MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Max Kepler saw a lot of pitches Friday night

Will Middlebrooks Jersey , and it paid off Saturday night.Kepler had three hits, including a two-run homer that put Minnesota ahead to stay, and Jose Berrios threw seven sharp innings to help the Twins to an 8-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals.Kepler went 3 for 3 with a walk and scored twice. He walked three times in Minnesota’s 6-4 victory in the series opener.“The more pitches you see in an at-bat, the better you start to see the ball with time, and I think we’re doing that pretty well as a team right now,” he said. “I hit some line drives and ground balls that some nights can be caught. Today, luckily they find holes.”Eddie Rosario and Logan Morrison also homered as the Twins won their second straight against the Royals.“We don’t want guys to try to step up and be supermen,” manager Paul Molitor said of his offense coming alive. “It’s just understand that you go out there and bring what you can bring.”Berrios (11-8) retired his first six batters, but had trouble throwing strikes in his middle innings and allowed the Royals to take a 2-1 lead after walking the bases loaded in the third. The All-Star right-hander settled down and remained unbeaten against AL Central opponents this season.“Seven innings didn’t look very likely after he gave up those couple, but he got it done,” Molitor said. “And thankfully, the bats came alive.”The Twins regained the lead on Kepler’s homer off Burch Smith (1-3) in the fourth. Rosario added a sacrifice fly in the fifth, and Logan Forsythe and Bobby Wilson each drove in a run in the sixth.“I still felt pretty good,” Smith said. “They just capitalized on mistakes. I didn’t make a pitch Francisco Rodriguez Jersey , and they hit it. It’s a good-hitting team.Morrison added his 15th homer in seventh, a towering two-run shot off Glenn Sparkman that traveled an estimated 442 feet before landing in the right-field concourse.SMITH’S STARTSmith was charged with a season-high six runs in five-plus innings in his fifth start of the year. Manager Ned Yost still said Smith threw the ball well.“He started laboring in the sixth inning after about the 80-pitch mark, 85-pitch mark. Up until that point, I thought he did a good job of keeping us in the game and throwing strikes,” Yost said.DRAKE THE JOURNEYMANMinnesota’s Addison Reed and Oliver Drake combined for two innings of scoreless relief. Drake, claimed off waivers from Toronto on Friday, set a major league record by pitching for his fifth team this season. He arrived at the ballpark on Saturday afternoon and said he appreciated the chance to get right to work.“I think my catch partner though the whole time has been a fence post back home, so it’s just nice to get back out there playing baseball, throwing to hitters, competing,” Drake said.And the record?“It’s definitely cool having all the jerseys,” he said smiling. “That’s going to be something that looking back it’s going to be a cool collection. I don’t know if this is something I’ll brag about, but it’ll definitely be a neat story.”TRAINER’S ROOMTwins: Molitor said RHP Aaron Slegers (shoulder) would begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Rochester on Saturday night. … RHP Michael Pineda is scheduled to begin his recovery from Tommy John surgery when he starts his rehab assignment with the Florida Gulf Coast on Monday.JOHAN’S CALLThe Twins inducted former ace Johan Santana into the franchise’s hall of fame in a pregame ceremony. Santana, who won two AL Cy Young Awards during his eight seasons in Minnesota Jake Arrieta Jersey , became the 31st member of the Twins Hall of Fame. For five seasons, from 2003-07, he led the AL in wins (82), strikeouts (1,152), ERA (2.92) and opponent batting average (.212).Surrounded by family and former teammates, Santana was introduced by former teammate Torii Hunter before being presented with a Twins blazer by Rod Carew.“Go chase your dreams, work hard, be passionate about what you do. Have fun and never give up, and good things will happen to you,” Santana told the crowd.UP NEXTRoyals: LHP Danny Duffy (7-9) will make his 24th start of the season Sunday. After posting a 6.88 ERA in his first 10 starts, he has a 3.00 ERA since May 24, the fourth-lowest in the AL in that stretch.Twins: RHP Ervin Santana (0-0) looks to return to his ace form when makes his third start since returning from the 60-day DL after being sidelined by an injured finger. He has allowed a combined eight earned runs in 10 1/3 innings with six strikeouts this season. PHOENIX — Arizona held big hitters Paul Goldschmidt and David Peralta out of the lineup against the Dodgers in a game critical to the NL West. Contender Colorado knew it was coming.Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo briefed Colorado skipper Bud Black in a telephone conversation Sunday, as the Rockers were sweeping a three-game series at Chase Field.“I just wanted to make sure he knew … that even though the lineup may look like we weren’t doing what we were supposed to do Nick Williams Jersey , and hold serve for him the best way we could, we were,” Lovullo said.Article continues below ...“Our team is a little emotionally spent. I think we’ve all felt that for the past three weeks. We have two more games against a team we are contending, and we don’t want to make anything easy on them.”It had worked before.Arizona beat the NL Central-leading Cubs with four understudies starting last Wednesday but could not pull it off Monday, when the Dodgers took a 7-4 comeback victory to remain 1 1/2 games ahead of Colorado. The Rockies beat the Phillies’ regular group 10-1 Monday.The Dodgers got a homer and three RBIs from David Freese and two RBIs from Manny Machado, one on a double off the right-field fence in a three-run ninth inning, a ball Machado was so sure that was a homer that he eased his was out of the box. He took some ribbing from Matt Kemp in the clubhouse afterward.“I have to hit the weight room, Matthew, I get it,” Machado said, grinning.“I thought it was way out. At least I got the RBI and we got the lead. Matthew is just trying to play with me. It’s OK. I’ll wear it.”The Dodgers have a little room to play with, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he was not concerned what lineup opposing teams use, whether it is the Diamondbacks or the Rockies’ remaining opponents, Philadelphia and Washington.“For us Tommy Joseph Jersey , it’s just about playing good baseball,” Roberts said.“They are men of high character. They are going to do their best to win a baseball game. We will do the same thing. You sign up to put this uniform on, your goal is to win every game, regardless of the situation.Dodgers right-hander Walker Buehler (7-5, 2.74) is to face Arizona right-hander Matt Koch (5-5, 4.26).Buehler, arguably, has been the ace of the staff for the last two months, since limiting Milwaukee to one run while striking out seven in seven innings on July 31 at Dodger Stadium. He suffered the loss in that game but has lost only one since.He is 3-2 with a 1.58 ERA in his last 10 starts, with 79 strikeouts in 62 2/3 innings. Buehler tied his career high with nine strikeouts in an 8-0 victory in St. Louis on Sept. 14 and set his career high with 12 in his last outing Wednesday against Colorado, although he did not get a decision while giving two unearned runs in a 5-2 victory.Buehler, a first-round pick in the 2015, made eight relief appearances as a rookie September call-up last year. He made his first career start April 21 this season and joined the rotation for good after the All-Star break.“One part of it is, he’s more comfortable being here a lot of the year and getting in a routine and not going up and down http://www.philliesfanproshop.com/authentic-clay-buchholz-jersey , not being in the ‘pen,” manager Dave Roberts said when talking about the strides Buehler has made this year. “Learning hitters. Having the rapport with his teammates.“As far as the stuff, like many pitchers, when his fastball command is on, he’s pretty much unhittable. And a lot of this year, that’s what we’ve had. Now the curve ball, the slider, the change off of it has been lethal. It’s two variables, comfort level and consistency and the pitch execution.”Buehler throws his 96-mph fastball about 60 percent of the time and works off that.Koch is making his second spot start in place of Clay Bucholz, who was shut down for the rest of the season when he felt elbow pain while warming up for a scheduled start at Colorado on Sept. 13. Koch replaced him on very short notice that day and gave up four runs in three innings but followed that with four innings of scoreless relief in a loss to the Cubs on Sept. 18.Koch made 12 starts early-season starts after first Taijuan Walker and then Robbie Ray went out with injuries and the Diamondbacks were 7-5 in that stretch, but he lost his spot in the rotation when Ray returned, and Buchholz pitched well. He has faced the Dodgers once this season, giving up three runs (two earned) in five innings in a no-decision in Arizona’s 4-3 victory.