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Ventura silences Twins in Royals’ 5-1 victory

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The Kansas City Star

MINNEAPOLIS _ Yordano Ventura matched a career-high with 11 strikeouts, Alcides Escobar sparked a seventh-inning flurry and the Royals benefited from a series of defensive miscues by the Twins in a 5-1 victory Saturday.tmpplchld In his final start of the regular season, tuning up for the likely assignment of starting Game 1 of the American League Division Series, Ventura mowed down the Twins with ease. He limited his opponent to four hits.tmpplchld The Royals extended their winning streak to four games. The success coincides with Escobar’s return to the leadoff spot. He bashed a triple with the score tied in the seventh. Two batters later, Lorenzo Cain hit a grounder back to the mound. The throw from reliever Blaine Boyer hit him in the back and bounced away, good enough for a two-out RBI.tmpplchld Minnesota would continue to make mistakes. After a walk by Eric Hosmer, Jonny Gomes smacked an RBI single off new reliever Neal Cotts. Hosmer raced home when left fielder Eddie Rosario threw the baseball away. A double from Mike Moustakas gave Kansas City its fourth run of the inning.tmpplchld The Royals (94-67) still have a chance to leapfrog Toronto for home-field advantage. The Blue Jays face Tampa Bay later on Saturday night. The two teams entered Saturday with the same record, but with Toronto holding the tiebreaker.tmpplchld Kansas City jumped ahead in the first inning. The offensive generators were Cain and Hosmer, the Royals’ two most reliable hitters all season. Cain smacked a two-out double off Twins southpaw Tommy Milone. Hosmer followed up with a double of his own to plate Cain.tmpplchld Royals manager Ned Yost intended to use Ventura with caution on Saturday. Ventura will most likely start Game 1 of the American League Division Series on Thursday at Kauffman Stadium.tmpplchld “I’m not letting him go over 100 pitches,” Yost said before the game.tmpplchld Ventura looked intent to challenge that edict in the first inning. Not due to an excessive pitch count, but because his arsenal looked so devastating, He struck out the side in the first inning to set the tone.tmpplchld Ventura rolled through the first four frames. Two walks were his only blemishes. With two outs in the fifth, outfielder Torii Hunter pounced on a first-pitch curveball and singled to right field. It was Minnesota’s first hit of the afternoon.tmpplchld The second and third hits for the Twins occurred in the sixth. Outfielder Aaron Hicks hammered a change-up off the wall in right-center field for a double. With a single up the middle, All-Star second baseman Brian Dozier tied the game.tmpplchld ___tmpplchld (c)2015 The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.)tmpplchld Visit The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.) at www.kansascity.comtmpplchld Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.tmpplchld

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