KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Royals were trailing the Twins by a run in the ninth inning Tuesday night, and Kansas City manager Ned Yost was on the top step of the dugout, conferring with catching coach Pedro Grifol about the potential decisions he would have to make. Thats when Yost heard a voice pipe up. "The bat boy who never says anything turns around and says, Esky is going to get a hit and Gordos taking him in the fountain," Yost said. "I said, OK. Sounds like a pretty good plan." One that worked out perfectly, too. Alcides Escobar led off with a blooper to shallow right for a single, and Alex Gordon swatted the second pitch he saw over the right-field wall to give the AL Central-leading Royals a dramatic 2-1 victory over Minnesota -- and help them avoid their first three-game skid since mid-July. "Got a slider over the plate and put a good swing on it," Gordon said. "Really didnt have any offence going all night and was able to muster up something, so that was great." The Royals had been shut down all night by Ricky Nolasco, who scattered three hits over seven innings. But after going quietly in the eighth, they managed to break through against Perkins (3-1), who had converted 18 consecutive saves on the road. "We had a really good game out of Ricky. I feel bad for him because he pitched seven shutout innings and threw the ball well," Perkins said. "He and the team dont have anything to show for it. Its not a fun feeling." Wade Davis (7-2) earned the win with a perfect ninth inning in relief. Danny Duffy was nearly as sharp for the Royals as Nolasco was for Minnesota. The left-hander allowed four hits and a pair of walks over 6 2-3 innings, but was in line for the loss after giving up a double to Brian Dozier and a slicing single to Joe Mauer to start the seventh. The Royals had several chances to push a run across much earlier -- and with much less drama. Billy Butler was hit by pitches from Nolasco on two occasions, and the first time -- in the second inning -- he advanced to third before getting stranded. Christian Colon was left standing on second in the third inning, and Jarrod Dyson was picked off first base in the sixth. Dyson was also picked off first base in Monday nights 1-0 loss to the Yankees. The Twins also had opportunities to push across an early run. Trevor Plouffe grounded into inning-ending double plays in the second and fifth, and Danny Santana was picked off first base in the fourth. Eduardo Escobar was stranded at second base in the sixth. Those missed chances proved to be important when the ninth inning rolled around. "I dont think anybody saw that coming," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said, "a bloop and a blast and a big walk-off for them." SPARSE CROWD There were only 13,847 fans in attendance, and the empty seats certainly caught Yosts eye. "Were in a pennant race," he said. "Weve been working hard to try to make our fans happy and make our fans proud of us for a lot of years, and wed like them out here to enjoy a night like this with us, because this was a special night. A fun night. I just wish there could have been more out here to enjoy it with us." NOLASCOS BUG Nolasco may have benefited from a warm, muggy night at Kauffman Stadium, where the temp at first pitch was 91 degrees. Hed been battling a flu bug thats been going through the clubhouse. "The heat may have helped him," Gardenhire said. "He sweat some of that out." TRAINERS ROOM Twins: OF Byron Buxton, one of baseballs top prospects, is headed for the Arizona Fall League. Buxton is still recovering from post-concussion symptoms -- primarily headaches -- that he sustained after an outfield collision at Double-A New Britain on Aug. 13. Royals: RHP Yordano Ventura will miss his start Wednesday night with soreness in his back, and 2B Omar Infante could miss a couple days with shoulder inflammation. "Everybody is dealing with something this time of year," Yost said. "My feet hurt." UP NEXT Twins: RHP Phil Hughes (14-8, 3.65 ERA) tries to win his fifth straight when he faces Kansas City for the fifth time this season. Royals: RHP Liam Hendriks makes his Royals debut after arriving in a trade from Toronto. Hendriks spent his first three seasons with Minnesota. "Itll be interesting," Hendriks said of facing his former team. "It could be really good or really bad." Arizona Diamondbacks