Dein erstes Forum » y. Each of its previous three closers: Melano

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Salvador Perez gave Royals reliever Brooks Pounders his first career win, Mariners starter James Paxton a frustrating no-decision and Kansas City a much-needed confidence boost with one mighty swing.Perez capped a three-hit night with a double off the wall in the ninth inning Thursday night, scoring Whit Merrifield and Jarrod Dyson and giving the Royals a 4-3 victory over Seattle to open a four-game set.How many times have we been through it? I mean, we fight. We keep fighting, said Danny Duffy, who kept the Royals in the game with 6 1/3 strong innings. Youre never out of the game with these boys.Paxton kept them out of it for eight innings, using just 78 pitches to get that far. The only damage he allowed came in the eighth when Paulo Orlando delivered a two-out single to get Kansas City within 3-2.Steve Cishek (2-5) came on to close the game and Merrifield doubled to lead off the ninth. Kendrys Morales was hit by a pitch moments later, Jarrod Dyson came on to run for him, and Eric Hosmer struck out before Perez dug in at the plate and a crowd of 31,425 reached a fevered pitch.He lined a shot to center to give Pounders (1-0), who pitched an inning of relief, his stunning win.Its a great moment in my life, the big reliever said. To walk away with a win in that game is just unbelievable. It says a lot about the team we have here.The victory snapped a four-game skid for Kansas City an extended Seattles road losing streak to 10.I dont know if you can be much more in control of the game to being on the wrong side of things in an inning and a half, Mariners manager Scott Servais said. Tough game to lose.The Mariners built an early 2-0 lead not with a homer -- they entered the game tied for second in the majors with 128 of them -- but with old-fashioned small ball. Dae-Ho Lee scored from second on Dan Robertsons single in the second inning, and Robertson scored after a sacrifice bunt and sacrifice fly in the fifth.Nelson Cruz added a homer off Joakim Soria in the eighth.Those three runs seemed insurmountable the way Paxton was cruising along.He induced inning-ending double plays the first two innings, then another one in the third after back-to-back singles led it off. Ketel Marte then made a nice play ranging out from third base on Alex Gordons blooper into shallow left field to leave Brett Eibner on third base and end the inning.The worst throw Paxton made before the eighth wasnt to the mound but to first base, when Kendrys Morales chopped a grounder back to him the previous inning. Paxtons throw slipped and bounced halfway to the bag.With everything else going for him, it still beat Morales easily for the out.They were popping up the cutter, hitting it on the ground. A lot of ground balls, Paxton said. Guys were making great plays behind me. So thats what happens, you saw guys turn double plays.STATS AND STREAKSMorales was 0 for 3 before getting hit by a pitch in the ninth, allowing him to extend his streak of reaching safely to 21 starts. ... The Mariners lost for the fourth time when leading after eight innings. ... Cruz homered for the seventh time in his last 14 games.ROTATION REMOVALThe Royals are sending RHP Chris Young to the bullpen and will start RHP Dillon Gee or LHP Brian Flynn in Sundays series finale. Young is 2-8 with a 6.90 ERA in 15 appearances, 13 of them starts. Hes also given up a league-leading 26 home runs despite pitching many of his games at spacious Kauffman Stadium.TRAINERS ROOMRoyals RHP Kris Medlen has been shut down after straining his shoulder during a rehab outing. Medlen was 1/3 with a 7.77 ERA in six starts before going on the disabled list in May with rotator cuff inflammation. He is going to be no-throw for a couple weeks, Royals manager Ned Yost said.UP NEXTRHP Yordano Ventura returns for Kansas City on Friday night after spraining his right ankle running the bases in his last start in Philadelphia. RHP Hisashi Iwakuma will oppose him for Seattle. Adidas Ultra Boost Clearance .com) - Following a late-game loss to the reigning NBA champs, the Toronto Raptors will look to sustain their recent high-level play as they travel to Indiana to take on the Pacers. Adidas Ultra Boost Clearance Sale . Ouellette, from Montreal, already has three Olympic gold medals since joining the team in 1999. http://www.cheapultraboost.net/ .Y. -- Injured Buffalo Sabres forward Marcus Foligno did not practice with the team Monday and head coach Ron Rolston said its unlikely hell play in Wednesdays season opener in Detroit. Adidas Ultra Boost Wholesale . Ashley Youngs cross was inadvertently headed by Chester into his own net in the 66th minute, allowing United to claim a third straight league win. "We had to dig deep with our fighting spirit and weve done that," United striker Wayne Rooney said. Adidas Ultra Boost Cheap Sale .com) - Christian Ponder will get another chance to prove himself for the Minnesota Vikings, with head coach Leslie Frazier announcing Wednesday that the struggling quarterback will start this