Kritik und Lob » practice. Kevin Magnussen finished 18th,

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Alex Gordon has been battling most of the season to raise his average above .200. Now he is the hottest hitter on the American Leagues hottest team.Gordon hit a grand slam, Dillon Gee pitched seven strong innings and the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 8-1 on Thursday night.The Royals have won five straight and eight of nine to move above .500 for the first time since July 22. Royals starting pitchers have a 1.61 ERA in the five-game winning streak, allowing 23 hits and six earned runs in 33 2/3 innings, while striking out 27 and walking seven.Gordon, who was hitting .199 with 16 RBI on Aug. 9, extended his hitting streak to a season-best nine games, hiking his average to .219. Gordon has homered in three consecutive games.I was probably trying to do too much, trying to get out of a slump, which its hard not to do, Gordon said. Im just trying to stay with the basics and put together good at-bats and luckily its been happening a little bit more lately.Gee (5-6) picked up the Royals first victory from a No. 5 starter since May 31. The Royals are 9-21 is games started by the fifth starter.I felt like I was throwing everything pretty good tonight, Gee said. I had command of the off-speed stuff and the fastball command got better throughout the game. I just felt like a lot more free and easy. The curveball was good, the slider was good. It was just a good night.Gee, who is 3-6 in 10 starts, gave up a home run to Brian Dozier on his third pitch. It was Doziers 14th career leadoff homer and his 27th for the season. He has homered in five straight games against the Royals.That was the only run Gee would allow as he limited the Twins to four singles after the home run, walked one and struck out seven. Gees seven innings were a season high.He didnt throw too many heaters, Twins left fielder Robbie Grossman said. He really kept us off balance, threw his off-speed for strikes. That was a key for him.Twins right-hander Tyler Duffey (8-9) retired the first 10 hitters, but only one of the final seven batters he faced before being removed by manager Paul Molitor. After Cheslor Cuthberts single with one out in the third, Duffey walked three and hit a batter with Gordons third career grand slam punctuating the inning. Duffey was replaced by Michael Tonkin after 3 2/3 innings, allowing five runs.I think I tried to adjust by being better, and ultimately being worse, Duffey said. Just kind of missing arm side with a fastball, then I end up yanking a curveball and then the one that Gordon hit out wasnt necessarily a good pitch to hit. It just went right into his swing path. And then, giving up a grand slam, thats what happens when you walk a guy and hit a guy. Thats a really good lineup. I gave them some chances and they took full advantage of it.The Royals added three runs in the eighth with Kendrys Morales and Eric Hosmer both driving in a run. The other run scored on a throwing error by center fielder Eddie Rosario.Cuthbert had three of the Royals seven hits, bringing his hit total to 100, which ranks second among AL rookies.TRAINERS ROOMRoyals: LHP Jason Vargas, who has not pitched this season after Tommy John surgery in July 2015, made his third rehab start Wednesday, giving up three runs and four hits, including two home runs, in 2 1/3 innings for Northwest Arkansas against Corpus Christi. He threw 42 pitches, 27 for strikes, while striking out one and walking none.UP NEXTTwins: RHP Jose Berrios yielded six runs, eight hits and a walk in two innings in his previous start, a 15-7 loss to Houston.Royals: RHP Edinson Volquez is 2-0 with a 2.95 ERA in three 2016 starts against the Twins.Authentic Shoes Wholesale . That gave fans outside Joe Louis Arena another chance to ask for autographs from the 19-year-old whose stardom in the NHL has arrived earlier than most expected. Trendy Wholesale Shoes . -- Jimmie Johnson held off a teammate, passed a pair of Hall of Famers, and dominated once more at Dover. http://www.cheapshoes.us.org/ . The defending champion beat Gael Monfils of France 7-6 (6), 6-3, while second-seeded Andy Murray of Britain dispatched Edouard Roger-Vasselin, also of France, 6-3, 6-3. Making his first appearance since injuring his wrist a month ago, Del Potro had difficulty with his service games in the first set. Wholesale Shoes China Free Shipping . With his new coach and six-time Grand Slam singles champion Boris Becker watching him during an official match for the first time, Djokovic appeared tentative early against the Slovakian player, who often appeared content to keep the ball in play. Cheap Shoes Outlet Stores .J. -- Josh Cribbs was in the Pro Bowl in February and out of a job six months later.YAS MARINA, Abu Dhabi -- Lewis Hamilton claimed a vital pole position for the championship showdown in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, beating Mercedes teammate and title rival Nico Rosberg by 0.303s.?Almost all of Hamiltons advantage came in the tight final sector of the lap, which features a series of awkward and technical off-camber corners. Hamilton improved in all sectors on his second attempt to set a 1:38.755, while Rosberg could only manage a 1:39.058, despite setting the fastest first sector of all.Although Hamilton will take encouragement from beating his teammate by such a convincing margin in the same machinery, Rosberg still holds the cards in the fight for the title. The German only needs a top three finish to secure his first world championship, while Hamilton has to hope two cars finish between him in first and Rosberg in fourth or lower.Red Bulls Daniel Ricciardo is set to be Rosbergs immediate rival in Sundays race after securing third on the grid with a lap 0.834s off Hamilton. Both Red Bulls will start the race on a harder compound tyre than the Mercedes drivers after opting to use super-softs in Q2 when the rest of the top ten were using ultra-softs. That should allow them to run longer into the race and could open up an opportunity to attack the Mercedes using tyre strategy.Ferrari will line up fourth and fifth, with Kimi Raikkonen beating teammate Sebastian Vettel by 0.057s. Vettel had looked as though he was on a lap capable of taking third in sectors one and two, but lost a chunk of time to Ricciardo and Raikkonen in the final sector. Max Verstappen made a mistake at Turn 11, forcing him to abort his flying lap, and as a result will start from sixth on the grid with super-soft tyres on his car.The Force Indias of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez will occupy row four of tthe grid ahead of Fernando Alonso in ninth and Felipe Massa in tenth for his final grand prix.ddddddddddddValtteri Bottas missed out on a place in Q3 by 0.040s after losing a chunk of time compared to teammate Massa in sector two. He will start ahead of Jenson Button, who will line up on the grid for what is expected to be his last race in 12th position. Esteban Gutierrez beat Romain Grosjean to 13th in their last qualifying session as Haas teammates, while Jolyon Palmer and Pascal Wehrlein both impressed by making the cut for Q2. They will start 15th and 16th, with Palmer losing a bit of potential lap time in Turn 8 while Wehrlein said he maximised the pace of his Manor.Daniil Kvyat missed out on a place in in Q2 by 0.117s to Wehrlein as Toro Rossos struggle continued following lost time to punctures during Friday practice. Kevin Magnussen finished 18th, 0.367s off Renault teammate Palmers Q1 time, and 0.105s ahead of Felipe Nasrs Sauber in 19th, who struggled with a power surge problem as he exited Turn 16. Esteban Ocon was 20th after setting a time 0.400s off teammate Wehrlein, with Carlos Sainz 21st in the second Toro Rosso. Marcus Ericsson will start last on the grid after a lock-up left him a quarter of a second adrift of the rest of the field.Hamilton trails Rosberg by 12 points and knows his best chance of claiming the title is to win on Sunday and hope his teammate finishes off the podium, meaning it was a vital pole under the lights at Yas Marina. Rosberg never beat Hamilton in any of the three qualifying sessions but Mercedes comfortable advantage over the rest meant he rarely had to worry about the Red Bull-Ferrari battle unfolding behind him.? ' ' '