CHICAGO -- Danny Duffy couldnt help but think about his last start at U.S. Cellular Field. The Kansas City Royals left-hander matched a career high with nine strikeouts and scattered five hits over seven-plus shutout innings in a 9-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday. His previous outing in Chicago didnt go well at all. Duffy injured his elbow in the first inning on May 13, 2012. Soon after he had Tommy John surgery and missed about a year. "Ive been waiting to come back here for a long time," Duffy said. "Its just nice to come out and do my job in this city and in this setting." The victory was the sixth straight for the Royals while the White Sox dropped their ninth in 10 games against Kansas City. Royals manager Ned Yost said there was a lot to like about Duffys complete effort. "For four innings he was really efficient, he really kept his pitch count down," Yost said. "He had everything working: his fastball, his breaking ball, had a good changeup and had a really, really good defence behind him." Mike Moustakas homered among his three hits as the Royals won their second straight in this weekend series. The Royals scored five times in the fourth -- four with none out -- to chase Chicago starter Hector Noesi (2-5). Noesi allowed five runs -- two earned -- and eight hits while walking one and striking out four. "To be able to put five runs on the board was big," Yost said. "Weve and a couple of big innings the last week or 10 days. Early in the year we get something going we get one or two out of it. Now that were swinging the bats better were getting four or five." Duffy last struck out nine on June 19, 2011, at St. Louis. Hes now 2-0 against Chicago. Duffy departed in the eighth inning after a leadoff single by Adam Eaton. White Sox designated hitter Paul Konerko spoiled the shutout with a homer off Michael Mariot to open the ninth. Two runs scored in the five-run fourth when third baseman Leury Garcia bobbled Lorenzo Cains grounder for an error. Moustakas then singled to shallow centre for another run. Alcides Escobars base hit extended his hitting streak to a career-high 12 games and loaded the bases for the second time in the inning. The Royals fourth run came on Nori Aokis double-play grounder. Omar Infante lined a two-out single to left, driving in Moustakas for a 5-0 lead. Noesi was chased in favour of right-hander reliever Javy Guerra with two outs in the fourth. "Hector, hes been good for us and hes always given us a chance, but we have to help him out on occasion," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "If were not helping him on defence, its going to make a difference. Thats a recipe to lose a game in a hurry." Moustakas homer in the eighth inning was his sixth of the season. He finished with two RBIs and two runs scored. Eric Hosmer had an RBI double to left to start a three-run ninth. Butlers one-out homer to right made it 9-0. Despite giving up an eighth inning single to Eaton, Duffys shutout was preserved after Eaton was thrown out at home on a throw by Aoki in a play overturned following a review. NOTES: Escobar was in Saturdays lineup despite having cramps and leaving Fridays game after extending his hitting streak to a career-high 11 games with a ninth inning double. . Kansas City has scored first in each game of its current six-game winning streak. . Royals right-hander James Shields (7-3, 3.44 ERA) makes his 15th start of the season in Sundays series finale against White Sox right-hander Andre Rienzo (4-3, 5.25 ERA), making his 11th start. . After going 63-99 in 2013, Ventura is pleased to have his team in contention this year, but he wont project beyond Saturday. "Were not going to look that far down the road," he said. "Were better off focusing on what were doing today." Johnathan Abram Womens Jersey . 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell while figuring out which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value. Lester Hayes Raiders Jersey .com) - The Boston Bruins announced Monday that the team has signed goaltender Niklas Svedberg to a one-year contract. https://www.raiderssportsgoods.com/Women...nverted-Jersey/. Thats 14 consecutive losses to the two-time defending champs, and most of them were over before they even began. Result notwithstanding, Sundays game had a very different feel to it. Kenny Stabler Womens Jersey . Rajne Soderberg, the director of the Stockholm Diamond League event, said in an email Friday that the ban still holds. Euromeetings, the organization representing Europes top track events, "will continue to recommend that members do not invite athletes who we believe cause disrepute to our meetings and our sport. Lyle Alzado Youth Jersey . Although the deal cannot be made official until the free agent moratorium period is lifted on July 10, Patterson has agreed to a three-year, $18 million extension to remain in Toronto, sources confirm to TSN.The Oakland As were already the team to beat before making a blockbuster deal to add two starting pitchers from the Chicago Cubs. Numbers Game looks into the As giving up their top prospect in order to acquire Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel. The Athletics Get: RHP Jeff Samardzija and RHP Jason Hammel. Samardzija, 29, has become a first-rate starting pitcher, even if his win totals dont make that readily apparent. In 78 starts for the Cubs over