A ARLINGTON, Texas -- Yordano Ventura still reverts to being the rookie pitcher he is for the AL Central-leading Kansas City Ro

A ARLINGTON, Texas -- Yordano Ventura still reverts to being the rookie pitcher he is for the AL Central-leading Kansas City Royals. Vans Old Skool Australia Cheap . The hard-throwing right-hander also keeps winning. Ventura struck out six in six innings for his 10th victory, he walked three and got help from inning-starting homers by Billy Butler and Josh Willingham to beat the Texas Rangers 6-3 on Friday night. "There was kind of two Yordanos," manager Ned Yost said. "There was one that was within himself, and he was banging strikes, staying downhill. And then there was one when he was just throwing out there, raring back, and struggled to keep the ball down. "All in all, I thought he threw a good ball game for us." Greg Holland worked a scoreless ninth for his MLB-leading 40th save in 42 opportunities, becoming the first Royals pitcher since Dan Quisenberry in 1983-84 to have consecutive 40-save seasons. That came after Wade Davis retired all three batters he faced to extend the majors longest active scoreless streak to 22 2-3 innings. Lorenzo Cain had three hits after a 2-for-14 slump for Kansas City, which won for the 23rd time in 29 games. Cain doubled and scored in the seventh for the final Royals run. Butler led off the second with his eighth homer, tying the game at 1-all. Cain and Alcides Escobar, the bottom two batters in the Royals lineup, had consecutive RBI singles in that inning against Colby Lewis (8-11) to put Kansas City ahead to stay. Willingham made it 4-1 when he homered in the fourth, his 14th overall and second in 10 games since the Royals acquired him on Aug. 11 from Minnesota, the AL Centrals last-place team. "Obviously, its awesome being in a pennant race, and every game, every at-bat means something," Willingham said. Adrian Beltre had two hits and drove in the first Texas run with a groundout in the first. Lewis pitched exactly one year after right hip resurfacing surgery. The 35-year-old right-hander is the first known major league pitcher to come back after such an operation. Lewis retired the last eight batters he faced, and his only strikeouts came against the final two. He allowed four runs and six hits without a walk over six innings -- four being 1-2-3 frames. "Early in the game, he just couldnt get the ball down. But then after that he settled in, and when he left the ballgame we were still in it," manager Ron Washington said. "Hes been a huge factor (this season). I think when you look at it, it just shows you his professionalism." CONTRASTING NUMBERS: Kansas City has the second-best road record in the AL at 38-28, including 5-2 on this trip. The Rangers have the worst home record in the majors at 23-39, including losses in 31 of their last 44 in Arlington. ... The Royals (71-56) moved back to 15 games over .500, a mark they hadnt reached in 20 years before doing so earlier this week. The Rangers (49-78) are a season high-matching 29 games under .500, something they hadnt done since 1985. ANNIVERSARY NIGHT: The one-year mark of Lewis hip surgery wasnt the only Rangers-related anniversary Friday. It was seven years ago that Texas scored a modern-day MLB record with its 30 runs against Baltimore in the first game of a doubleheader, and 25 years after Nolan Ryan got his 5,000th strikeout (Oaklands Rickey Henderson). TRAINERS ROOM Royals: C Salvador Perez was back in the lineup after being scratched from the lineup in Wednesdays game because of discomfort in his right knee. An MRI showed nothing but inflammation. Yost said the sore knee initially concerned Perez, who had surgery two years ago for a torn meniscus in his left knee. Rangers: LHP Derek Holland is scheduled to make his sixth rehab start Sunday for Triple-A Round Rock at Las Vegas. The Rangers havent listed a starter for their series finale that day against Kansas City, but seem intent on Holland making at least one more start in the minors before his 30-day rehab assignment ends Thursday. UP NEXT Kansas City native Nick Tepesch (4-7), who has a 1.83 ERA over his last three starts, pitches for Texas. Kansas City RHP Jeremy Guthrie (9-10) goes for his fourth consecutive road victory. New Balance Clearance Australia . They never thought it would take some blood, too. Kevin Love grabbed his 4,000th career rebound as part of a 19-point, 13-board effort to lead the Timberwolves over the Utah Jazz 112-97 on Tuesday night. Air Max 90 Australia http://www.salenikeshoesaustralia.com/air-vapormax-clearance/vapormax-flyknit-cheap.html . -- Craig Anderson has quite a record against his former team, the Florida Panthers.MINNEAPOLIS -- The struggling Minnesota Timberwolves finally got to blow off some steam. Nikola Pekovic had 27 points and 14 rebounds in three quarters and the Timberwolves blasted the Utah Jazz, 98-72 on Saturday night. Kevin Love had 18 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, and Kevin Martin scored 20 points to help the Wolves snap a three-game losing streak that included losses to Sacramento and Toronto. The Wolves scored 28 points off 16 Utah turnovers and outscored the Jazz 50-18 in the paint for a much-needed blowout. Alec Burks scored 18 points for the Jazz, who trailed by as many as 36 points and shot 28.8 per cent, the worst shooting night in franchise history. Derrick Favours had eight points and 10 boards, but was just 3 for 10 from the field. The Timberwolves hit a season-low three games under .500 with a dispiriting loss in Toronto on Friday night, and a season that started with playoff aspirations was threatening to be done in by a lack of team chemistry and an inability to win close games. They are 0-11 this season in games decided by four points or less, but also lead the league in games in which theyve led by at least 30 points (10). The Jazz were playing again without leading scorer Gordon Hayward, who was out with a strained left hip flexor. And theyve never missed him more. The Jazz missed 20 of their first 26 shots against the team with the worst field goal percentage defence in the league. With just under nine minutes to play in the first half, Favours went up for a dunk but didnt make it high enough and was rejected by the rim. He grabbed the ball, wentt straight up again, and missed another dunk off the back iron. Adidas NMD R2 Australia. Incredibly, it only got worse from there. The Jazz made two field goals in the entirety of their nine-point second quarter and went into halftime trailing by 28 points. They went 8 for 39 in the first two quarters, just 20.5 per cent, and managed a season-low 23 points, the second-lowest scoring half for a Wolves opponent in franchise history. How bad was it? Pekovic and Martin combined for 39 points midway through the third quarter. The Jazz had 37. The Timberwolves werent exactly on fire, either. They shot 44 per cent in the first half and missed eight of 19 free throws. But if any team needed a gimme like this one, it was the Wolves. They had lost four of their previous five games to fall to 11th in the Western Conference and were fighting discord in the locker room and plummeting confidence on the court. That all changed on Saturday night, with Love and Pekovic rough-housing on the sideline, Martin playing with an aggression that hasnt been seen for a few weeks and Ricky Rubio playing with a hop in his step and a smile on his face for the first time in a month. Rubio had six points, nine assists and eight rebounds in 26 minutes. Promising rookie Trey Burke had just nine points on 2-for-10 shooting for Utah. NOTES: The Jazzs previous franchise low for field goal percentage was 29.3 per cent against New York on Nov. 14, 2005. ... Love hit a 3-pointer in the first quarter that moved him past Wally Szczerbiak for second on the franchises career list. ... The teams meet again in Utah on Tuesday. ' ' '