Clan-Members » m the line.VOLATILE SUNSMar

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Tommy Milone shut out the Kansas City Royals for eight innings, and then got in just enough trouble in the ninth to ensure that Grant Balfour would have a nice, easy save chance. A save that will go down in Oakland history, too. Balfour gave up a run-scoring single to Billy Butler before retiring the final two batters of the game Friday night, preserving the As 6-3 victory and notching his 40th consecutive save to tie Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersleys franchise record. "You know, its an accomplishment. Definitely," Balfour said. "I dont like to look into it too much -- Im superstitious, obviously. But I never knew about this, and its not something I set out to do. It just happened. I still have a lot of work to do." Balfour has 22 saves this season to match the mark that Eckersley set from Sept. 15, 1991-Aug. 7, 1992, this one helping the As (51-36) win for the seventh time in their last nine games. "Thats pretty remarkable, but when you look at Grant, its not surprising what hes able to do," Milone said. "Thats pretty cool for him. Im happy." Happy enough to get into trouble in the ninth for him? "We can go there if you want," Milone said, grinning. "Yeah, I guess." Milone (8-7) was in control before Alcides Escobar and Eric Hosmer drove in runs to get the Royals within 6-2 with one out in the ninth. Balfour came on and gave up the single to Butler, but he managed to retire Lorenzo Cain and Mike Moustakas to end the game. "Like him, I dont like to talk about it a whole lot, but youre asking me the question," As manager Bob Melvin said of Balfours save streak. "Pretty phenomenal." Milone, who had been battered in his last three starts, outpitched Wade Davis (4-7) in another strong night from Oaklands pitching staff. The As had put together 18 1-3 innings without giving up a run before the Royals plated their three in the ninth. Milone was two outs shy of racking up Oaklands third shutout in its last eight games. "A tough eight innings. Tommy Milone was really on top of his game," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "What makes him so tough on nights like tonight, he can command his fastball to both sides of the plate, but when that changeup is on, its almost unhittable." The recent history for Milone and Davis pointed to runs-a-plenty on Friday night. Milone had been struggling lately, and Davis was yanked after one-plus inning last Saturday. So naturally, the two of them took turns mowing through hitters. Milone retired his first 11 batters, and only twice allowed a ball to get out of the infield through the first three innings. The left-hander finally gave up a single to Hosmer with two outs in the fourth, but that was it until David Loughs two-out single in the sixth. "We were just trying to take pitches and try to see as many pitches as possible," said the Royals Lorenzo Cain, "but he was pounding the zone." Davis only needed 10 pitches to get through the first inning against Oakland, and the right-hander set down nine straight before Josh Reddicks double in the third. Eric Sogard came through with a timely single to shallow left field that gave the scrappy As a 1-0 lead. Davis cruised through the fourth, and then issued a leadoff walk to John Jaso in the fifth. Reddick followed with a triple to right, and he scampered home on Coco Crisps sacrifice fly. The As added three more in the ninth, two of them when Cain misplayed a line drive in right field that bounced off his glove -- "I just flat-out missed it," he said. The Royals tried to rally in the ninth behind back-to-back doubles by Lough and Escobar, and consecutive singles by Hosmer and Butler. But the unflappable Balfour got Cain and Moustakas on harmless groundouts to record his historic save. "I hope youre not jinxing him by talking about it," Reddick said with a smile. NOTES: Royals OF Alex Gordon passed his concussion tests after colliding with the wall while trying to make a catch Wednesday night. He could return this weekend. ... The Royals requested unconditional release waivers on OF Jeff Francoeur, who was designated for assignment June 30. LHP Francisley Bueno accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Omaha. ... As LHP Brett Anderson plans to play catch Saturday after a CT scan cleared him to begin walking on his right foot without a boot. Hes been on the DL with a stress fracture since May 1. ... RHP Jarrod Parker will start Saturday for Oakland against Royals RHP Ervin Santana.Stars Jerseys 2021 . You can watch the game live on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The Flyers had won seven of eight before dropping their last two outings on consecutive days over the weekend. Philadelphia was handed a 6-3 loss by the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon before dropping a 4-1 decision to the Rangers the following night in New York City. Stitched Stars Jerseys . