dominated the middle section of the race but was shuffled out of cont

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Canadian left-hander Andrew Albers still remembers exactly what he was thinking about as he drove the 40 hours from Arizona to Florida for one last chance at being a big league ballplayer. "I just wanted a shot," he said. The North Battleford, Sask., native made the most of his tryout with the Minnesota Twins that day two years ago, earning a minor league contract. On Tuesday night, Albers got an even bigger shot at realizing his dreams when he made his major league debut against the Kansas City Royals. Just like he did back then, Albers made the most of it. He allowed four hits while pitching into the ninth inning, leading the Twins to a 7-0 victory at Kauffman Stadium. "Its hard to put into words, but it was special to go out and have that kind of performance in your debut," he said. "Unfortunately, its probably not going to get much better from there." The first big leaguer from Saskatchewan in more than 20 years, Albers only allowed a collection of singles to one of the hottest teams in baseball, and at one point retired 15 straight. He ended up two outs shy of his third straight complete game dating back to his days with Triple-A Rochester, and the first shutout in a big league debut since Detroits Andy Van Hekken did it in 2002. Casey Fien wound up finishing it up when Albers began to labour in the ninth inning. "I didnt want to go out there and take him out," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said, "but he was completely out of gas there at the end. Wow that was fun to watch." The Twins took most of the pressure off Albers with a big night at the plate. Brian Dozier homered and drove in three runs, and Justin Morneau of New Westminster, B.C., and Chris Colabello also went deep. All that damage came against Shields (6-8), who even balked in a run during his worst start in nearly two years. The former All-Star gave up three runs in the first inning and never settled down the rest of the evening, labouring through six innings on an uncomfortably humid night. "Sometimes this can happen," Shields said, "but Ive got to do a better job." The Twins hammered Shields right from the start. Doziers homer was the first leadoff shot for Minnesota since Denard Span went deep against the Phillies on June 12, 2012. Jamey Carroll promptly worked a walk and Morneau, who came into the game hitting .371 against Shields, added a two-run shot later in the first to stake the Twins to a 3-0 lead. Shields continued to struggle with his command in the second inning, walking Chris Herrmann to lead it off and then plunking Clete Thomas. Doug Bernier laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move both runners up, and Herrmann scored on Doziers sacrifice fly. Colabello hit his third homer of the year in the fourth, and then plunged Shields into more trouble with a leadoff single in the sixth. Herrmann added a single to put runners on the corners, and a balk by Shields on a pickoff move to third base brought in another run. Dozier drove in his third run of the game with a single to make it 7-0. It was the first time Shields allowed at least seven runs since Aug. 21, 2011, when he was still with Tampa Bay. The three homers he allowed were the most since June 2 of the same year. "He just had trouble getting the ball down," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Command was the issue most of the night for him. After the second inning it got a little better." Albers couldnt have gotten a whole lot better. The first big leaguer from Saskatchewan since 1991, when Terry Puhl retired, Albers showed promise when he was drafted by the Padres in 2008. But he needed Tommy John surgery the next year and was released before showing what he could do with a rebuilt elbow, finally ending up with the Quebec Capitales of the Can-Am League when he was healthy enough to pitch again. Albers failed to impress in a pair of big league tryouts in Arizona in 2011, but he was willing to drive at his own expense to Florida for another try with the Twins. His only other option was to head home to North Battleford and get on with life, and Albers showed just enough to earn himself a job. "For a guy whos not a prototypical prospect, for them to stick with me the way they have, its pretty special," said Albers, who was 11-5 with a 2.86 ERA at Rochester before getting called upon to replace fellow Canadian Scott Diamond in the Twins rotation. "You dream about this," he said, "but you never know if itll actually happen." Notes: The Royals will recall LHP Danny Duffy from Triple-A Omaha to start Wednesday night against the Twins Samuel Deduno. It will be Duffys first big league start since May 2012 after having Tommy John surgery. ... Twins 3B Trevor Plouffe was held out of the lineup as a precaution after tumbling head-first into the dugout to catch a foul ball Monday. ... Twins SS Pedro Florimon (sore left wrist) took BP and could start Wednesday. ... Twins OF Darin Mastrioianni (left ankle stress reaction) left to begin a minor league rehab assignment with Triple-A Rochester. Cheap Vapormax Canada .