ed to rebound from an awkward moment in the days before play began when he criticized decisions made a dozen years ago by former captain Hal Sutton.Leaping in the air after sinking a birdie putt on the 18th hole -- much like he did when he won the 200

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Twins have hit a bunch of home runs lately, a bright spot in a lost season.Hustle was the winning formula on Wednesday night.Miguel Sano legged out a couple of ground balls to create a pair of early runs before his RBI double tied the game in the decisive seventh inning, helping the Twins dodge a series sweep by beating the Kansas City Royals 6-5.We always talk about doing the little things right, said Brian Dozier, whose club-tying record home run streak ended at five straight games.Dozier, though, singled and stole second before scoring on Sanos double off Joakim Soria (4-8). Dozier also started a dazzling double play to finish the fifth inning, with a diving stop of Eric Hosmers sharp grounder and a glove flick to second base to get the ball out while he was flat on the dirt.Alex Wimmers (1-1) pitched a scoreless seventh in relief of Kyle Gibson to record his first major league victory. Brandon Kintzler gave up a two-out RBI single before finishing the ninth inning for his 14th save in 16 attempts.Sano beat a relay throw in the first inning to stave off a double play after his bouncer back to the mound and later scored on Robbie Grossmans single. In the fifth, the burly slugger ran fast enough after his routine grounder to be safe when shortstop Alcides Escobar threw high to first for an error. Byron Buxton raced home from second base to score on the play, touching home plate as he hurdled Sanos bat with a head-first dive to elude Buteras tag.I saw that play a few times where the runner stopped at third and he couldve had a chance at scoring, so I know Ive got to be ready every play and make sure I go full effort, Buxton said.First Sano. Then Buxton. The Twins were a blur on the basepaths.His speed paid off, for sure, manager Paul Molitor said about Buxton. Thats something we try to teach to be prepared to do if they make a mistake.Grossman and Buxton each homered for the Twins, who won for only the third time in their last 20 games.Thats part of baseball life. Sometimes you pitch good, sometimes not, Soria said.Kendrys Morales had three hits, including his sixth home run in the last eight games, and Drew Butera also went deep for the Royals. Danny Duffy struck out 10 batters without a walk over six innings, but the bullpen cost Kansas City an opportunity to creep forward in the AL wild-card race. The Royals stayed four games behind Baltimore, which holds the second spot.We had a chance to pick up ground, manager Ned Yost said. So that definitely hurts.MORALES OF THE STORYMorales, who also drove in a run with a fourth-inning single, went deep to lead off the sixth. He has a 10-game hitting streak, with 15 RBI and 17 hits in 42 at-bats for a .405 batting average during the stretch.LESSON NOT LEARNEDJarrod Dyson and Paulo Orlando started the game with singles, but both of them were picked off first base with a quick throw by the right-handed Gibson, who had only six pickoffs in 93 previous major league starts.PLOUFFES FAREWELL?Twins 3B Trevor Plouffe was diagnosed with a strain of the intercostal and oblique muscles on his left side, his third injury this year to that area including a broken rib. With only 22 games to go, hes not likely to play again this season. Sanos presence means Plouffe might have played his last game for the team that drafted him in the first round in 2004.If it happens that that was my last at-bat, it would be pretty sad. I hope its not, said Plouffe, who is making $7.25 million with one more year of eligibility for salary arbitration. My No. 1 thing, if I had my choice, would be to be back here.LONG WAY, MATESThe parents of Twins rookie James Beresford traveled 25 hours from their native Australia to surprise their son in a touching moment outside the clubhouse before the game that the team arranged. The 27-year-old Beresford, an infielder, played in 1,070 minor league games before being called up on Tuesday.TRAINERS ROOMROYALS: Butera played behind the plate for Perez, who was out with a bruised right wrist after being hit there by a pitch the night before.TWINS: 1B Joe Mauer was given a day to rest his strained quadriceps muscles, an injury that has lingered for the last three weeks.UP NEXTROYALS: After a travel day, Kansas City plays on Friday in Chicago. RHP Yordano Ventura (10-9, 4.22 ERA) will pitch, opposite LHP Carlos Rodon (6-8, 3.90 ERA) of the White Sox.TWINS: Following an off day at home, Minnesota hosts division-leading Cleveland on Friday. 