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A ARLINGTON, Texas -- Yordano Ventura still reverts to being the rookie pitcher he is for the AL Central-leading Kansas City Royals. The hard-throwing right-hander also keeps winning. Ventura struck out six in six innings for his 10th victory, he walked three and got help from inning-starting homers by Billy Butler and Josh Willingham to beat the Texas Rangers 6-3 on Friday night. "There was kind of two Yordanos," manager Ned Yost said. "There was one that was within himself, and he was banging strikes, staying downhill. And then there was one when he was just throwing out there, raring back, and struggled to keep the ball down. "All in all, I thought he threw a good ball game for us." Greg Holland worked a scoreless ninth for his MLB-leading 40th save in 42 opportunities, becoming the first Royals pitcher since Dan Quisenberry in 1983-84 to have consecutive 40-save seasons. That came after Wade Davis retired all three batters he faced to extend the majors longest active scoreless streak to 22 2-3 innings. Lorenzo Cain had three hits after a 2-for-14 slump for Kansas City, which won for the 23rd time in 29 games. Cain doubled and scored in the seventh for the final Royals run. Butler led off the second with his eighth homer, tying the game at 1-all. Cain and Alcides Escobar, the bottom two batters in the Royals lineup, had consecutive RBI singles in that inning against Colby Lewis (8-11) to put Kansas City ahead to stay. Willingham made it 4-1 when he homered in the fourth, his 14th overall and second in 10 games since the Royals acquired him on Aug. 11 from Minnesota, the AL Centrals last-place team. "Obviously, its awesome being in a pennant race, and every game, every at-bat means something," Willingham said. Adrian Beltre had two hits and drove in the first Texas run with a groundout in the first. Lewis pitched exactly one year after right hip resurfacing surgery. The 35-year-old right-hander is the first known major league pitcher to come back after such an operation. Lewis retired the last eight batters he faced, and his only strikeouts came against the final two. He allowed four runs and six hits without a walk over six innings -- four being 1-2-3 frames. "Early in the game, he just couldnt get the ball down. But then after that he settled in, and when he left the ballgame we were still in it," manager Ron Washington said. "Hes been a huge factor (this season). I think when you look at it, it just shows you his professionalism." CONTRASTING NUMBERS: Kansas City has the second-best road record in the AL at 38-28, including 5-2 on this trip. The Rangers have the worst home record in the majors at 23-39, including losses in 31 of their last 44 in Arlington. ... The Royals (71-56) moved back to 15 games over .500, a mark they hadnt reached in 20 years before doing so earlier this week. The Rangers (49-78) are a season high-matching 29 games under .500, something they hadnt done since 1985. ANNIVERSARY NIGHT: The one-year mark of Lewis hip surgery wasnt the only Rangers-related anniversary Friday. It was seven years ago that Texas scored a modern-day MLB record with its 30 runs against Baltimore in the first game of a doubleheader, and 25 years after Nolan Ryan got his 5,000th strikeout (Oaklands Rickey Henderson). TRAINERS ROOM Royals: C Salvador Perez was back in the lineup after being scratched from the lineup in Wednesdays game because of discomfort in his right knee. An MRI showed nothing but inflammation. Yost said the sore knee initially concerned Perez, who had surgery two years ago for a torn meniscus in his left knee. Rangers: LHP Derek Holland is scheduled to make his sixth rehab start Sunday for Triple-A Round Rock at Las Vegas. The Rangers havent listed a starter for their series finale that day against Kansas City, but seem intent on Holland making at least one more start in the minors before his 30-day rehab assignment ends Thursday. UP NEXT Kansas City native Nick Tepesch (4-7), who has a 1.83 ERA over his last three starts, pitches for Texas. Kansas City RHP Jeremy Guthrie (9-10) goes for his fourth consecutive road victory. Wholesale Air Max From China .com) - Real Madrid claimed its 16th consecutive victory across all competitions on Saturday after earning a 2-1 win over Malaga at the Estadio La Rosaleda. Cheap Air Max For Sale . Costa Rica followed up its wins over Uruguay and Italy by holding England to a dour 0-0 draw on Tuesday, enough to finish first in Group D. http://www.cheapairmaxstore.com/ . Of all the names out there who could realistically be dealt by Wednesdays deadline, Ryan Kesler remains No. 1 on the most