Jerseys . -- Chad Labelle scored the winner 17:36 into the third period to give Medicine Hat a 2-1 victory over the Swift Current Broncos on Sunday and lift the Tigers into the second round of the Western Hockey League playoffs. Curt Schilling Jersey . So heres what I do when I want to get into the baseball mood—I delve into "The Baseball Project". http://www.diamondbackssale.com/diamondb...johnson-jersey/. Phoenix originally signed Barbosa to a 10-day contract on Jan. 8 after Eric Bledsoe injured his knee and then signed him to another 10-day deal. Custom Arizona Diamondbacks Jerseys . The Wizards gave up two seldom-used players — forward Jan Vesely and point guard Eric Maynor. Vesely goes to the Nuggets, while Maynor gets shipped to the 76ers. Philadelphia receives two second-round draft picks, one from the Wizards in 2015 and one from the Nuggets in 2016. Luis Gonzalez Jersey . Felix Pie had an RBI double earlier in the inning, as Baltimore rallied for three runs to overcome a 3-2 deficit. J.J. Hardy had two hits and Matt Wieters chipped in with an RBI double for the Orioles, who pushed their winning streak to three games.SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- David Lee had 23 points and 11 rebounds, Klay Thompson scored 18 points and the Golden State Warriors held off the Sacramento Kings 101-92 on Wednesday night in a game both teams played short-handed. Stephen Curry added 13 points and eight assists for the Warriors (32-22) in the first game following the All-Star break for each team. Golden State is 3-0 against Sacramento this season. With both centres out with injuries and a shorter roster from trades each team made earlier in the day, the depth of the Warriors was just too much for the Kings to overcome. Isaiah Thomas had 26 points and seven assists, and Travis Outlaw scored 18 points for a Sacramento (18-36) team thats headed for an eighth straight losing season. Quincy Acy grabbed a career-high 12 boards to help the Kings outrebound the Warriors 49-35, but Sacramento committed 21 turnovers, fading in the closing minutes. The game was played in the aftermath of a busy day for both Northern California teams. The Kings traded guard Marcus Thornton to Brooklyn for veterans Jason Terry and Reggie Evans in the afternoon. Just before tipoff, the Warriors acquired point guard Steve Blake from the Los Angeles Lakers for reserves Kent Bazemore and MarShon Brooks. Andrew Bogut also missed his fifth straight game for the Warriors with a left shoulder injury. DeMarcus Cousins, who strained his left hip flexor in Sacramentos final game before the break in New York, also sat out. Both centres are day to day. The Kings dropped to 0-8 without Cousins this season but still led 76-75 entering the fourth quarter.dddddddddddd. The Warriors quickly put together a pair of scoring spurts to pull away. Lee converted a layup through traffic, Thompson made a 3-pointer and Andre Iguodala hit a fadeway jumper in an 8-0 run that gave Golden State an 86-79 lead early in the fourth. After the Kings started to rally, Iguodala found Draymond Green for a dunk, and Lee followed with a layup that put the Warriors up 94-84 with 3:28 remaining that all but sealed it. Most of the game played out in similar fashion. The Warriors went ahead by 10 points in the first quarter and 15 in the second, spreading the floor and moving the ball fast without any true centres on the court. The Kings had come back each time, though, playing just like the two-faced team theyd been before the All-Streak break -- prone to scintillating scoring spurts but, at times, lacking defence and discipline -- that buried them at the bottom of the Western Conference standings. Sacramento scored the final nine points of the third quarter, including the last six by Thomas, to take a 76-75 lead before the Warriors pulled away for good. NOTES: The teams meet for the final time this season April 4 in Oakland. ... Recently retired NFL tight end Tony Gonzalez, a former star at California, sat in a courtside seat between Kings owner Vivek Ranadive and team executive Chris Mullin. ... The Warriors are hoping Blake will be in uniform when they host Houston on Thursday night in Oakland. ... Terry and Evans should have plenty of time to make it to Sacramento before the Kings host Boston on Saturday night. 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