nd it almost came when burly striker Ola Toivonens goal-bound effort was expertly blocked by Koscielny as he slid on the ground.Were proud of

MINNEAPOLIS -- Like the rest of the Kansas City Royals, this season has not been a smooth one for Yordano Ventura.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. Brock Nelson Islanders Jersey . After slipping from the summit during the week, the Gunners overcame struggling Crystal Palace 2-0 on Sunday thanks to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlains second-half brace. Ryan Pulock Islanders Jersey .com) - The Chicago Blackhawks aim for their third three-game winning streak of the season when they host the struggling Edmonton Oilers in Sundays battle at the United Center. http://www.islanderssale.com/authentic-leo-komarov-islanders-jersey/ . The team said Saturday that Lopez was hurt during its 121-120 overtime loss at Philadelphia on Friday. The Nets said they would issue another update next week after consultation with their doctors. Johnny Boychuk Jersey . The Islanders dealt Thomas Vanek to the Montreal Canadiens after less than a year on Long Island. Meanwhile, the Oilers dealt long-time sniper Ales hemsky to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday for a fifth-round pick in 2014 and a third-rounder in 2015. Josh Bailey Jersey . The Australian is competing in his final season in Formula One and still looking for his first win this year. He will look to end Vettels run of six straight race wins on Sunday. Webber, who is fifth in the championship, earned his second pole from the past three races and 13th of his career. SAINT-DENIS, France -- Paul Pogba is finding his scoring touch, heading in a valuable equalizer in Frances 2-1 win against Sweden in a World Cup qualifier on Friday.The Manchester United midfielder -- the worlds most expensive player -- headed in off the crossbar in the 58th minute, three minutes after Emil Forsberg had punished a sloppy period of French play with a swerving free kick that wrong-footed goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.France winger Dimitri Payet, who set up Pogbas goal with one of his pinpoint free kicks from the left, slotted home the winner in the 65th, after a handling error from goalkeeper Robin Olsen under pressure from forward Antoine Griezmann.France coach Didier Deschamps conceded that Griezmann was fractionally offside when he went to challenge for the ball.But some decisions went against us, too, and there was a foul on (Laurent) Koscielny not given before Swedens goal, Deschamps said.Payet rescued France at this summers European Championship, scoring a last-minute winner in the opening group game as Les Bleus went on to reach the final.Both Payet and Pogba netted the eighth international goal of their careers, but Pogbas strike came just as Sweden threatened a victory that would have thrown Group A wide open. Instead, France leads with 10 points, three more than second-placed Sweden and six more than the Netherlands. The Dutch play in Luxembourg on Sunday.Its not decisive yet, but its an important result for us, Deschamps said. We could have done better, but thats also down to Sweden making things difficult for us. They were athletic and good on set pieces.After an inconsistent start to the season, following his record-breaking transfer of 105 million euros ($116 million) from Italian champion Juventus, Pogba is getting closer to his best form.Last weekend, he scored with a superb 20-meter (yard) volley for United against Swansea in the Premier League.In Frances previous qualifiier, he struck the winner in a 1-0 win against the Netherlands with a rasping 30-meter strike.ddddddddddddBetween those games, he netted twice for United in a 4-1 win against Fenerbahce in the Europa League, one of the goals a fine curler from outside the area.I know he likes to score, and thats good for him, but its not specifically what I expect from him. Im happier with his overall performance, which was in line with what he did against Holland, Deschamps said. He plays differently for United in a different system. He won a lot of possession for us and when hes playing at that level, in tandem with Blaise Matuidi in midfield, hes very important.But France needed his goal on a bitterly cold night because strikers Olivier Giroud -- starting in attack ahead of Kevin Gameiro -- and Griezmann squandered chances.The first chance of the game fell to the Swedes early on when France center half Raphael Varane had to hack away a dangerous cross.Payet then had an effort saved by Olsen, but the rest of Frances shooting was from long range and wayward.This left France left vulnerable to a sucker punch and it almost came when burly striker Ola Toivonens goal-bound effort was expertly blocked by Koscielny as he slid on the ground.Were proud of our performance, said Sweden coach Janne Andersson, who was unhappy that Griezmann was not given offside in the build-up to Frances winner. We deserved much better, but we need to create more scoring chances.Giroud headed over early in the second half and Pogbas shot from just outside the area was blocked.Sweden made the French pay, but it spurred Pogba into action.Andersson, however, was not impressed.I dont have an opinion, he said, when asked if Pogba was getting back to his best. I dont watch what other teams do. I watch my own players. ' ' '