second in the American League to the 15 of Chicago

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Nelson Cruz has only two hits in 15 at-bats against the Kansas City Royals this season. Both are home runs. Cruz hit a two-run homer and the first-place Baltimore Orioles beat the Royals 2-1 on Thursday night to snap a four-game losing streak. Cruz homered in the fourth after Chris Davis drew a walk to lead off the inning. It was Cruzs 12th home run, which is second in the American League to the 15 of Chicago White Sox rookie Jose Abreu. Cruzs 35 RBIs are tied for second in the AL. "Hes one of the best power hitters in the American League over the past five or six years," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Hes hit in a good hitters park in Texas, but hes got power to all fields." Wei-Yin Chen (5-2) limited the Royals to one run and seven hits over 5 1-3 innings with one walk and one strikeout. Chen, who is 5-1 in his past seven starts, was removed in the sixth after Salvador Perez walked and Alex Gordon singled with one out. Darren ODay replaced Chen and struck out Danny Valencia and retried Johnny Giavotella on a fly to right. Royals rookie right-hander Yordano Ventura (2-3) struck out nine and walked one in 6 1-3 innings, allowing two runs and seven hits. After Cruzs home run, Ventura retired the next 10 batters, striking out seven, including six straight at one stretch. "He made a mistake to Nelson Cruz and it wasnt even a mistake," Yost said. "I think he threw a good fastball to Nelson. It was up and over the middle of the plate and he ambushed it." Cruz hit the first pitch out to right-centre from Ventura, who has a fastball that routinely hits triple digits on radar guns. "We know hes got a great fastball," Cruz said. "He can get you quick. Hes got great stuff. It was one of those at-bats that I got what I was looking for. We were trying to be aggressive and he was throwing a lot of first-pitch fastballs. I was looking for a fastball." With a northwest wind blowing 15 mph and gusting up to 28, it was less than ideal conditions to hit a home run. "You could have made some money off me if youd have bet me that somebody could have gotten a ball out of here tonight," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. Valencias sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the fourth scored Eric Hosmer for the only run off Chen. "Ventura pitched great," Giavotella said. "We just couldnt back him up with any runs." Left-hander Zach Britton, who had not allowed a run in 7 1-3 innings in his past eight appearances, worked a perfect ninth for his first major league save. Showalter elected to go to Britton after closer Tommy Hunter blew his past two save chances. "Guys graduate," Showalter said. "It was a good start and its good to know that if we need him for a given night hell be ready. Well see how it goes from here." The Royals did not have a baserunner off four Baltimore relievers, who retired 11 straight. "Our pitchers did a really good job and we really needed this win," Cruz said. "Anytime you can win a game by one run its huge. We feel like we can get something going." The Orioles, who went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position, threatened in the seventh and eighth innings, but came away empty. Gordon, a three-time Gold Glove Award winner, threw out J.J. Hardy at the plate to end the seventh for his fourth outfield assist this season and his 58th since moving to the outfield in 2011. Hardy attempted to score from second on Nick Markakis single. Manny Machado and Adam Jones led off the Orioles eighth with singles off Louis Coleman, the third Kansas City pitcher. Kelvin Herrera replaced Coleman and struck out Davis and Cruz and retired Steve Clevenger on a grounder to strand the runners. NOTES: The Orioles recalled RHP Evan Meek from Triple-A Norfolk and optioned RHP Kevin Gausman, who lost a Wednesday start to Detroit, to the same club. ... Markakis snapped an 0-for-14 skid with three singles. ... Royals RHP Wade Davis has a stiff neck and was not available. Tremaine Edmunds Jersey . 