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MINNEAPOLIS —Heading into his teams day-night doubleheader against Kansas
City, one of Ron Gardenhires top priorities was protecting Minnesotas taxed
bullpen. Samson Satele Jersey . Scott Diamond and
Cole De Vries eased their managers concerns. Diamond began the day tossing eight
solid innings in a 7-2 victory, and De Vries closed it with six strong innings
as the Twins completed the day-night sweep by beating the Royals 5-1 on Saturday
night. “A long day of baseball, and two nice wins,” Gardenhire said. The pair of
victories helped the Twins finish June with a 14-13 record—their first
winning month in almost a year. “Geez, thats the first Ive heard of it,” said
Joe Mauer, who hit his fourth homer in the second game. “But, you know, weve
been playing pretty good baseball and hopefully we can continue to do that.”
Josh Willingham and Chris Parmelee also homered for the Twins in the second
game. But the story was De Vries, who was called up as the 26th player on the
roster as allowed for doubleheaders—and promptly sent back down the minors
after the victory. “He wouldnt be able to pitch for probably four or five days
right now,” Gardenhire said. “Weve got eight until the All-Star break, it doesnt
make much sense to keep him here.” De Vries took the move in stride. “Coming
here, I knew I was the 26th guy, and usually the guy who comes up to be the 26th
guy goes back down, and so I kind of figured that was going to happen,” he said.
Pitching in front of his hometown fans, De Vries (2-1) struck out a career-high
six and held the Royals to five hits. Kansas Citys lone run against him came on
Billy Butlers homer leading off the second. Luke Hochevar (5-8) allowed five
runs and eight hits, including Minnesotas three homers. A night after throwing
five relief innings, the Twins bullpen was needed for only four combined in the
doubleheader thanks to Diamond and De Vries. Twins relievers entered the day
with the third-most innings pitched in the majors. De Vries struck out four in
the first two innings, fanning Jarrod Dyson and Alcides Escobar to work out of a
second-inning jam with runners at second and third. Alex Burnett,
Tyler Robertson and Jared Burton each pitched an inning of scoreless relief.
Hochevar entered the game having thrown 16 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings
after stopping Houston and Tampa Bay. After Mauers two-out single in the first,
Willingham homered. In the second, Parmelee hit his first homer of the season on
a shot to deep right. Mauers solo homer to left-centre, the former AL MVPs first
since June 2 and fourth overall, barely cleared the wall to make it 4-1 in the
third. Before Saturday, Hochevar had given up only two home runs in his previous
42 2/3 innings. “Two of those home runs came with two strikes when Im trying to
put a guy away, and I just felt like my curveball didnt have that finish, that
bite,” Hochevar said. Trevor Plouffe, who homered in the first game, scored on
Darin Mastroiannis RBI single in the sixth. Easily the Twins most effective
starter since being called up in May, Diamond (7-3) allowed two runs and six
hits to give Minnesota a big lift. “I was feeling confident earlier, this is
just icing on the cake I guess,” Diamond said. “Im pretty happy to be able to
just keep going out. With a doubleheader today, Im just trying to eat up as many
innings as possible.” Jonathan Sanchez (1-4) didnt fare nearly as well. While
Diamond cruised through Kansas Citys lineup, Sanchez issued six walks and was
done after 4 1-3 innings. Both starters finished with 101 pitches. Minnesota
strung together five consecutive hits to open a 6-0 lead in the fifth inning,
including a strange RBI single from Brian Dozier. With one out and runners on
first and second, Doziers bouncer hit the ground behind him and rolled fair.
While Sanchez and catcher Brayan Pena scrambled after the ball, Dozier sprinted
safely to first and Ryan Doumit scored all the way from second. Alexi Casilla
added a two-run double and Denard Span had an RBI single before Royals manager
Ned Yost brought in Vin Mazzaro. Yuniesky Betancourt drove in Kansas Citys first
run with a groundout in the sixth. He also singled in a run in the eighth.
Diamond struck out four and walked two while pitching eight innings for the
second consecutive start. Glen Perkins finished the seven-hitter. “The first
game, we were dead,” Royals outfielder Jeff Francoeur said. “It carried over to
the second game. Were a much better hitting team than to do what we did today.
Its disappointing.” NOTES: Sanchez pitched five effective innings to win at the
Los Angeles Angels in his first start of the season on April 8, but has
struggled since that victory. He is 0-4 with a 7.19 ERA in his last nine starts.
