KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Bruce Chen will never overpower with a blazing fastball. Hell never step onto the mound and strike fear into the hearts of opposing hitters. Hes awfully adept at getting them out anyway. The veteran left-hander kept Minnesota off balance all night, outdueling Francisco Liriano and making a lone run scored in the second inning stand up to give the Kansas City Royals a 1-0 victory over the Twins on Tuesday night. "He did a great job from the first inning on. Hed speed their bats up and slow them down," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "He had good tempo and he was banging strikes." Chen (5-5) allowed four hits without a walk to win for the fifth time in six starts, which came on the heels of a miserable start to the season that made some question whether the two-year deal he was given by Kansas City was really worth it. Well, hes proving just how valuable he is to a patchwork rotation. "Pitching is contagious. You say, You know what? Lets keep it going," said Chen, who added to a pair of shutouts logged by Kansas City already on this six-game homestand. "This whole pitching staff is pushing each other." Chen was pushing Liriano, too. The Twins left-hander allowed only four hits in six innings, but three of them came in the second when the Twins failure to turn a double play proved costly. It allowed Brayan Pena to send an RBI single rolling through the left side of the infield for the games only run. Greg Holland worked around an error in the eighth for Kansas City, and Jonathan Broxton left runners on first and second in the ninth for his 14th save of the season. "Youre just out there trying to compete," said Broxton, who got some help from a couple of nifty plays by his defence. "You have to bear down and let your defence work." Chen retired the first six batters he faced, and then helped himself after Brian Dozier singled to lead off the third by catching him trying to steal. The only other hits Chen allowed were a double by Dozier and singles by Darin Mastroianni and Jamey Carroll. "He changed speeds well. He kept us off balance," said the Twins Denard Span, who went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts. "He threw a lot of different arm angles. He threw over the top, three quarters and a couple of times a sidearm with two strikes. He mixed it up. "Hes the type of pitcher when hes on, he can do what he did tonight." Liriano, who had just snapped a personal six-game skid, kept Minnesota in the game. He struck out eight while yielding only one walk in six sharp innings, even matching a major league record when he struck out four batters in the fourth -- Jeff Francoeur swung and missed at a pitch in the dirt, allowing him to reach base with the strikeout. It was the third time this season that a pitcher has fanned four in an inning. "My confidence has been there," he said. "Its all about location." The only blemish against Liriano -- the only real blemish in the game -- came in the second inning, when Francoeur singled and Eric Hosmer chopped a pitch back at Liriano. He whirled around and threw to Dozier covering second base, but his throw to Justin Morneau at first was not in time to get Hosmer hustling down the line. The double play would have ended the inning, but instead, Hosmer promptly stole second base to get into scoring position. Thats when Pena slipped a grounder between third base and shortstop for an RBI single. With Chen on the mound and one of the American Leagues best bullpens ready to work, that lone run proved to be enough for Kansas City. "The bullpen has been tremendous for us," Chen said. "Liriano did a real good job. He had great stuff. But we were able to scramble a run." Notes: Twins C Joe Mauer (sprained right thumb) was out of the lineup for the second straight game. ... The Royals optioned LHP Will Smith to Triple-A Omaha and recalled LHP Ryan Verdugo. ... Royals LHP Everett Teaford (lower abdominal strain) and 2B Chris Getz (bruised ribs) will begin rehab assignments Thursday at Omaha. ... RHP Nick Blackburn will start the series finale Wednesday for Minnesota. Paulino takes the mound for Kansas City. beats by dre . Pedro Rodriguez scored either side of Lionel Messis 73rd goal of the season as the Catalan club demonstrated the virtues -- quick-touch passing, intricate combinations and clinical finishing -- that marked Guardiolas four seasons at the helm. beats by dre cheap . The Italian football federation says Astori was to join the squad Wednesday. Italy coach Cesare Prandelli has up to 24 hours before the teams opener against Spain on Sunday to replace injured players. [url=http://cambridgediversity.org/beats-by-dre-uk.html]http://cambridgediversit... . Frank Francisco walked a pair of batters with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning, then gave up a two-run double to Martin Prado that put the potential tying run on third and the go-ahead run on second.MONTREAL -- Winning the womens Rogers Cup was a breakthrough event for Petra Kvitova. Not only was it the 22-year-old Czechs first WTA Tour victory of the year, it was also the first of her eight career titles that was won on North American soil. "I hope it will continue," said Kvitova, who said this week she has had trouble winning in North America because the high humidity affects her asthma. "North America is always tough for me and Im so glad how I played here this week." Kvitova defeated Chinas Li Na 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 in two hours 17 minute final on Monday night before a less-than capacity crowd at Uniprix Stadium. The tournament is also at the start of the hardcourt season leading into the U.S. Open at the end of the month. "Its great," said Kvitova, who won six titles last year, including Wimbledon. "I finally won a title this year. It was a good final, a good fight from both sides." She won $360,000 while Li got $180,000. The win avenged a loss to Li at Sydney this year and evened their all-time matchup at two victories apiece. "It was a tough match, this was a tennis war," said 30-year-old Li. "Both players played good. "Shes very tough. She plays the ball so deep. I felt I was always on defence. The last two matches I felt I could be aggressive on the court, but this one I felt I was 70 per cent of the time on defence." The match pitted two grand slam champions from 2011, as Li took the French Open. Li is 0-3 in tournament finals this year. Kvitova, seeded fifth, struggled to start, hitting several balls long, and fell behind 3-1 before she found the range with her forehand and charged back to take the lead. Even then, she needed to save three break points to taake a 6-5 lead, then won the set on her fifth break point against 10th-seeded Li.dddddddddddd Spectators were stunned to see Li take the first 16 points of the second set to grab a 4-0 lead before Kvitova finally held serve. But Kvitova got her game back for the third, hammering shots deep in the hardcourt that Li could not return. Li didnt help herself by hitting two easy smashes into the net. Her service was broken at 3-2 when she doubled faulted, then had a return fly wide off the rim of her racket. "Between the second and third sets when I was in the locker room changing my clothes, I knew I had to attack the balls and play much faster than in the second set, and have a better first serve percentage," said Kvitova, who punctuated the win with an ace on match point. Kvitova, a southpaw who won on International Lefthanders Day, reached the final with a three-set victory over seventh-seeded Caroline Wozniacki. Li had a tougher route, getting past local prospect Eugenie Bouchard, eighth-seeded Sara Errani and second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska just to reach the semifinals. There she roared back from a 5-1 third-set deficit to defeat another Czech lefty, Lucie Safarova. Under agreement with the WTA, organizers had a private jet waiting at the airport to take the finalists to the next Tour stop in Cincinnati. It was the first day of the week-long Rogers Cup with no rain delays, but the 11,659-seat centre court was still about 2,000 under capacity as fans stayed home. Most of it went up against the London Olympics as well, which also dampened the usual buzz around the event. Some star players also either skipped or withdrew from the tournament, including Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka. ' ' '