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell while figuring out which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value. O. J. Simpson Youth Jersey . -- Cincinnati Reds closer Aroldis Chapman is undergoing surgery to repair a broken bone above his left eye but has no other serious injuries after being hit in the face by a line drive in a spring training game. http://www.authenticbillsfanaticfootball.com/authentic-frank-gore-bills-jersey/ . The roster changes have been constant and continuous since late last year, but even with their 46-man roster set for the start of the season, the banged-up Bombers will be kicking off Week 1 with a handful of fresh faces and back-ups in the starting lineup. LeSean McCoy Jersey ." Bach is in Rome for the European Olympic Committees general assembly and meetings with Pope Francis. He also visited with Italian Premier Enrico Letta. "The prime minister appeared to be interested in a bid from Italy for 24, because he has realized that the games can serve as a catalyst for development for a city and a country," Bach told The Associated Press on Saturday. Jordan Poyer Youth Jersey .ca presents its latest weekly power rankings for the 2013-14 Barclays Premier League season.Fans of hard-nosed football will love this years Mitchell Bowl.The sixth-ranked Mount Allison Mounties and No. 3 Marauders will bring very similar styles to McMasters Ron Joyce Stadium on Saturday for the Vanier Cup semifinal. Both teams have relied on smash-mouth defences and solid running games throughout the Canadian university football season and promise to bring more of the same to the Mitchell Bowl.We want to be violent. We want to make sure we hit you, said Mounties head coach Kelly Jeffrey said in an interview this week. We want to be disruptive in terms of taking the ball away as much as possible. We want to be disciplined, we want to have sound schemes that dont give up big plays.If we can do those things, thats basically the heart of our defensive philosophy.That approach has worked for Mount Allison all year. The undefeated AUS champions had the best defence in Canada this season, allowing an average of eight points per game and ranking third in both total yards allowed (324.0) and against the run (98.1).The Marauders are strong defensively as well. The 9-1 OUA champions allowed 17.75 points per game, the best in Ontario and fifth-best across the country. OUA defensive player of the year Nick Shorthill has been dominant at linebacker, helping McMaster place second against the pass (201.4) and the run (132.1).Defensively weve got several guys that we lean on and have come up huge in our playoff run to date, said Marauders head coach Stefan Ptaszek. Nick Shorthill, (defensive backs) Scott Martin, Steve Ventresca and Joey Cupido are four of the best in the country and were going to continue to lean on them.Both teams have relied on productive ground attacks all season, with Mounties tailback Chris Reid earning AUS rookie of the year honours after leading his conference and placing second in the country with 987 rushing yards.Hes explosive, hes got great burst, said Jeffrey of his star running back. Maybe not the sprinter some guys are, but certainly hes got very good burst and quickness that can make guys miss in a small areaa.ddddddddddddOnce that little guy gets behind that big O-line hes hard to see and contain.McMaster relies on two running backs in its schemes, with Wayne Moore averaging 70.3 yards per game in the regular season for a total of 492. Although he only averaged 61 yards per game in the regular season, Chris Pezzetta rushed for 143 and 144 yards in the Marauders first two post-season games.Establishing our run with that big O-line and Chris Pezzetta and Wayne Moore, our two running backs that are going to get the bulk of the work, is critical, said Ptaszek of Saturdays matchup.An emphasis on the run could be necessary on Saturday, with a wintry blast hitting southern Ontario and western New York for most of the week. McMaster had to move its practices from Ron Joyce Stadium to Redeemer University College in nearby Ancaster, Ont., to make use of an inflatable dome covering the schools football field.Forecasts have the temperature rising to just above freezing on game day with a chance of rain.If theres some elements of weather its always important to run the ball well, said Jeffrey. If we can then pop a few big plays offensively I think thatll be important to help change field position and set up scores.Although McMaster is only 1-3 when hosting Vanier Cup semifinals, Ptaszek is confident that playing in the Marauders home stadium will play to his teams advantage.No place like home is especially true for a student-athlete thats working through midterms and has finals not too far away, said the McMaster head coach. Just staying in our routine and all the national exposure that our student-athletes are going to get over the week, it helps us stay grounded and remember that theres actually a football game to be played at the end of this week.Having the 13th man in the stands is a huge advantage.The winner of the Mitchell Bowl will advance to the Vanier Cup in Montreal on Nov. 29. They will play either the Manitoba Bisons or Montreal Carabins, who face each other on Saturday in the Uteck Bowl.---Follow @jchidleyhill on Twitter ' ' '