the past three years, Samardzija has a 19-33 record, but has a 3.83 ERA and 1.27 WHIP are respectable and he struck out 497 batters in 496 1/3 innings, a rate surpassed by eight qualified starters in the past three years. This season alone, Samardzija was 2-7 with a 2.83 ERA and 1.20 WHIP with 103 strikeouts in 108 innings with the Cubs. While Samardzijas mid-90s fastball drives his results, hes throwing a harder slider than ever before and its been an out pitch for him. Moving to Oakland is a great opportunity for Samardzija to be a rotation anchor for a World Series contender. He had never pitched in Oakland, prior to his As debut Sunday, but Oaklands park has been pitcher-friendly for years, so that ought to keep Samardzijas numbers strong. Hell be arbitration-eligible at the end of the season, due for a good raise on his $5.345-million salary, but Samardzija is under organizational control for another season beyond 2014. Hammel is a 31-year-old who was hanging around on the free agent market until the end of January, when he settled on a one-year, $6-million deal with the Cubs. That lack of interest was justified, to some degree, by Hammels 2013 season, during which he posted a 4.97 ERA and 1.46 WHIP. This year, its been a different story, as Hammel posted a career-best 2.98 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in 17 starts with the Cubs, striking out 104 in 108 2/3 innings in the process. For such a marked difference, there ought to be some tangible differences in Hammels game. His home run rate is down and hes leaving a greater percentage of base-runners on, but Hammels real improvement is that his walk rate is under 2.0 for the first time in his career. Hes reduced the percentage of curve balls and change-ups that he throws, focusing on his fastball and slider and, like Samardzija, Hammels slider has been especially devastating this season. In fact, according to Fan Graphs, Hammel has the most effective slider in baseball this season. If Hammel continues the way hes pitched this season, hell be able to cash in as a free agent in the offseason. Getting Hammel in addition to Samardzija is really a power move by the As. Instead of settling for the upgrade that Samardzija provides, they also have enough depth with Hammel that LHP Tommy Milone (3.55 ERA in 16 starts) could lose his spot in the rotation. This gives Oakland insurance for injuries to their other starters and, perhaps even better (if not outright done deliberately), prevents Hammel from going to another contending team thaat is looking to shore up its pitching staff.dddddddddddd Before making this trade, the As were the top team in baseball and they just added to quality starting pitchers, both of whom are having excellent seasons, so consider this trade to be the equivalent of the As pushing their chips to the middle of the table. Theyre all in. The Cubs Get: SS Addison Russell, RHP Dan Straily, CF Billy McKinney and a player to be named later. Russell, 20, was the 11th overall pick in the 2012 Draft and, while hes missed a couple months due to a hamstring injury this season, hes shown that he has the bat to be a star in the major leagues, posting an .899 OPS in 185 games in the minors. Russell has played a total of 20 games this season, 15 since being promoted to Double-A, so he could still use time to develop, but he should be knocking on the Cubs door by next season. This presents something of an enviable problem for Chicago as one of their many great prospects is shortstop Javier Baez and they have incumbent starter Starlin Castro with the big-league club. Either some players are getting traded or there will be some position changes coming, but Russell is a great get for Chicago -- hes one of the top position player prospects in the game. 25-year-old Straily got roughed up a bit early this season (4.93 ERA in seven starts), losing his spot in the As rotation, but that was a case of surrendering too many home runs (nine in 38 1/3 IP) as his 1.25 WHIP was pretty much in line with his career average. Straily doesnt throw hard at the best of times, but he lost a couple miles per hour off all of his pitches and that can make a difference for guys with overpowering stuff. Nevertheless, a 25-year-old with a good slider who has managed a 4.11 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in 41 major-league starts (with slightly better numbers on the road) is worth a look for the Cubs. The 24th pick in the 2013 Draft, McKinney is a 19-year-old centre fielder climbing his way up the minor-league ladder after coming out of Texas high school ball. Overall, the left-handed hitter has a .278 average and .769 OPS in 132 minor-league games, but is hitting .243 with a .729 OPS in 77 games at Advanced Class-A ball. Hell need a little time to develop and the Cubs have other strong outfield prospects on the way too, but add a quality bat to the organization and see where he is in a couple of years. As much as the Cubs are giving up a couple of quality starting pitchers, players that give the As an immediate shot in the arm heading into the second half of the season, they got quality assets in return. If Russell does make it as even an above-average starter at shortstop, and one of Straily or McKinney provides some kind of value, then the Cubs will eventually reap the rewards of this deal. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '