rebound of J.J. Bareas miss and made free throws with 18 seconds left to

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Phil Hughes ended a personal losing streak that dated to last July, pitching into the seventh inning Sunday and helping the Twins top the Kansas City Royals 8-3 to avoid a three-game sweep. Hughes (1-1), who signed a $24 million, three-year deal in December, allowed an RBI single to Omar Infante in the fifth and a two-run homer to Alcides Escobar in the seventh while winning for the first time in 17 appearances. He had lost eight games since that victory on July 2. Josmil Pinto homered and Trevor Plouffe and Kurt Suzuki each drove in a pair of runs for the Twins, who battered Yordano Ventura (1-1) before piling on against the Royals bullpen. The loss ended Kansas Citys five-game winning streak. Hughes solid showing came after he had allowed 12 earned runs in his first 15 innings with Minnesota. The former All-Star had not survived past the sixth since July 13, when he was still a member of the New York Yankees and was facing his current team. It helped that the Twins staked him to an early lead. After they went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position in a 5-4 loss Saturday, Plouffe came through with a double in the Twins first opportunity Sunday. His drive into the gap in right was enough to score Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer and give Minnesota a 2-0 lead in the first inning. The Twins added on in the fourth. After Suzuki walked, the Royals were unable to turn a double play on a grounder by Aaron Hicks. Ventura then threw the ball away trying to pick him off first, and a wild pitch put Hicks on third base. Eduardo Escobars single scored the run. Ventura was finally pulled from the game in the fifth, when the 22-year-old right-hander gave up a leadoff triple to Plouffe and a single to Chris Colabello. He allowed four runs on six hits and four walks in four-plus innings, a line that looks even uglier after two dominant outings in which he allowed a combined one run on six hits against Tampa Bay and Houston. The Royals bullpen, which had thrown 14 straight scoreless innings, never gave their offence a chance to get Ventura off the hook. Pintos homer came off Louis Coleman later in the fifth, and Justin Marks -- making his big league debut -- allowed three more runs in the seventh. Escobars two-run shot later in the seventh knocked Hughes from the game, but relievers Brian Duensing, Casey Fien and Glen Perkins made sure his long losing streak would finally end. NOTES: The Twins played with 24 players after claiming OF Sam Fuld off waivers from Oakland and designating OF Darin Mastroianni for assignment. Fuld is expected to join the Twins on Tuesday in Tampa Bay. ... The Royals open a four-game series Monday in Cleveland with RHP Jeremy Guthrie on the mound. The Twins are off before their three-game set against the Rays. ... The Twins left 11 on base. The Royals stranded eight. Wholesale Lions Jerseys . Will Venable and Ryan Ludwick drove in a run each for the Padres, who have taken six of their last seven contests and clinched their third straight series win after winning the first two in this set. Clayton Richard (4-9) allowed five hits and a pair of runs over seven innings, while fanning five. Cheap Lions Jerseys . Johan Franzen had two goals and two assists, Gustav Nyquist a goal and three assists and David Legwand a goal and two assists in the Red Wings 7-4 win over the New Jersey Devils. http://www.cheaplionsjerseyselite.com/ . At this rate, the Flyers captain is set to be remembered more for a fantastic finish.BOSTON -- Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens suggested to forward Jared Sullinger that he might want to keep an eye on Kevin Love and try to learn whatever he could from the Timberwolves big man. For one quarter on Monday night, Sullinger schooled the Minnesota all-star. Sullinger had 15 points and six rebounds in the fourth, hitting a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 2:22 left and the Celtics held on to beat the Timberwolves 101-97. Sullinger, a second-year player who missed half of last season, had 24 points and 11 rebounds in all while adding a career-high five assists. "He did take it up a notch at the end," Stevens said of Sullinger, who made one 3-pointer all last season but pulled himself above 30 per cent from the arc this season. "Hes a scorer. Hes always been a scorer. Hes been a scorer as long as Ive known him. It never surprises me when scorers make plays." Avery Bradley scored 19 points for the Celtics, who won for the fifth time in seven games to hold onto first place in the Atlantic Division despite a 12-14 record that would be 12th-best in the Western Conference. Love had 27 points and 14 rebounds for Minnesota, which has not won in Boston since 2005. But he was 2 for 11 from 3-point range as the Timberwolves, who hit a season-high 12 3-pointers at Memphis on Sunday, went 8 of 29 from beyond the arc. "I shot the ball good, it just didnt go in," Love said. "It was that way for all of our team. ... We shot the ball pretty bad the whole game. We beat that team the majority of the time we play them." Love hit a 3-pointer to give Minnesota a 92-90 lead with 3:48 to play, then Jordan Crawford tied it from the right baseline. Sullinger missed a baby hook putback for Boston, but Alexey Shved missed a 3-pointer and Sullinger then hit his 3 from the top of the key to give Boston the lead for good. "We made the right plays and I happened to be the beneficiary," Sulllinger said.dddddddddddd "I was just wide open. I passed up a lot of shots in the third quarter when I was wide open." Stevens said hed like to see Sullinger do that more. "Kevin is considered an elite NBA player, and Jared is a rising NBA player. You look up to those guys, you study them and you figure out what they do to make themselves elite," Stevens said. "If theres a person in basketball that you can identify with, those are good guys to learn from." Boston led 95-94 when Sullinger grabbed the rebound of J.J. Bareas miss and made free throws with 18 seconds left to make it a three-point game. Nikola Pekovic missed a dunk, then Sullinger grabbed another rebound and made one of two free throws with 14 seconds left to help ice it. After Love missed a 3, Sullinger grabbed another rebound. Bradley had 10 points in the first quarter to help the Celtics open an eight-point lead. Love had six points and five rebounds for Minnesota after one, but it was Luc Mbah a Moute who led the Timberwolves in the second quarter, scoring seven points with four rebounds to help them open a one-point lead before Sullingers free throws just before the half gave Boston a 51-50 edge. Pekovic scored the first seven points of the second half -- all but a free throw in the lane -- to help the Wolves take a 57-51 lead. But Boston went on a 17-4 run to turn the six-point deficit into a seven-point lead. NOTES: Berea had 10 points and 11 assists for Minnesota. ... Minnesota F Dante Cunningham needed to be helped from the court after he was fouled by Sullinger with just under 4 minutes remaining in the game. ... Minnesota beat Boston 106-88 in their only other meeting this season, on Nov. 16. ... The Timberwolves played their third game in four nights. ... First-round Boston draft pick Kelly Olynyk had nine points in 14 minutes in his second game back after missing 10 with a sprained right ankle. 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