weekends game against the Green Bay Packers. SAN FRANCISCO -- When Mike Rizzo and Dusty Baker called Mark Melancon on Saturday from the visiting clubhouse at AT&T Park, one thing that impressed them right away about their new All-Star closer is that he planned to immediately check in with Jonathan Papelbon.It says a lot about his character and makeup, and that was a big reason why he was such an attractive target to us, said Rizzo, Washingtons general manager. His performance level is great but his makeup and character are a lot of the reason that we went out and got him. That tells me hes team-first and Mark Melancon second.Washington sent reliever Felipe Rivero and pitching prospect Taylor Hearn to the Pirates to acquire Melancon, who supplants the struggling Papelbon as Washingtons closer. Rizzo and Baker also spoke to Papelbon, who made it clear he wants to win, Baker said.Melancon is expected to join the Nationals on Sunday for their series finale at San Francisco.Pittsburgh general manager Neal Huntington tried to tell Melancon he had been traded. And tried. And tried.I felt bad because I missed his call three times because my phone was on silent, so I woke up to that, the reliever said after he awakened from his nap and learned of the deal.A 31-year-old right-hander, Melancon has converted 30 of 33 saves with a 1.51 ERA this season and joins his fifth organization in eight years. He is making $9.65 million and is eligible for free agency after the World Series; as part of the swap, the Pirates will pay Washington $500,000 on Sept. 1.Once considered a possible successor to Mariano Rivera when he broke into the majors with the New York Yankees in 2009, Melancon said during the All-Star break he knew a trade was possible, given his contract status.The move comes as the Pirates find themselves on the fringe of the wild-card race. While general manager Neal Huntington stressed the team remains committed to reaching the playoffs for a fourth straight season, the opportunity to deal Melancon -- who led the majors with 51 saves in 2015 and had 33 in 14 -- for two young arms with friendly long-term contracts was too good to pass up.Bakers bullpen is taxed.Were getting some reinforcements, he said of Melancon.Rivero is under team control through 2021 and hit 100 mph on the radar gun regularly during an extended relief appearance against the Pirates this month. If Melancon left as a free agent, Pittsburgh would have received a high draft pick as compensation.We knew full well that holding Mark Melancon would have been a good return, but at the end of the day we felt this was a better return for us, Huntington said.dddddddddddd.This was the well-traveled Melancons fourth season in Pittsburgh after he also pitched for Houston, Boston and the Yankees.He will move his family once more -- his wife and three kids.This has been a blast. Pittsburgh has a special place in heart. My family has been treated so well, Melancon said. The experiences weve had, just running through my mind all the wild-card games, just big games that weve been in. From where we started, to where we are now, it is an honor. It is an honor to be a Pirate. We got to go through those experiences together. My teammates are my best friends.Papelbon is 2-4 with a 4.41 ERA and has allowed eight runs and seven hits in his past three outing. Manager Dusty Baker wouldnt say earlier Saturday whether Papelbon still was his closer. Baker pulled Papelbon from a game Thursday in the ninth inning.Rivero, a 25-year-old lefty, is 0-3 with a 4.53 ERA this season. Hearn is a 21-year-old lefty who was the Nationals fifth-round pick in the 2015 amateur draft.Pittsburgh will plug the 25-year-old Rivero into a seventh-inning role, with Neftali Feliz working the eighth and Tony Watson in the ninth. Watson was an All-Star in 2014 in a set-up role and will take over a position where Pittsburgh has enjoyed plenty of success during its rise from mediocrity. Each of its previous three closers: Melanon, Jason Grilli and Joel Hanrahan, made the All-Star team wearing black and gold.Manager Clint Hurdle will miss Melancon but is confident in his bullpen options.I love the guy, love the family. Happy we had him. He helped us, I believe we helped him, Hurdle said. We are not giving up anything, we arent lowering the bar. We are not settling. Our organization made a baseball trade, with confidence that our bullpen is going to be in a good place. We are going to be able to compete this year, we are going to be able to add to our competition level in the years to come.Huntington hinted the team may try to take the money it will save by not paying the remaining portion of Melancons contract and use it before Mondays trade deadline. The Pirates need help in the starting rotation, which has been forced to turn to rookies Jameson Taillon and Tyler Glasnow quickly as established players Jeff Locke, John Niese and Juan Nicasio faltered.---AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum, AP Sports Writers Will Graves and Stephen Whyno and AP freelance writer Anthony Totoraitis contributed to this report. ' ' '