... The doubleheader was a makeup of an April 28 rainout. Johnny Unitas Jersey . Kaman, who played last
season in New Orleans, announced on his Twitter account Wednesday that he was
“Partnering up with (at)swish41 and heading to the Mavs . Coby Fleener Womens Jersey . Cann, a
second-round draft choice (49th overall) of the NHLs Colorado Avalanche in 2007,
picked up his first shutout of the season and second of his OHL career to lead
the Petes (26-32-0-3) to their second win in as many nights. http://www.proshopindianapoliscolts.com/donnie-avery-jerseys
. While others perceived an improved Canadian performance over last weeks win
over the U.S. Eagles, the former All Black saw his rugby team pay the price for
abandoning its game plan. Andrew Luck Youth Jersey . With Ryan Dempster
and Paul Maholm now pitching for other teams, Jeff Samardzija is the leader in
the clubhouse with just seven victories—a number that didnt change after his
6-1 defeat against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night. Vick Ballard Jersey . Shin had three straight
birdies on the front nine and added two more after the turn, offsetting a bogey
at No. 9. She won at Kintetsu Kashikojima Country Club in 2010 and 2008.ANAHEIM,
Calif. —Although Jarrod Parker is still fairly new to playoff races, the
Oakland right-hander is pretty sure its best to be aggressive in September,
whether on the mound or in the standings. The rookies take-charge approach got
the Athletics off to a great start in another big series against the surging Los
Angeles Angels. Parker pitched seven innings of three-hit ball, Brandon Moss and
Cliff Pennington homered, and the As snapped the Angels six-game winning streak
with a 3-1 victory Monday night. With his second straight impressive start
against Los Angeles after a hard-luck loss last week, Parker (10-8) and his
bullpen held the Angels surging lineup to four hits. Parker beat the Angels for
the first time in his career by going right at Albert Pujols, Mike Trout and
Mark Trumbo, holding Los Angeles to one run for only the second time in its last
22 games. “They were aggressive as well, so I tried to get some early contact,
early outs,” Parker said. “Its fun. These are the kind of starts that we need,
and everybody is going to feed off this kind of energy.” Coco Crisp hit a
leadoff triple and scored for the As, who opened a key four-game series against
their California rivals with a measure of revenge for the Angels three-game
sweep in Oakland last week. Those are the only losses since Aug. 23 for the As,
who have won 13 of 16. “It was definitely a big game for us,” Pennington said.
“They came into our place and did what they needed to do, so we needed to come
in here that way. This was a good start. Right now, every game is huge. Theres
one or two differences in every game.” Ryan Cook worked the eighth, and
Grant Balfour finished uneventfully for his 17th save. Dan Haren (10-11) pitched
into the seventh inning, allowing just four hits and striking out four. But
Oakland turned those hits into three runs, and Haren took his first loss since
Aug. 16. Torii Hunter drove in Trout with a third-inning double for the Angels
(77-64), who had won 11 of 12 and 15 of 18 in their desperate late surge to join
the playoff race. “Im not surprised anymore at what theyre doing,” Hunter said
of the As. “I mean, we were surprised when they first started doing it in early
August, but Im not surprised any more. Theyre playing the game, and theyve got
some really good arms over there.” With its first home loss in seven gamees, Los
Angeles blew a chance to pull within a half-game of Baltimore (78-62) for the
second AL wild-card spot. Andrew Luck Colts Jersey. . Tampa Bay (77-63)
is between the Orioles and the Angels. Oakland (80-60), which is in the first
wild-card slot, is 20 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the
2006 season—also the year of the teams last post-season appearance. The As
pulled within three games of idle Texas (83-57) atop the AL West. “Nothing
really surprises me in baseball anymore after the way last season finished, and
with the way the Orioles and As are playing this year,” Haren said. “Were
getting to the point where theyre not going away, so its going to be a fight to
the finish and the better team is going to win.” Crisp hit Harens first pitch of
the night high off the right-field wall, easily reaching third before scoring on
Seth Smiths groundout. Oakland didnt lead at any point in last weeks three
losses to the Angels, who outscored the As 21-5 in the East Bay. Trout and
Hunter evened it in the third inning when Trout walked, stole second, advanced
on an error and trotted home on Hunters double down the right-field line. Hunter
was greeted each inning in right field by a long row of fans wearing
fluorescent-yellow T-shirts and holding up signs spelling “Keep Torii!” The
beloved outfielder can become a free agent this winter. Haren retired 12
straight As on just 38 pitches after Crisps triple, but Moss led off the fifth
with his 17th homer. Pennington added his fifth of the season in the sixth
inning, also reaching the elevated stands above right field. NOTES: Angels
manager Mike Scioscia said ace Jered Weaver will start Thursday against the As
after skipping a start to rest the tendinitis in his right shoulder. Weaver, who
felt strong after a bullpen session Monday, would be lined up to start the
Angels final game of the season if he returns Thursday. ... Jerome Williams gets
a spot start in Weavers place when the Angels face the As on Tuesday night.
Oakland counters with Dan Straily, who will make his fourth major league start
in Brandon McCarthys slot in the rotation. ... Los Angeles reliever Nick Maronde
gave up a single to Moss after relieving Haren in the seventh. Maronde, a
third-round pick in 2011, had struck out each of the first four batters he faced
in his major league career since getting promoted from Double-A Arkansas on
Sept. 1. ’ ’ ’