uld be little drama in the ninth. "We got into the fourth inning and looking at those guys down there, I felt really good about protecting a one-run lead," Yost said. "It wasnt pret

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Danny Duffy almost never missed a game when he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. Sometimes hed be watching on TV from the teams spring training complex in Arizona. Other times, hed be watching on television between rehab starts at some minor league outpost. He finally made his return on Wednesday night and laboured through 3 2-3 innings against the Minnesota Twins. He left with the Royals trailing by a run, but this time had a front-row seat to watch as his scrappy bunch of teammates clawed their way back for a 5-2 victory. The Royals bullpen held the Twins off the scoreboard the final 5 1-3 innings. "Im not satisfied with this at all. It wasnt where I wanted to be today," Duffy said, "but we gutted it out, we got the win and the bullpen was amazing." Duffy was electric for as long as he was in the game. He struck out seven with an overpowering fastball that at times reached 97 mph, and then used his changeup to keep the Twins off balance. But he struggled through the same command issues that often plagued him prior to his injury, and needed 93 pitches to last as long as he did. "When he got hurt, he was still learning how to harness his adrenaline," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Once he learns how to harness his adrenaline, hes going to be a pretty nice pitcher." Once Duffy left the game, Louis Coleman (2-0) and three more Kansas City relievers managed to navigate the next 4 1-3 innings. All-Star closer Greg Holland worked around a single by pinch-hitter Joe Mauer in the ninth to wrap up his 30th save and the series win. "We feel really comfortable when we give them the lead," first baseman Eric Hosmer said, "and any time we give them insurance runs, we feel really good about them closing it out." Alex Gordon homered off Samuel Deduno (7-5) to tie the game once Duffy left. Alcides Escobar hit a go-ahead single later in the fourth, Lorenzo Cain hit an RBI single in the fifth, and Gordon drove in another run in the seventh with the 200th double of his career. Deduno, who hadnt lost in his last four starts, allowed four runs on 12 hits in 5 2-3 innings. He didnt walk a batter for the first time this season. "He was battling pretty hard and they were shooting balls the other way on him," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He battled through the best he could." Minnesota made sure that Duffy would work hard in his first time on a big league mound since May 2012. Brian Dozier, whose leadoff homer set the tone in a 7-0 win Tuesday night, opened the game with a triple off the young left-hander. Brian Colabello worked a two-out walk before Ryan Doumit delivered an RBI single to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. Doumit would leave the game in the fourth inning after feeling nauseous, and the Twins said afterward that he would likely land on the seven-day concussion list. "I felt like mentally in a fog. I was nauseous. I was dizzy," the catcher said. "If you cant concentrate on the pitches you are calling, you shouldnt be back there." The Royals answered in the third when Brett Hayes, whos filling in at catcher while Salvador Perez is out with his own concussion, lined a double off the third-base bag. Deduno recovered to retire the next two Royals, but Escobar drove in Hayes with a tying single. The Twins pulled back ahead in the fourth on Doziers two-out double, but Gordon answered again in the bottom half when he snapped a 1-for-23 skid with his homer. Escobars run-scoring single later in the inning gave the Royals the lead for good. Cains RBI single and Gordons run-scoring double took some of the pressure off the Royals bullpen, which entered the game with the best ERA in the American League. Coleman retired five batters to run his streak of scoreless innings to 16 1-3, and Tim Collins struck out the only three he faced. Aaron Crow escaped a jam of his own creation in the seventh, and Kelvin Herrera left runners on second and third to end the eighth. Holland ensured there would be little drama in the ninth. "We got into the fourth inning and looking at those guys down there, I felt really good about protecting a one-run lead," Yost said. "It wasnt pretty at times but they got it done." Notes: The Royals optioned LHP Will Smith to Triple-A Omaha. ... RF David Lough (left quad tightness) was back in the KC lineup. ... Perez began light workouts and could return from the seven-day concussion DL on Sunday. ... Minnesota RHP Liam Hendricks will be recalled from Triple-A Rochester and start the second game of doubleheader Friday at the White Sox. The Twins are off Thursday. ... The Royals open a four-game set Thursday against Boston. Jerseys NBA China . After dropping their final six games of December, the Wild opened the new calendar year with four consecutive wins. Following a loss to Colorado on Saturday, Minnesota rebounded the following night to blank Nashville 4-0, but then had the tables turned on them Tuesday. Cheap NBA Jerseys China . On Tuesday, Ottawa placed forward Cory Conacher and defenceman Joe Corvo on waivers as trade rumours swirl around the Senators. http://www.nbajerseyscheapauthentic.com/ . Paul Pierce couldnt believe he missed at the end. Young scored a season-high 26 points to spark a huge effort from the leagues most productive bench, and Los Angeles beat the Brooklyn Nets 99-94 on Wednesday night after blowing a 27-point lead. Cheap Nike NBA Jerseys . -- Most satisfying to Russ Smith about No. Cheap NBA Jerseys Authentic .ca NBA Power Rankings, ahead of the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Goodbye green. Its back to clear water in the pool at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Center, allowing synchronized swimmers to see underwater on the first day of Olympic competition.Officials completed pumping nearly 1 million gallons of clean water into the pool used for synchro with little time to spare before Sundays free routine preliminary began. They had raced to drain green-tinged water out of the pool overnight at a venue that has embarrassed local organizers.The massive undertaking was necessary to ensure clear water for both judges and competitors, who spend much of their time underwater during synchronized swimming.At last, this is real water, Natalia Ishchenko of Russia said through a translator. The visibility is good, not ideal, but compared to before, at least the water is a normal temperature.The water problems had limited the swimmers to just one practice session in the pool when the water was unusually cold.Ishchenkos partner, Svetlana Romashina, said the pool was only half-full when the swimmers arrived to prepare.The clear water appeared slightly cloudy under sunny skies on a day when temperatures reached 90 degrees (32 degrees Celsius) after a recent string of cool and cloudy weather.It was a lot better than it was the other day, American swimmer Anita Alvarez said. Switching the water helped a lot. The temperature was little bit better for us and its a little bit clearer underwater, which also hhelped.ddddddddddddBefore the water polo competition moved to the Olympic Aquatic Stadium as previously planned, athletes had complained their eyes were burning from chlorine in the pool.I didnt notice chlorine too bad, Alvarez said. Chlorine-wise, this was pretty good on our eyes. We were ready for anything.The Russians topped the standings after the duet free routine preliminary. Ishchenko and Romashina, with three Olympic gold medals each, led with 98.066 points. Russia has won the duet and team titles at every games since 2000 in Sydney.Huang Xuechen and Sun Wenyan of China were second at 96.066. Yukiko Inui and Risako Mitsui of Japan were third at 94.400.The U.S. duet of Alvarez and Mariya Koroleva was ninth. Scores from the preliminaries dont carry over to the duet tech competition on Monday. The duet free final is Tuesday.Later Sunday, the venues diving pool hosted the womens 3-meter springboard final.The green water in that pool wasnt changed. It turned a dark green shade last Tuesday and the larger pool at Maria Lenk began to turn the same color the following day.It doesnt make too much difference if the water is blue or green, but I was a little bit worried about some sanitary conditions, said bronze medalist Tania Cagnotto of Italy. I hope we will be all OK and I hope they can fix it soon. ' ' '