added a solo shot to centre in the ninth for his first multihomer game. The drives proved even more important when Trevor Plouffe hit a three-run homer off Aaron Crow in the ninth inning. "Its great to help the team out when you do get in there for any bench guy," Kratz said. Greg Holland came on for his 38th save in 40 tries. Josh Willingham had three hits and Alex Gordon and Billy Butler each had two for the Royals, who have won eight straight series for the first time since 1991. May made his major league debut on Aug. 9, and it was a rough one. He walked seven batters in two innings and gave up four runs. He breezed through four innings of his home debut, but walked the bases loaded in the fifth. Perez followed with a two-run single and Butler added an RBI single to give the Royals a 3-0 lead. That was enough for Vargas, who has dominated the Twins this season. He retired 10 in a row from the second through sixth while his offence built him a cushion. "Salvis a huge part of our team, but we have to keep him healthy and keep him in it for the long haul," Vargas said. "For Kratz to come in and step up and go big fly twice was pretty nice, especially when they were able to extend the game a little bit there. Those two home runs really counted." TRAINERS ROOM Royals: Perez is day to day with a sore knee. Manager Ned Yost said Perez tweaked a tendon in his knee while running the bases in the fifth inning, but was removed purely as a precaution. Twins: Byron Buxton, one of the top prospects in baseball, flew to Fort Myers, Florida, to begin his recovery after a nasty outfield collision at Double-A New Britain. GM Terry Ryan said Buxton had a stiff neck and some headaches, but nothing more serious. Ryan said he doubts Buxton will play again this season. "Were all fortunate it ended up the way it ended up," Ryan said. "Weve seen collisions in our day, but that one ranked right up there." UP NEXT The Royals open a two-game interleague series in Colorado. RHP James Shields (11-6, 3.29 ERA) starts the opener against LHP Tyler Matzek (2-8, 5.50). The Twins stay home for a three-game series against Cleveland. RHP Kyle Gibson (11-9, 3.96) starts the opener against RHP Trevor Bauer (4-7, 4.35). EARLY EXIT Twins manager Ron Gardenhire didnt stick around very long. When plate umpire Chris Segal called Joe Mauer out on strikes in the first inning, the mild-mannered first baseman argued that he fouled the third strike and it hit the dirt before Perez caught it. Segal disagreed, and Gardenhire came to Mauers defence before returning to the bench. Moments later, Segal ejected Gardenhire after the conversation apparently continued from the dugout. It was the fifth time this season and 72nd time in his career that Gardenhire was ejected. Wholesale Celtics Jerseys .com) - The Minnesota Twins made it official on Wednesday, announcing the signing of outfielder Torii Hunter to a one-year contract. Cheap Celtics Jerseys . And rest hardly led to rust for the two-time defending NBA champions. http://www.cheapcelticsjerseyschina.com/ . Mike Babcock has turned to the Montreal Canadiens goalie over Roberto Luongo, who backed Canada to a gold medal in Vancouver in 2010, for Canadas final preliminary round game against the ailing Finns.(SportsNetwork.com) - The New York Rangers will try to sweep their season series against the Detroit Red Wings when the Original Six rivals battle on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden. Watch the Rangers vs. Red Wings live on TSN2 at 12:30pm et/9:30am pt. The Rangers have won three straight over the Red Wings following a five-game slide in the series. New York is 2-0 against Detroit this season, posting a road overtime decision on Oct. 26 before picking up a 1-0 regulation win at the Garden on Jan. 16. Henrik Lundqvist recorded the shutout on Jan. 16 after making 38 saves for the Rangers. The Swedish netminder expects to get the start on Sunday and is 2-3-1 with a 2.66 goals against average in six career games against the Red Wings. Jimmy Howard stopped 47-of-48 shots in the tough-luck loss against New York in January. He is 2-1-1 with a 1.72 GAA in four lifetime outings versus the Blueshirts and will get the start on Sunday. New York enters Sundays battle as the third-place team in the Metropolitan Division and is one point in back of Philadelphia for second place. The top three teams in each division earn an automatic bid to the playoffs. Detroit, meanwhile, is currently tied with Columbus for the last of the Eastern Conferences eight playoff seeds, With the Blue Jackets idle on Sunday, the Red Wings have a chance to take sole possession of the second wild card spot. The Rangers and Red Wings both are coming off victories on Friday night. New York posted a 4-2 win at Carolina, while Detroit slammed the visiting New Jersey Devils by a 7-4 score. The Blueshirts halted a three-game slide with their win in Raleigh. Derek Stepans power-play goal with 2:46 remaining highlighted a third-period rally that lifted New York to the 4-2 decision over the Hurricanes at PNC Arena. All four New York scores came in the final 12:35 of play, with the newly acquired Martin St. Louis setting up Stepans tally on a 5-on-3 power play that snapped a 2-2 deadlock. The assisted marked the first point for St. Louis in two games with the Rangers since he was acquired Wednesday in the deal that Ryan Callahan to Tampa. "He made a nice pass," Rangers head coaach Alain Vigneault said of St. Authentic Celtics Jerseys. Louis. "(The power play) is something that we havent practiced since Martys been with us, but he did a good job of explaining what we were looking for and he made a great play." Both Stepan and Rick Nash finished with a goal and an assist in the Rangers 10th straight win over Carolina, with Ryan McDonagh adding a shorthanded marker and Carl Hagelin sealing the outcome with an empty netter. Lundqvist posted 22 saves to pick up the win, his first in four outings since helping Team Sweden pick up a silver medal last month at the Sochi Olympics. After todays tilt in Manhattan, the Rangers will play three straight and six of their next seven games on the road. New York is 15-15-4 as the host this season and 19-11-0 as the guest. Detroit had lost two in a row before routing the Devils on Friday. Johan Franzen had two goals and two assists to help the Red Wings notch the 7-4 victory. Gustav Nyquist posted a goal and three assists and David Legwand had a goal and two assists for the Red Wings. Jonas Gustavsson made 21 stops in the win. "The guys kept putting in all their chances they were getting and that gave us a lot of energy," said Gustavsson. "Its not every night you score seven goals, but it was fun for the crowd." Legwand registered a three-point night in his second game with the Red Wings. The veteran forward was acquired from Nashville on Wednesday for forward Patrick Eaves, a conditional third-round pick and forward prospect Calle Jarnkrok. The 33-year-old Legwand, a native of the Detroit area, skated on the Red Wings top line with Franzen and Nyquist "Obviously two great players, world-class players. Its an honor to play with them and we had the puck tonight, we were moving it and I think obviously when you can move and skate its going to create some chances and opportunities," said Legwand, who was named the games first star. The Red Wings are playing two straight and three of their next four tests on the road. Detroit is 17-10-4 as the visiting team this season, but has lost two straight and three of its last five games in NYC. 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