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MINNEAPOLIS -- Like the rest of the Kansas City Royals, this season has not been a smooth one for Yordano Ventura. Jose Mesa Indians Jersey .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. Rick Sutcliffe Indians Jersey . The All-Pro lineman got the leg bent under him while trying to make a tackle during the first half of a 22-20 overtime loss at Miami on Thursday night. The medical staff initially thought hed torn the ligament, and the test a day later in Cincinnati confirmed it. Steve Olin Jersey .Y. -- Marcell Dareus and the Buffalo Bills defence made life miserable for Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco. https:///...-jersey-indians.html . Capitals head coach Adam Oates said Ovechkin was injured in the first period against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday and clarified it was not a head injury. DENVER -- Once the stormy weather cleared, Torontos victory drought in Denver finally came to an end.Troy Tulowitzki homered to ignite a go-ahead, six-run fourth inning and the former Rockies star helped the Blue Jays win in Denver for the first time as Toronto beat Colorado 14-9 early Wednesday morning in a game that began with a lengthy delay because of severe weather.That was a long one, Tulowitzki said. Every once in a while, it gets a little crazy out there. Its one of those games Im sure they dont like to see it on their side. It is what it is.Rain and hail came down on Coors Field in a fierce, hour-long downpour, leading to heavy runoff into the Rockies dugout and clubhouse tunnel that caused some flooding. Grounds crew workers were able to clear the water away by sandbagging the tunnel entrance and clearing debris over the drains, allowing the pooled water to dissipate.Shovels, squeegees, brushes and an air blower were used to prepare the field, and the first pitch came at 9:21 p.m., after a delay of 2 hours, 41 minutes.I had some doubts, Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. It looked pretty bad out there with all the hail and there was a lot of water. The field drains well, weve seen that in the past and our grounds crew is really good.Both teams came out swinging, combining for 32 hits and 23 runs.Josh Donaldson had a bases-loaded triple in the fourth for Toronto, which had lost all seven of its previous games at Colorado. Kevin Pillar had a two-run double in the Blue Jays three-run sixth.We kept plugging away and had some big innings, Tulowitzki said. It was a good win. Hopefully, it can be a series win, but its nice to celebrate with the guys on the field and give some high-fives.J.A. Happ (10-3) won his fourth straight, allowing five runs in five innings.Carlos Gonzalez had four hits, including a home run, and 5 RBI for the Rockies, who saw their three-game winning streak snapped.Trailing 4-1, Toronto broke through in the fourth, starting with TTulowitzkis drive off Eddie Butler leading off the inning. Ray Fosse Indians Jersey. Butler (2-5) gave up an RBI single to Ezequiel Carrera and was relieved by Yohan Flande, who surrendered a single to the first batter he faced, Devon Travis, to load the bases ahead of Donaldsons three-run, go-ahead triple. The Blue Jays sixth run of the inning scored on a throwing error by Flande.With Cristhian Adames and Nolan Arenado aboard in the third, Gonzalez fell behind 0-2 in the count before getting hold of Happs pitch and driving it over the right field wall for his 18th home run of the season and second in as many nights.CARGOS HIT PARADEGonzalezs four hits represented his fourth consecutive multihit effort and boosted his total with the Rockies to 1,002. Hes the sixth player in team history to have 1,000 hits for the Rockies.TRAINERS ROOMBlue Jays: An MRI on RHP Gavin Floyd showed he has a tear of his right lat muscle and will be out eight to 12 weeks. Floyd came out of a relief appearance Saturday after facing two batters.Rockies: LF Ryan Raburn was a late scratch from the starting lineup because of illness. ... SS Trevor Story returned to the lineup after missing Mondays game with a finger injury. He was struck on the right middle finger by a ninth-inning pitch during Sundays game against Arizona. ... 2B D.J. LeMahieu, who was also injured Sunday, returned to action as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning. LeMahieu had suffered a left knee bruise during Sundays game against Arizona when he dove to try to stop Paul Goldschmidts single up the middle.UP NEXTBlue Jays: RHP Aaron Sanchez (7-1) has allowed two or fewer earned runs in four of his last five starts.Rockies: LHP Tyler Anderson again tries for his first major league win when he starts Wednesdays interleague series finale. Hes 0-1 in his first three career starts with a 2.55 ERA. ' ' '