Chatecke » seventh inning Monday

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Nelson Cruz has only two hits in 15 at-bats against the Kansas City Royals this season. Both are home runs. Cruz hit a two-run homer and the first-place Baltimore Orioles beat the Royals 2-1 on Thursday night to snap a four-game losing streak. Cruz homered in the fourth after Chris Davis drew a walk to lead off the inning. It was Cruzs 12th home run, which is second in the American League to the 15 of Chicago White Sox rookie Jose Abreu. Cruzs 35 RBIs are tied for second in the AL. "Hes one of the best power hitters in the American League over the past five or six years," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Hes hit in a good hitters park in Texas, but hes got power to all fields." Wei-Yin Chen (5-2) limited the Royals to one run and seven hits over 5 1-3 innings with one walk and one strikeout. Chen, who is 5-1 in his past seven starts, was removed in the sixth after Salvador Perez walked and Alex Gordon singled with one out. Darren ODay replaced Chen and struck out Danny Valencia and retried Johnny Giavotella on a fly to right. Royals rookie right-hander Yordano Ventura (2-3) struck out nine and walked one in 6 1-3 innings, allowing two runs and seven hits. After Cruzs home run, Ventura retired the next 10 batters, striking out seven, including six straight at one stretch. "He made a mistake to Nelson Cruz and it wasnt even a mistake," Yost said. "I think he threw a good fastball to Nelson. It was up and over the middle of the plate and he ambushed it." Cruz hit the first pitch out to right-centre from Ventura, who has a fastball that routinely hits triple digits on radar guns. "We know hes got a great fastball," Cruz said. "He can get you quick. Hes got great stuff. It was one of those at-bats that I got what I was looking for. We were trying to be aggressive and he was throwing a lot of first-pitch fastballs. I was looking for a fastball." With a northwest wind blowing 15 mph and gusting up to 28, it was less than ideal conditions to hit a home run. "You could have made some money off me if youd have bet me that somebody could have gotten a ball out of here tonight," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. Valencias sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the fourth scored Eric Hosmer for the only run off Chen. "Ventura pitched great," Giavotella said. "We just couldnt back him up with any runs." Left-hander Zach Britton, who had not allowed a run in 7 1-3 innings in his past eight appearances, worked a perfect ninth for his first major league save. Showalter elected to go to Britton after closer Tommy Hunter blew his past two save chances. "Guys graduate," Showalter said. "It was a good start and its good to know that if we need him for a given night hell be ready. Well see how it goes from here." The Royals did not have a baserunner off four Baltimore relievers, who retired 11 straight. "Our pitchers did a really good job and we really needed this win," Cruz said. "Anytime you can win a game by one run its huge. We feel like we can get something going." The Orioles, who went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position, threatened in the seventh and eighth innings, but came away empty. Gordon, a three-time Gold Glove Award winner, threw out J.J. Hardy at the plate to end the seventh for his fourth outfield assist this season and his 58th since moving to the outfield in 2011. Hardy attempted to score from second on Nick Markakis single. Manny Machado and Adam Jones led off the Orioles eighth with singles off Louis Coleman, the third Kansas City pitcher. Kelvin Herrera replaced Coleman and struck out Davis and Cruz and retired Steve Clevenger on a grounder to strand the runners. NOTES: The Orioles recalled RHP Evan Meek from Triple-A Norfolk and optioned RHP Kevin Gausman, who lost a Wednesday start to Detroit, to the same club. ... Markakis snapped an 0-for-14 skid with three singles. ... Royals RHP Wade Davis has a stiff neck and was not available. Authentic NHL Jerseys .5 million. University officials released the term sheet signed by Harsin Wednesday, the day the former Broncos walk-on player and Boise native was named the successor to Chris Petersen, who left for Washington last week. NHL Jerseys .Y. -- When the New York Islanders lead was cut in half in the opening minute of the third period, the sense of impending doom began wafting through Nassau Coliseum. https://www.cheapnhljerseysjustwholesale.com/. Costa Rica followed up its wins over Uruguay and Italy by holding England to a dour 0-0 draw on Tuesday, enough to finish first in Group D. Wholesale NHL Jerseys . Paul, MN (SportsNetwork. NHL Jerseys China . Huntington doesnt want to help run the club unless Hurdle is in the dugout. The combination thats returned the franchise to respectability will remain intact for years to come. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- James Loney delivered the clutch hit for Tampa Bay after Chris Archer kept Kansas City from getting one. Loney hit an RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning to lift the Rays over the Royals 1-0 on Tuesday night following an impressive pitchers duel between top young arms. Archer wriggled out of two bases-loaded jams and went seven innings. Royals rookie Yordano Ventura dazzled in his season debut, holding Tampa Bay to two hits in six innings. "I saw some really good pitching on the other side," Kansas City manager Ned Yost said. "Archer was on top of his game. This guy had a big league two-seamer, 92-95 mph, throwing strikes with it, real efficient with his two-seamer and his slider. He had some nasty stuff working." Loneys grounder to right scored Wil Myers, who snapped an 0-for-15 slump when he reached on an infield single to start the ninth. Myers advanced on a two-out wild pitch by Greg Holland (0-1). "Loney is a very calm guy," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "He does not get excited and I appreciate that about him." Loneys grounder got past a diving Danny Valencia at second base. "I wanted to hit it hard," Loney said. "You always want to hit it hard and hopefully not at somebody." Holland said he would have liked to have that last pitch to Loney back. "With first base open and essentially the winning run on second, Ive got to get that ball down a little more," Holland said. "Ive got to be smarter than that. In that mindset, I didnt execute the pitch and it cost us the game." Joel Peralta (1-1) struck out Valencia with the bases loaded, and Grant Balfour worked the ninth for his second save. Ventura walked none and struck out six, including Myers three times. "Ventura was really throwing good fastballs, triple digits at times," Yost said. "He threw some good breaking balls, but really had a good changeup working to keep them off balance. He matched up against a good pitcher and came out with nothing to show for it." Venturas iinitial scheduled start in Detroit was rained out, so he was making his first appearance since March 29 in spring training.dddddddddddd "Its a lot of time between pitching," Ventura said. "Its my job. No matter how many days off, you have to do your job. I was just glad I was able to do my job today. Im used to pitching every five days. Thats what I want. It was a little tough." Archer pitched out of bases-loaded, one-out jams in the third and sixth. He induced Eric Hosmer to ground into a double play to end the third. In the sixth, Archer retired Alex Gordon on an infield popup and Valencia on a grounder to leave the bases full. "I had confidence," Archer said. "I didnt at any point think I was going to fail. The way we were playing D I felt like we were going to get it done." The Royals loaded the bases again in the eighth against Jake McGee and Peralta, but Valencia looked at three straight strikes from Peralta to end the inning. Mike Moustakas, hitless in his first 21 at-bats this season, opened the Royals ninth with a single to centre but went no further. Tampa Bay missed an opportunity in the eighth when Royals reliever Wade Davis walked Matt Joyce and plunked pinch-hitter Logan Forsythe with a pitch. Davis recovered to strike out Yunel Escobar and David DeJesus. NOTES: The Rays placed LHP Matt Moore on the 15-day disabled list with an elbow injury. An MRI exam was inconclusive and Moore will see Dr. James Andrews on Wednesday or Thursday for further exams. ... The Rays recalled LHP Jeff Beliveau from Triple-A Durham. ... Tests revealed Royals 2B Omar Infante has a sprained jaw, but no fracture, after being struck by a pitch from Heath Bell in the seventh inning Monday. Infante, who needed six stiches, will be evaluated over the next 48 hours, but the preliminary diagnosis was that he would not miss many games. ... Valencia made his first big league start at second base. ... The Royals lost for the first time since Aug. 30, 2013, at Toronto when allowing four hits or fewer. ' ' '