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CHASKA, Minn. -- The victory leap was a bit premature, but the hugs that came later on the 18th green were as timely as the putts Phil Mickelson kept rolling in on a beautiful Sunday at Hazeltine National Golf Club. Soon Mickelson would take the party upstairs, swigging champagne on an elevated walkway and spraying the cheering crowd below.If anyone deserved to celebrate a long-awaited American victory in the Ryder Cup, it was Lefty.He came through in front of 50,000 fans, and he came through behind closed doors in the team room. He even managed to rebound from an awkward moment in the days before play began when he criticized decisions made a dozen years ago by former captain Hal Sutton.Leaping in the air after sinking a birdie putt on the 18th hole -- much like he did when he won the 2004 Masters -- might have been the only thing Mickelson got wrong all week.Hard to blame him, though, when everyone around him felt like leaping around a bit themselves. Sergio Garcia would tie the match a few minutes later with a birdie of his own, but by then it was already clear the American rout in this Ryder Cup was on.The U.S. had started the day with a three-point lead and memories of collapses of the past still lurking. But this turned out to be a Sunday with little suspense.Patrick Reed took down Rory McIlroy in the opening match and the Europeans were never really allowed back in it. Mickelsons half point put the U.S. on the verge of the win, and Ryan Moore -- picked only the Sunday before under a new system championed by Mickelson to find hot players -- delivered the winning point in the next group.A Ryder Cup loser so often, Mickelson was a winner once again. That it came in a Ryder Cup that had his fingerprints all over it only made the celebration even sweeter.Im so proud to know these guys, to experience this together, to share these emotions, to celebrate tonight, Mickelson said. And Ive known that these guys have had this level of performance in them for some time. Its just amazing to watch.It was amazing to watch for the fans, jammed fairways and crowded around greens to cheer on the home team. A few misbehaved the day before, but there were no real incidents on a final daay when things got about as loud on the golf course as they did in football stadiums across the land.ddddddddddddyder Cup superfan Michael Jordan sat behind the first green watching groups go through, while actor Bill Murray seemed to be everywhere. Tiger Woods was in good form, too, as an assistant captain adding a little more star power to the event.The featured match was McIlroy and Reed. But all eyes were on Mickelson, too, maybe because he had the most to lose if this team somehow found yet another way to lose.Davis Love IIIs name will be listed as captain in the Ryder Cup record books. But this was always Mickelsons team, from the moment he demanded more say in its selection to the time he and his teammates hoisted the trophy for the first time since 2008.He helped put together the team and make the pairings. He made sure everyone felt like they were an important part of the team.And when he went out to play, Mickelson delivered when it mattered most. On Sunday he made 10 birdies in 18 holes that would have won most Ryder Cup matches, though because Garcia kept matching him birdie for birdie it was only worth a half point for the U.S. team.Sure, Mickelson acted like the smartest guy in the room when he talked about constructing a Ryder Cup team that could take down the Europeans. But after being on the wrong side in eight of 10 Ryder Cups he knew what the issues were and had plenty of ideas about how they could be fixed.This teams been questioned and beat up for a long time, Love said.It may not be questioned much longer if Mickelson has his way. Hes a future captain for sure, but he cautioned that unless the changes made in the last two years are permanent than this win wont mean nearly as much.Its truly a remarkable thing to watch and a fun thing to be part of, Mickelson said. I believe we made each other proud, but I hope we made every American proud.In this Ryder Cup it was mission accomplished.----Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org or http://twitter.com/timdahlberg ' ' '