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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Greg Holland faced a thorny situation in the ninth inning. A leadoff single by Nick Markakis and a run-scoring triple by Adam Jones had the tying run at third with nobody out. Holland, however, wiggled out of that jam to close out the Kansas City Royals 3-2 victory Tuesday night, snapping the Baltimore Orioles season-best, five-game winning streak. "They have a runner at third base and nobody out and I was completely comfortable," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Holly did a phenomenal job in the ninth inning. He showed why hes an All-Star closer. I knew he had the stuff to get it done." Yost was probably more relaxed than Holland was with Chris Davis, J.J. Hardy and Henry Urrutia coming to the plate. "Comfortable as you can be with the tying run on third base and nobody out," Holland said. "I just stayed focused. Youre not going to it done all the time there." Davis, who leads the majors with 37 home runs and 97 RBIs, chased a pitch in the dirt to strike out. Holland retired Hardy and Urrutia on grounders to log his 25th save in 27 chances. "We had some opportunities at the end, but their closer is having a great year," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "When you have a chance against him you have to take advantage." Bruce Chen (4-0), who was making just his second start after replacing Luis Mendoza in the rotation, limited the Orioles to three hits and one run, retiring the final 10 batters he faced. The Orioles had bashed 45 hits in their previous three games before Chen and three Kansas City relievers shut them down. Chen, the Royals 2012 opening day starter, was relegated to the bullpen to start the season after Mendoza earned the final rotation spot in spring training. In two starts, Chen has yielded one run and four hits in 12 innings. "He keeps you off-balance and never gives in," Jones said. "Its a true testament to how hes maintained all these years in the majors. Hes not tricking you, but hes making his pitches. I was standing out in centerfield wondering how, how we only have three hits. He makes his pitches and youve got to respect that." Manny Machado homered with two outs in the third for the only run Chen permitted. The Royals went 2 for 15 with runners in scoring position, stranding 12 runners, including nine at second and third base. "We had numerous opportunities to break that game open," Yost said. They loaded the bases with none out in the first, but scored only one run when Billy Butler grounded into a double play. In the second, Chris Getzs one-out single scored David Lough. Mike Moutakas double into the right-field corner in the third scored Lorenzo Cain, who singled to lead off the inning. The Royals had runners at second and third with none out, but failed to pad their lead. Jason Hammel (7-7) took the loss, giving up 10 hits in six innings for the second straight start. After starting the season 7-2, Hammel is 0-5 with a 5.47 ERA in eight starts since his last victory on May 27 at Washington. "He aint giving in," Showalter said. "He just kept battling. He knows what he needs to do to help this club. "We were fortunate. They hit some balls hard at people and we made some plays. Jason kept battling. It was a professional outing. Well take the finished product." Notes: The Orioles obtained RHP Francisco Rodriguez from Milwaukee for minor league INF Nick Delmonico. Rodriguez is 1-1 with a 1.09 ERA and 10 saves with the Brewers and has 304 career saves. . Yost said RHP Wade Davis would remain in the rotation, but "he needs to get going and be productive." Davis has one win in his past 11 starts and is 0-4 with a 10.91 ERA in his past four starts. ... Orioles OF Nolan Reimould underwent season-ending spinal surgery in Clearwater, Fla. Reimould also had back surgery in June 2012. ... Getz started after missing the previous two games with a mild left knee sprain. .05 million next season unless Graham and the Saints subsequently agree on a long-term deal. The designation was released Monday after the deadline passed for NFL teams to use franchise or transition tags on players becoming free agents. . LOUIS -- Mike Smith is used to facing plenty of shots, so this was nothing new. . The home side created most of the chances but struggled to break down Braunschweigs resilient defence, resulting in the Bundesligas 1,000th scoreless draw. . Toronto has dropped games to Indiana and Miami since a five-game winning streak and closed out a three-game road trip at 1-2. . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. SWANSEA, Wales -- Struggling manager Bob Bradley had his best day so far in the English Premier League as Swansea beat fellow cellar-dwellar Sunderland 3-0 to move out of the relegation zone on Saturday.The American coach came into the home game with only one win in his seven matches in charge, and Swansea at the bottom of the league table.But the Swans surged to their biggest win of the season with three goals after the interval -- a second-half penalty from Gylfi Sigurdsson and a double from Fernando Llorente.The win moves Swansea up three places to 17th with 12 points from 15 games. It will drop back into danger if West Ham gets a point or more at Liverpool on Sunday.Its a nice bonus to be out of the bottom three, but the work is still there and we cant get ahead of ourselves, Bradley said. Players used the word `pride a lot when we talked this week. We asked what it looks like on the pitch -- intensity, clean sheets -- but dont just talk about it, turn it into something more.At the end of that, you can look at the table for a few seconds and say youre not there yet. But it looks better than last week. This is a step but wwe have to build upon it.dddddddddddd.After a scoreless first half, the game turned on a 51st-minute incident when Jason Denayer was judged to have handled Wayne Routledges cross.Sigurdsson sent the spot kick down the middle for his sixth goal of the season.Three minutes later, Sigurdsson turned provider as Llorente swept home a corner directed low into the penalty area.Jordan Pickford produced fine stops to prevent Modou Barrow and Jordi Amat extending Swanseas lead.But the Sunderland goalkeeper had no answer when Llorente met Jefferson Monteros cross 10 minutes from time.Theres a good understanding with Gylfi playing underneath him, Bradley said of Llorente, a World Cup winner with Spain. His presence, his experience as a winner. ... Every manager loves players who have been part of winning teams.They have the right mentality and can bring experiences from that winning culture into the training ground and dressing room.Sunderland is bottom with 11 points despite three wins in its last five games. ' ' '
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