s was 0-4 in his last five starts. Cueto (8-

MINNEAPOLIS -- The script for Glen Perkins hasnt always gone so smoothly. Sure, there have been hiccups. Life is never perfect. Rare, though, are the occurrences in sports that come together as marvelously as this for the Minnesota closer: taking the mound for the American League All-Star team and pitching a 1-2-3 ninth inning in front of his roaring, adoring home fans. When Perkins jogged out of the bullpen on Tuesday night at Target Field, he was taken aback by how loud the crowd became. "I wasnt fighting back tears, but it was an overwhelming moment to hear," Perkins said. "It was a moment like that where you realize why you play the game and what makes the game so fun, and its the fans in the stands." His All-Star status and salary of more than $4 million this season put him in the societal elite, but in many ways Perkins is a lot alike many of those fans in the stands. He grew up in a Twin Cities suburb, Stillwater, and lives year-round in Minnesota, a rarity for Twins players. Boating and fishing are two of his favourite pastimes. Hes regularly on social media, with a sharp sense of humour and down-to-earth perspective that further endear him to the masses. Minutes after finishing one of his shakiest saves of the season, at Milwaukee last month, Perkins posted on Twitter: "I just did my best Ron Davis impression," alluding to the Twins closer of the mid-1980s prone to wild pitches and blown leads. Perkins has proven to be far more effective than Davis, though, putting himself on track to approach Joe Nathan franchise-leading all-time saves total. At age 31, under contract through at least 2017, Perkins isnt going anywhere. The Twins have an option on his deal for 2018 that would be a market bargain at $6.5 million if he stays healthy and productive. Perkins was the one who approached the front office during spring training about an extension, willing to take a contract that couldve been richer. He started the year as the 17th-highest paid closer in the majors. Thats fine by him. Becoming an All-Star for his hometown Twins has been beyond his grandest goals. "Hearing how loud the fans were, it makes me want to get to the playoffs," said Perkins, who made one appearance in the 2006 first-round series as a rookie but wasnt on the post-season roster in either 2009 or 2010. The Twins went 5-2 on their road trip before the All-Star break and have generally been more competent and competitive than their last three teams that each lost 96 games or more. Still, theyre 10 1-2 games out of first place. Their starting pitchers, despite progress by Kyle Gibson and the upgrade with Phil Hughes, have a 4.86 ERA, the third-worst mark in the majors. Veterans on expiring contracts like Suzuki, left fielder Josh Willingham and starting pitcher Kevin Correia could be traded in the coming weeks. The players, of course, are opposed. "I know how the business side of it is, the long-term stuff," second baseman Brian Dozier said. "But its our job to make those decisions hard for them. To be honest with you, I want to contend. I believe we can. Weve got the people to do it. Im not saying we dont need a couple of extra pieces, but I think were going to be just fine. We just have to get on a roll." The Twins start their post-break schedule with 10 straight games at Target Field. Manager Ron Gardenhire joked last week about being home enough to actually help his wife, Carol, mow the lawn. Danny Santana will come off the disabled list Friday, and ideally Joe Mauer will join him soon after. Perhaps prospects Trevor May or Alex Meyer will get a promotion from Triple-A to boost the rotation. "We think if we can get healthy and pitching again, thats pretty good. We still have to find some consistency there. Our offence, I think that will come if we get all the pieces back we hope for," Gardenhire said. One place the manager isnt worried about is the back of the bullpen. Perkins has that taken care of. Cheap MLB Jerseys Authentic .com) - Scott Parel carded a 5-under 65 on Thursday and he grabbed a 1-stroke lead after one round of the season-opening Panama Claro Championship. Cheap Jack Morris Jersey . The 20-year-old overager has appeared in 35 games for the Ontario Hockey Leagues Erie Otters this season, scoring 41 goals and adding 27 assists with a plus-28 rating. http://www.cheaptigersjerseys.com/. The Canadian Football Leagues all-time passing leader said he has not made a final decision, but he will discuss his future with Montreal Alouettes owner Bob Wetenhall on the weekend. Cheap Detroit Tigers Jerseys . -- The Oakland Raiders added a veteran presence to their young receiving group by signing free agent James Jones to a three-year contract