01-14-2020, 06:45 AM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Fernando Rodney was good for another dozen pitches and the Seattle Mariners were good for a sweep. Rodney, working for the fourth straight day, earned his 21st save in 23 chances as the Mariners defeated the Kansas City Royals 2-1 on Sunday for a three-game sweep. Rodney, who had thrown 46 pitches in the previous three days, got saves in all three games at Kansas City. He last got into four consecutive games on May 27-30, 2013, for Tampa Bay. "It was no problem," Rodney said. "I said I feel ready. I got warmed up and felt good, felt loose. Thats why Im a reliever." "Sometimes early in the season you have a little problem with getting loose. When the weather warms up it helps get me a little more loose," he said. Rodney dispatched the Royals on 12 pitches, giving up a two-out single to pinch-hitter Mike Moustakas before striking out Pedro Ciriaco to preserve the one-run lead. "Its simple," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said on summoning Rodney once again. "I had a talk with him and he felt good. Hes worked very, very efficiently, and he was very efficient today as well. He has not thrown a lot of pitches. Hes definitely off tomorrow. He asked me if he could go to the Dominican, but I told him no." Rookie Roenis Elias pitched neatly into the seventh inning and Mike Zunino homered for the Mariners, who have won 18 of their past 26 road games. After winning 10 straight to move into first place in the AL Central, the Royals have dropped four in a row, three of them by 2-1 scores. "Were playing fine, but just an offensive down turn a little bit," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "You go through the ups and downs. A four-game losing streak right when you had put together a nice 10-game winning streak, its tough." Elias (7-5), a 25-year-old left-hander from Cuba, limited the Royals to one run and five singles over 6 2-3 innings. He struck out five, walked two and improved to 4-1 in June. "Everything was working," Elias said through a translator. Zunino hit his ninth home run, tops among AL catchers. He connected off Yordano Ventura (5-6) leading off the seventh to break a 1-all tie. "Even though things arent going our way right now, I think were playing really good," Ventura said with teammate Bruce Chen acting as interpreter. Zunino led off the fifth with a double and scored on Willie Bloomquists two-out double. "We stepped up to the challenge and were able take three from them," Bloomquist said. "It shows what were able to do when we play well. Those guys are a very, very good baseball team. Granted, a bounce here or there and it could have come out differently." Ventura (5-6) had won his previous three starts. "He hung a breaking pretty good (to Zunino)," Yost said. "Outside of that, he pitched a great ball game. Anytime you go seven innings and give up two runs you give your team a chance to win a game thats a great job." The Royals scored their run in the second, which Alex Gordon and Salvador Perez opened with singles. Justin Maxwells sacrifice fly brought home Gordon. Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar left in the seventh with a bruised left shin. He was hit in the second by a pitch. X-rays were negative. The Mariners won a challenge in the seventh when Ciriaco was ruled safe at first for a bunt single. After a reliever that took over 3 minutes, the call was overturned and Ciriaco was out. NOTES: Royals 3B Danny Valencia, who missed 19 games with a muscle strain in his left hand, was activated from the disabled list. He went 0-for-3 with a strikeout. The Royals optioned RHP Louis Coleman to Triple-A Omaha as they opted to go with a 12-man staff. ... Mariners ace RHP Felix Hernandez, who starts Monday at home against Boston, is 4-1 with a 1.33 ERA in his past seven starts. The lone loss was 1-0 on June 18 at Texas when he allowed three hits, walked none and struck out 10. ... Seattle starters have allowed one run or less in nine of their past 10 games for a 1.50 ERA in that stretch. 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PAUL, Minn.Michael van Gerwen marked his homecoming to the Netherlands with an enthralling victory over Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor that guaranteed top spot in the Premier League. Van Gerwen completed a 7-5 victory after a last-gasp break of throw to reward a Rotterdam crowd who roared his name relentlessly throughout the competitions debut in his homeland.Van Gerwen and Taylor will be joined in next weeks play-offs by Gary Anderson and Adrian Lewis, who profited from Peter Wrights shortcomings against Dutch legend Raymond van Barneveld. Michael van Gerwens best checkout from his win over Phil Taylor World No 1 Van Gerwen was the star attraction for the on-looking sea of orange and a stunning 164 checkout on the bull broke Taylors throw and gave him a crucial 5-4 lead.Taylor, who has only beaten the Dutchman once in eight Premier League matches, broke straight back but was then crumpled just as Van Gerwen seemed to feel nerves. The youngster refused to get involved in Taylors showmanship with the crowd before striking another break to go 6-5 up, and ultimately complete the job. Under the pressure of performing in front of his home fans, Michael van Gerwen was delighted to come out on top against Phil The Power Taylor. Earlier, Wrights play-offs hopes slipped out of his control amid an emotional homecoming for Van Barneveld which resulted in a 6-6 draw.Spurred on by a spectacular reception from his compatriots, Barney held Wright in a contest blighted by missed doubles. Watch Barneys emotional entrance Wrights jaunt to the Netherlands was very much a business trip, unlike Barney who should have only been playing for pleasure but clearly felt the weight of expectation.dddddddddddd. Ultimately, a point for Wright couldnt put sufficient pressure on Lewis.Leading 4-3, Snakebite endured a horror leg against the throw, missing seven darts to break. Barneys arrows were just as error-strewn and Wright eventually broke to go 6-4 up, but still couldnt hold on for the two points that he desperately required.Barney checked out from 121 on the bull before securing the draw against Snakebite who aptly played the part of a classic pantomime villain complete with an orange Mohawk. Peter Wrights hopes ended with a 6-6 draw against Barney Lewis, needing to win just two legs to confirm his play-off place, duly thrashed defending champion Anderson 7-2.Jackpot racked up the two legs he needed at breakneck speed but wasnt satisfied, securing a pair of late breaks to earn his first win of the season against any of the top three players.James Wade kicked off the night with a 7-3 win against Robert Thornton in each players final game of the campaign.Watch Premier League Darts play-offs next Thursday on Sky Sports 1 HD at 7pm. Also See: As it happened Fixtures/Results On Sky TV Prem Table Darts betting Get Sky Sports ' ' '