MINNEAPOLIS -- Erik Kratz had played in only five games for Kansas City since being acquired from Toronto in a trade on July 28. Nike Free Clearance Canada . But the big guy always stayed ready and that discipline paid off Monday night to keep the Royals rolling. Kratz homered twice after replacing an ailing Salvador Perez, and Jason Vargas pitched seven strong innings to lead the first-place Royals to a 6-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins. "You put your work in before the game as a bench guy to be ready to go in," Kratz said. "Some people could say well, Salvi plays every day, so why not take a day off? In my opinion, whats the point of taking a day off if that might be the day you come in and play?" Vargas (10-5) allowed one run on four this and struck out three, but had his scoreless innings streak snapped at 17 when Oswaldo Arcia hit a solo homer in the seventh. Perez had two hits and two RBIs before leaving in the seventh because of discomfort in his right knee, helping the Royals win for the 21st time in 26 games. Kansas City extended its lead over the idle Detroit Tigers in the AL Central to two games. Trevor May (0-2) gave up three runs on seven hits and walked four in 4 2-3 innings for the Twins. When Perez left, Kratz came in as a pinch hitter and broke his bat on a pitch from Anthony Swarzak, but still managed to muscle it over the wall in left field for a 4-0 lead. Kratz added a solo shot to centre in the ninth for his first multihomer game. The drives proved even more important when Trevor Plouffe hit a three-run homer off Aaron Crow in the ninth inning. "Its great to help the team out when you do get in there for any bench guy," Kratz said. Greg Holland came on for his 38th save in 40 tries. Josh Willingham had three hits and Alex Gordon and Billy Butler each had two for the Royals, who have won eight straight series for the first time since 1991. May made his major league debut on Aug. 9, and it was a rough one. He walked seven batters in two innings and gave up four runs. He breezed through four innings of his home debut, but walked the bases loaded in the fifth. Perez followed with a two-run single and Butler added an RBI single to give the Royals a 3-0 lead. That was enough for Vargas, who has dominated the Twins this season. He retired 10 in a row from the second through sixth while his offence built him a cushion. "Salvis a huge part of our team, but we have to keep him healthy and keep him in it for the long haul," Vargas said. "For Kratz to come in and step up and go big fly twice was pretty nice, especially when they were able to extend the game a little bit there. Those two home runs really counted." TRAINERS ROOM Royals: Perez is day to day with a sore knee. Manager Ned Yost said Perez tweaked a tendon in his knee while running the bases in the fifth inning, but was removed purely as a precaution. Twins: Byron Buxton, one of the top prospects in baseball, flew to Fort Myers, Florida, to begin his recovery after a nasty outfield collision at Double-A New Britain. GM Terry Ryan said Buxton had a stiff neck and some headaches, but nothing more serious. Ryan said he doubts Buxton will play again this season. "Were all fortunate it ended up the way it ended up," Ryan said. "Weve seen collisions in our day, but that one ranked right up there." UP NEXT The Royals open a two-game interleague series in Colorado. RHP James Shields (11-6, 3.29 ERA) starts the opener against LHP Tyler Matzek (2-8, 5.50). The Twins stay home for a three-game series against Cleveland. RHP Kyle Gibson (11-9, 3.96) starts the opener against RHP Trevor Bauer (4-7, 4.35). EARLY EXIT Twins manager Ron Gardenhire didnt stick around very long. When plate umpire Chris Segal called Joe Mauer out on strikes in the first inning, the mild-mannered first baseman argued that he fouled the third strike and it hit the dirt before Perez caught it. Segal disagreed, and Gardenhire came to Mauers defence before returning to the bench. Moments later, Segal ejected Gardenhire after the conversation apparently continued from the dugout. It was the fifth time this season and 72nd time in his career that Gardenhire was ejected. Nike Free Canada Online . In five games last month, Billings led all scorers with 11 goals, 27 assists and 38 points as the Rock posted a 2-3 record. Nike Free Shoes Canada .com) - Ben Lovejoy tallied a goal and an assist as the Anaheim Ducks cruised into the All-Star break with a 6-3 victory against the Calgary Flames. http://www.nikefreecanada.com/ . He never mentioned anything about his hitting. The 33-year-old right-hander had success with both Sunday, pitching six solid innings and helping the offence-starved Mets with an RBI single as New York salvaged a doubleheader split with a 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. ST. LOUIS -- All Adam Wainwrights balky elbow needed was a little rest. The St. Louis starter tossed eight strong innings, and Matt Holliday broke an eighth-inning tie with a run-scoring double to lead the Cardinals to a 4-1 win over Philadelphia that snapped the Phillies season-high five-game winning streak on Saturday. Wainwright (10-3) allowed one run and six hits, struck out seven and didnt walk a batter for the Cardinals, who broke a three-game losing streak. He pitched on 10 days rest after missing a start due to elbow tendinitis. "That was the right decision," Wainwright said of skipping an outing. "I felt real good all game. Sometimes you never know how youre going to respond when you havent thrown very much. But I was fine. "The only time I even felt anything in my arm at all was my first swing where Cole Hamels jammed me and I grounded to third." Wainwright needed to be on his game to beat Hamels in a matchup of heavyweight arms. "It was a pitchers duel as advertised," Philadelphia manager Ryne Sandberg said. "Both guys were outstanding." Wainwright was slightly better. He never let a runner get beyond second base except in the third when the Phillies scored their only run. Wainwright, who lowered his ERA to 2.08, threw 104 pitches, 68 for strikes. "All of his pitches were sinking, and he mixed them up well," Philadelphia catcher Carlos Ruiz said. St. Louis manager Mike Matheny was impressed with Wainwrights command following the layoff. "Its just amazing how sharp he was," he said. "It looked like the Adam weve watched all season." Trevor Rosenthal backed up Wainwright by striking out two in the ninth to earn his 21st save in 24 attempts. Hamels (2-4) gave up three runs and seven hits over 7 11-3 innings. Nike Free Cheap Online. He had a scoreless streak of 24 2-3 innings snapped on Matt Adams second-inning sacrifice fly. Hamels refused to speak with reporters after the game. Holliday ripped a one-out double to bring in Matt Carpenter and break the 1-1 tie. Carpenter coaxed a leadoff walk to begin the eighth. "At that point in the game, youre looking at having a chance to win if you can scratch across one run," Holliday said. "Luckily, (Hamels) left it up a little and I put a good swing on it." St. Louis added two more runs in the eighth to go up 4-1. Jhonny Peralta brought in Holliday with an infield ground out, and Adams followed with his second sacrifice fly of the game. "We grinded it out," Matheny said. "Were getting good at those close games by just staying the course." Philadelphia had tied it 1-1 in the third inning on successive singles by Cody Asche and Hamels, and a sacrifice fly by Jimmy Rollins. Asche, who grew up in nearby OFallon, Missouri, recorded his first hit at Busch Stadium. Rollins extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a single in the eighth inning. NOTES: After the game, the Cardinals placed INF Kolten Wong on the 15-day disabled list due to a sore shoulder. Shane Robinson will be recalled from Triple-A Memphis in time for Sunday game. ... The game-time temperature was a season-high 92 degrees. ... Philadelphias Kyle Kendrick (3-6, 3.97) will face St. Louis Carlos Martinez (0-3, 4.19) in the series finale on Sunday. Martinez is replacing RHP Michael Wacha, who is being given extra rest. ... The Phillies didnt commit an error in the first six games of their current seven-game trip . ... St. Louis C Yadier Molina batted in the cleanup spot for the first time since June 20, 2013. 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