Monday. Cheap Alan Trammell Jersey . With the players association in the midst of meetings in Las Vegas, a vote will be held on Friday to decide the CFLPAs presidency and other executive positions.SAN DIEGO -- Padres manager Bud Black had talked to Tyson Ross once or twice that it was getting to be time that the lanky right-hander threw his first career shutout. In his 55th career start, Ross got it, in dominating fashion. Ross threw a three-hitter for his first career shutout, struck out nine and walked none to help San Diego beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-0 Wednesday for its first series sweep since September. Ross got all the support he needed when Rene Rivera hit a three-run single off big league ERA leader Johnny Cueto in the first inning. "Its special," said the 27-year-old Ross, whos in his second season with San Diego. "Its the first time Ive been able to finish. A couple of games Ive gone eight innings and kind of ran out of gas but tonight I had enough in the tank and was able to finish." Ross (7-8) was dominating. He retired the first 11 batters before Todd Frazier singled to left. Frazier had two of the Reds three hits. Only Reds batter reached second, when Brayan Pena doubled with one out in the eighth. Ross then retired the side. "I think that he really smelled the finish line, which was good," Black said. "Hes been close a couple of times. He was there today. We talked just briefly after the eighth inning. There was no doubt in my mind he was going to go back out there and put up a zero. "Its a tremendous feather in his cap," said Black, a lefty who had 12 shutouts in 296 career big league starts. "You do it once, you can do it many more times. Good for him." Ross said getting the complete game was due to "being efficient early. I had a lot of ground balls, a lot of outs in the first three pitches to hitters. I kept the pitch count low early and that allowed me to finish it off later." Frazier said Ross "had a pretty good slider. I think thats his best pitch. He kept most of us off-balance. We hit the ball hard sometimes. A couple of guys squared some up. To me, he just made a couple of mistakes. A good pitcher, when he makes mistakes, you have to take care of the business." The Reds lost the last three games on 10-game trip after winning six of seven, including a four-game sweep of the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants before coming to San Diego. &"A frustrating team in general in that we came in playing really well and come out of it losing three straight," manager Bryan Price said.dddddddddddd. "We had a chance to make up some ground on Milwaukee and St. Louis and we werent able to take advantage of it." The Padres beat the Reds 1-0 Monday despite getting one hit, and then had a season-high 16 hits in an 8-2 victory Tuesday night. The Padres, who tied their season high with their fourth straight win, hadnt swept a series since Sept. 6-8 against Colorado. With the bases loaded and two outs in the first, Rivera hit a blooper to the gap that hit off the heel of the glove of diving centre fielder Billy Hamilton and rolled away to give San Diego a 3-0 lead. San Diego appeared to take a 4-0 lead on Seth Smiths two-out double in the fourth, but the Reds appealed that Irving Falu missed third base. The umpires agreed, calling Falu out to end the inning. San Diego manager Bud Black argued, but the call was upheld on appeal. Ross had received only one run of support in his previous five starts, and he knocked in that run in his last start, a 2-1 loss to Arizona. Ross was 0-4 in his last five starts. Cueto (8-6) came in with the best ERA in the majors, 1.88. It rose to 1.99. He allowed three runs and seven hits in seven innings, struck out eight and walked three. NOTES: The Reds were swept for the first time since April 25-27. ... The Padres placed SS Everth Cabrera on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring, retroactive to Tuesday, and selected INF Brooks Conrad from Triple-A El Paso. Conrad is from San Diego. ... To make room on the 40-man roster, LHP Troy Patton was transferred from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL. ... Padres OF Seth Smith signed a $13 million, two-year contract extension that runs through 2016, with a team option for 2017. ... The Padres are off Thursday before opening a three-game series against San Francisco on Friday, when LHP Eric Stults (2-11, 5.36) is scheduled to oppose RHP Matt Cain (1-6, 4.38). ... The Reds are off Thursday before opening a three-game home series against Milwaukee on Friday, when RHP Alfredo Simon (10-3, 2.81) is scheduled to start against RHP Kyle Lohse (9-2, 3.08). 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