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. https://www.cheapstarsonline.com/ . The mixed zone is not a place to make friends. Dallas Stars Pro Shop . Toronto has dropped games to Indiana and Miami since a five-game winning streak and closed out a three-game road trip at 1-2. Dallas Stars Gear . Down by seven with 90 seconds left in regulation, thats where they looked comfortable.MINNEAPOLIS -- Karl-Anthony Towns has watched his Minnesota Timberwolves give up so many leads this season that he had finally had enough.Once he made up his mind, the Phoenix Suns couldnt hold him down.Towns had 28 points and 15 rebounds, and the Timberwolves beat the Phoenix Suns 115-108 on Monday night.I was going to do everything in my power and my part to ensure we didnt come out of tonight with a loss, Towns said.Andrew Wiggins scored 26 points and Zach LaVine added 23 for the Timberwolves. Ricky Rubio had 12 assists and Minnesota picked up its first win at home since Nov. 17.Eric Bledsoe scored 27 points for the Suns, who have lost three straight and four out of five. Brandon Knight had 21 points off the bench and Devin Booker scored 18 on 6-for-15 shooting for Phoenix.The game figured to be heavy on offense, with two young teams far more concerned with putting the ball in the basket than stopping anyone on the other end.The Suns came into the game second in the league in pace, second in fast-break points and third in points off turnovers. And the Wolves are the first team in history to have three 21-year-olds averaging at least 20 points per game.One thing we know we need to get better at is our toughness, Suns coach Earl Watson said. Thats not a stat. We have to become more feisty because we are small on the perimeter.The Wolves built a 14-point lead in the first half, but have given away double-digit leads all season long. They were coming off a particularly disheartening loss against Houston on Saturday night in which they blew a 12-point lead with two minutes to play before losing in overtime.Phoenix cut the deficit to two points several times in the fourth, but the Wolves had an answer each time.After Phoenix cut the Wolves lead to 105-103 with four minutes to play, Towns grabbed two offensive rebounds against Tyson Chandler, who ranks fifth in the NBA in rebounding, and scored on the second putback after getting fouled.Towns let out a yell and pounded his bicep, then swished thhe free throw for a five-point lead.dddddddddddd The play ignited a 10-2 run that put away the game.Even missing the first one, I was determined to get that second one, Towns said. I wouldve gotten a foul running over someone to get it. Every single ounce of energy I had left to make sure I go up and get that ball.That kind of intensity is what Wolves coach Tom Thibodeau has been trying to instill from the start.Great, multiple-effort play, Thibodeau said. Thats will and determination and often times thats the difference right there between winning and losing.TIP-INSSuns: Knight made 8 of 13 shots, and his efficiency in the first half kept the game from getting away from the Suns while Booker and Bledsoe started 3 for 14. ... Jared Dudley scored 12 and Leandro Barbosa had 10 points for the Suns bench, which outscored Minnesotas 44-20. ... The Suns missed 10 free throws.Timberwolves: Rubio made two technical free throws to run his streak to 34 straight without a miss. Thats the longest active streak in the league after Stephen Currys ended at 44 in a row last week. ... The Wolves went 24 for 25 from the line.VOLATILE SUNSMarqueese Chriss and P.J. Tucker both picked up technical fouls for arguing with the officials, and the Suns had trouble keeping their composure for much of the night. Chriss was particularly erratic, barking at officials Monty McCutcheon, David Guthrie and Kane Fitzgerald and wrestling with Towns under the basket.Tucker voiced his displeasure often while guarding Wiggins, with officials not letting him play as physical as the burly forward likes to on that end.We let it get to us early as far as the refs and the other team, we let it get to us and we could never recuperate from it, Bledsoe said.UP NEXTSuns: Phoenix heads back home to face the Houston Rockets on Wednesday.Timberwolves: Minnesota hits the road to play the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. ' ' '