Post by lingzi on Sept 27, 2012 1:27:17 GMT -5
KANSAS CITY, Mo. Ryan Tannehill Youth Jersey . -- Cole De Vries had a couple of key strikeouts during what could have been the inning that doomed him to defeat against the Kansas City Royals, allowing him to escape further damage and keep the game tied up. He couldnt remember what he threw to either of the batters. "The whole thing is a blur," he said, "to be honest with you." Thats because Minnesota responded to the Royals three runs with three of their own the next half inning, helping De Vries pick up his first major league win with a 10-7 victory Monday night. "It feels awesome," said De Vries, a former undrafted free agent out of the University of Minnesota. "Its something Ive been waiting for my whole life." De Vries (1-1) got a whole lot of help. Justin Morneau and Josh Willingham each hit two-run homers, and Trevor Plouffe also went deep. Jamey Carroll reached base four times with two RBIs, and Ben Revere also drove in two runs. "It shows we can ad lib a little bit," said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, who was forced into a makeshift lineup when Joe Mauer showed up at the ballpark with a sore thumb. "We can pop a baseball, and Ive always said if our pitcher gives us a chance, we can win some games." The Twins have won six of their last seven, to be exact. The Twins led 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth when Mike Moustakas followed a pair of singles to start the inning with an RBI double. Jeff Francoeur proceeded to slap a grounder to Minnesota shortstop Brian Dozier, who let the ball go right through the wickets for a run. Hosmer was next to bat and hit a grounder at second baseman Alexi Casilla, who stumbled all over himself for another error. The Royals wound up tying the game on the play. De Vries ended the rally with the two key strikeouts. "When something like that happens, someone has to pick it up," he said. "I was happy to be able to do that, pick it up for the guys." Morneau broke the tie with his two-run shot off Will Smith (1-2), who was also making his third big league start. Plouffes homer moments later restored the three-run cushion. The Twins survived two runs in the ninth by Kansas City, and Matt Capps got Johnny Giavotella to ground out with the tying run on deck to finish it. Moustakas homered and had a pair of doubles with two RBIs, and Eric Hosmer also drove in two runs for the Royals, providing them with at least a few bright spots. The error by shortstop by Alcides Escobar in the first inning certainly wasnt one of them. Nor was the stretch of three walks issued by Royals pitchers in the sixth inning. Smith was charged with seven runs on eight hits and two walks in 4 2-3 innings, a somewhat sobering performance after he allowed two runs over six frames his last time out. "I thought he threw the ball OK at times. His ball would start on the corner and just drift back to the middle of the plate," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "They put the good end of the bat on it and drove it into the seats." Enough times to make De Vries a winner for the first time. "I was impressed he was able to hang in there," Gardenhire said. "Any time you get an opportunity to celebrate y our first career win, its a special deal." NOTES: The Twins have committed five errors in their past two games, yet won both. ... Royals OF Alex Gordon went 0 for 4 to snap a seven-game hitting streak. ... Morneau has hit 14 homers at Kauffman Stadium, the most of any road ballpark. ... Hosmer has a seven-game hitting streak. ... The Twins put RHP Carl Pavano (strained right shoulder) on the 15-day DL and reinstated RHP Nick Blackburn (strained left quad) before the game. Blackburn will start Wednesdays series finale. ... LHP Francisco Liriano goes Tuesday for Minnesota. LHP Bruce Chen starts for Kansas City. A.J. Green Black Jersey . The stocky centre from Belarus put a spectacular spin move on the Montreal defence and got the game-winner 1:23 into overtime on Saturday night to lift the Leafs to a 5-4 victory over the rival Canadiens. C.J. Spiller Jersey .J. Ward wont play Sunday against the St. Louis Rams and could miss several games with a foot injury. T.J. Ward Jersey . Sparling scored power-play and short-handed goals 2:26 apart in the third period as the Saint John Sea Dogs cruised to a 7-2 victory over the Titan in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Antonio Brown Jersey .J. -- LeBron James swears he wasnt trying to send a message, though his coach couldnt help but notice. Ike Taylor Jersey . Wozniacki, playing her first match since losing the No. 1 ranking after the Australian Open, received a bye into the second round. She had all three match points in the 10th game of the third set.The Philadelphia Flyers have signed defenceman Shea Weber to a 14-year offer sheet worth a total of $110 million. The deal includes $68 million in bonus money in the first six years. In total, Weber will make $14 million in each of the first four years; $12 million in years five and six; $6 million in each of the next four seasons; $3 million in year 11; and $1 million in each of the remaining years. "The Philadelphia Flyers have signed restricted free agent defenseman Shea Weber to an offer sheet," read a short statement from the team on Thursday morning. "There will be no further comment at this time." The Nashville Predators have seven days to match the offer if they wish to retain Webers services. "We are in receipt of the offer sheet signed between the Philadelphia Flyers and Shea Weber," said Predators GM David Poile confirmed in a team statement on Thursday. "We have stated previously that, should a team enter into an offer sheet with Shea, our intention would be to match and retain Shea. Our ownership has provided us with the necessary resources to build a Stanley Cup-winning team. Due to the complexity of the offer sheet, we will take the appropriate time to review and evaluate it and all of its ramifications in order to make the best decision for the Predators in both the short and long-term. Matt Schaub Jersey. . We do not anticipate any further comments on this situation until we make our decision within the next seven days." The 26-year-old remained a restricted free agent after failing to come to an agreement with the Predators when his one-year, $7.5 million contract - awarded through arbitration - expired after the season. Compensation in the form of draft picks for the Predators should they choose not to match the Flyers offer is tied to the average per-year cap hit of the offer sheet. It is expected the Predators would receive four first round draft picks. The native of Sicamous, BC is coming off back-to-back first team NHL All-Star selections. He finished the 2011-12 season with 19 goals and 49 points. The captain of the Predators has spent seven seasons in Nashville, recording 99 goals and 263 points in 480 career NHL games. The Predators, who had 104 points last season and finished fourth in the Western Conference, already lost free agent defenceman Ryan Suter to the Minnesota Wild this month. Speculation is that Weber would fill the void left by defenceman Chris Pronger, who has been battling concussion problems and could retire. The Flyers also lost defenceman Matt Carle via free agency. He signed a six-year, $33 million deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning. ' ' '