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have placed centre Cody Hodgson on injured reserve and recalled two players from their AHL affiliate in Rochester. Cheap Nike Vapormax . Badenhop was 2-3 with a 3.47 ERA in 63 relief appearances for Milwaukee this season. He is 18-20 in his career with three saves and a 3. http://www.cheapvapormaxcanada.com/ . Aaron Harrison scored a 22 points for Kentucky (6-1), which has won four in a row following a Nov. 12 loss to current No. 1 Michigan State. Julius Randle overcame a scoreless first half and added his sixth double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Cheap Nike Vapormax Wholesale . Siddikur, whose previous win on the circuit came in Brunei three years ago, finished his bogey-free round with a birdie on the 18th for a total of 17-under 199. Indias Shiv Chowrasia, who has finished runner-up in this tournament twice, was in second place after a 66. Nike Vapormax Canada . The veteran safety was a starter for the Bengals from 2008-2012. He totaled 41 tackles and three interceptions while starting all but four of the 13 games he played last season. WEST ALLIS, Wis. -- When Ryan Hunter-Reay picked up his first win of the season in Alabama, he regretted that his wife and newborn son werent on hand for Victory Lane photographs. He made up for it Saturday with an early Fathers Day celebration at his favourite track, no less. Hunter-Reay continued Andretti Autosports domination at the Milwaukee Mile, winning the IndyCar event for the second year in a row and third time in his career. He became the first driver to win back-to-back races at the Mile since Tony Kanaan in 2006 and 2007 when he was driving for ... you guessed it, Michael Andretti, himself a five-time winner at Milwaukee. "At Barber, that was one of the races that Beccy and our son didnt come to and I felt bad because we didnt have the pictures of him in Victory Lane, so this is even better," Hunter-Reay said. "To do it on Fathers Day, to do back-to-back at Milwaukee, I love this place. Every driver, you ask them, they respect this oval the most." Andretti drivers have won five of the last nine races at the mile oval and nearly had a perfect day Saturday in a race that was promoted for the second year by Michael Andrettis marketing company. Hunter-Reay got the win, E.J. Viso finished fourth and James Hinchcliffe of Oakville, Ont., was fifth. The only blemish was pole-sitter Marco Andretti, who led the first 62 laps before his day fell apart with an electrical issue. "He let me down," joked father Michael Andretti. "I really feel bad for Marco. He was running really strong, really strong all weekend." But it was still a huge success for Andretti, who is in negotiations with IndyCar to promote the race next year but makes winning at Milwaukee a priority for his organization. "We come here with a philosophy of what I had back when I was driving, and we just carry that on, try to stress that to the engineering and the drivers on the way we used to do it then," Andretti said. "Theres things we used to do that really used to work. Seem to still be working." Alex Tagliani of Lachenaie, Que., finished second last in 23rd after his car suffered a mechanical problem. For Hunter-Reay, it was the second win of the season for the defending IndyCar Series champion. And it came at the site of the track he used to jump-start last years title run -- Hunter-Reay reeled off three consecutive wins starting with Milwaukee last season to climb into the championship race. He wasnt thinking cchampionship in the closing laps, though.dddddddddddd His focus was on Fathers Day and son Ryden. "Those last few laps I was thinking, Man, Ive got to do this for him," Hunter-Reay said. "Its so special, hes 6 months old, getting to have my little guy here in Victory Lane is the best Fathers Day gift." IndyCar Series points leader Helio Castroneves was second and followed by Penske Racing teammate Will Power as Chevrolet swept the podium. It was the first podium finish this season for Power, who hasnt won a race since Brazil last year. He made a bold attempt to pass Castroneves for second in the closing laps before cautiously backing off a touch. Power said after the race he had to consider the big picture and that his teammate is the current points leader while racing for position. "That was close, I wanted to race him very cleanly because hes leading the championship," Power said. "I was like Man, I dont want to take you out. Helio continues to get good points, and its cool to get (my) car up on the podium. Weve just got to keep chipping away and in the meantime, Im going to help out Helio as much as I can. If I can beat him I will, and make some hay on the championship." Scott Dixon was sixth in the highest finishing Honda and was followed by Takuma Sato, who dominated the middle section of the race but was shuffled out of contention when Ana Beatriz brought out the final caution and pit cycles dropped him deep into the field. Still, it was the best finish for an A.J. Foyt Racing entry at Milwaukee since Foyt himself was fifth in 1988. "The yellow came out and that was very bad timing for us because it put us behind those who hadnt pitted yet," Sato said. "They were able to pit and get ahead of us which is why we lined up in seventh. Then they had fresher tires, too, so it was really tough to pass them back. It was still a great race, but it was so disappointing in the end. Really a shame." Dario Franchitti, Justin Wilson and Kanaan rounded out the top 10. Marco Andretti wound up 20th and was passed by teammate Hunter-Reay for second in the IndyCar standings. "Its unfortunate, we came here for a win and had a car to do it," said Andretti, who was slowed before the electrical issue by a poor pit stop. "The voltage went straight down and I lost all kinds of power. I couldnt shift, the clutch didnt work. We came back for all the points we could." ' ' '