desired list. And while were not sure if theyre any closer to a deal, we now have a defined price. Air Max China . Goldeyes third baseman Ryan Pineda drove in three runs and the pitching staff didnt allow an earned run, as Winnipeg downed Kansas City 6-3 in American Association exhibition action at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas. Cheap Nike Air Max Shoes Wholesale . -- Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno was admitted to the hospital Friday for observation due to minor complications from cancer treatments, his family said.KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Danny Duffy walked briskly to the mound to start the seventh inning Saturday night, ready to throw his first warm-up pitch before anybody else on his team had even taken the field. The Royals left-hander was in that kind of rhythm. Duffy went on to retire the next two batters he faced before Baltimores Adam Jones finally ended his bid for a perfect game with a single up the middle. Still, it was the best outing of his career, and came on a night when the Kansas Citys scuffling offence needed it. Billy Butler drove in the only run in the first inning in the 1-0 win over the Orioles. "I started to feel it in the seventh a little bit," Duffy said of his tantalizing perfect bid, "but I didnt think about it because my job is to get outs." Others started to think about it, though. "You keep thinking, Boy, hes got really good stuff," said Royals manager Ned Yost, who was ejected during a tense ninth inning. "He gets through the fourth and the fifth and into the sixth and you think, Boy, hes got really, really good stuff." Duffy gave up a single to Nelson Cruz to start the eighth, but Wade Davis retired the next three batters. All-Star close Greg Holland allow a hit and two walks to load the bases with two outs in the ninth, then calmly struck out Cruz for his 11th save of the season. "We found a way to get back in it in the ninth and had the right guys at the plate," said Orioles bench coach John Russell, who was acting manager as Buck Showalter attended his daughters graduation. "We scraped and scrapped. We still found a way to make it interesting." Bud Norris (2-4) was the hard-luck loser, allowing four hits and a walk in 7 1-3 innings. The lone run he allowed came in the first, when Nori Aoki led off with a single, stole second and then scored on Butlers single to centre. The hit ended a 0-for-10 slump, and gave Kansas City only its second run in the first three games of the four-game set. "The story of the day is about Duffy. That was unbelievable," Butler said. "That gives yyou a glimpse of what he could be like every time out.dddddddddddd" Duffy missed most of last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery, and he began this season in the bullpen after losing the competition for a rotation spot in spring training. But he was forced back into the rotation a few weeks ago, when Bruce Chen landed on the disabled list with a back injury, and has pitched so well that he may have claimed the spot for good. After struggling with control most of his first three seasons, Duffy has finally started to harness his stuff. He allowed one run on two hits in four innings in his first start May 3 against Detroit, and one run on two hits in six innings last week in Seattle. He wound up losing both games when the Royals failed to score a run for him. Perhaps with that in mind, Duffy kept the Orioles off the scoreboard entirely. He never got close to allowing a hit until Caleb Joseph hit a liner at third baseman Mike Moustakas to end the sixth inning, and Alex Gordon made a spectacular diving catch on Nick Markakiss flyball to lead off the seventh. Duffy then struck out Manny Machado before Jones delivered his single. "I heard somebody say this is the type for, like, a perfect game," said the Orioles Caleb Joseph. "Right after that, somebody said, Jonesy is about to rip one right here." The crowd gave Duffy a standing ovation after the hit, and then another when he exited the game. Duffy sheepishly waved his cap in appreciation as he entered the dugout. "I was just trying to stay calm," Duuffy said. "Mechanics will come through on their own if you trust your stuff, you dont overdo anything. And we were on the attack all day." NOTES: Jones has a 12-game hitting streak. ... The Royals have had four no-hitters in their history, the last by Brett Saberhagen against the White Sox on Aug. 26, 1991. The Orioles have not been no-hit since Sept. 1, 2007, when Clay Buchholz accomplished the feat for Boston. ... Royals RHP James Shields and Orioles RHP Ubaldo Jimenez start Sundays series finale. ' ' '