stood his ground to stop a puck that was redirected on net by Kyle Brodziak.Perron opened the scoring for St. Louis at 6:04 of the first period with a power-play goal when he tapped a nice pass from

MINNEAPOLIS -- Andrew Albers looked across the diamond at his opposing pitcher and saw everything he is not. It didnt matter one bit on Monday night. The Canadian left-hander threw a two-hitter in his second career start and the Minnesota Twins backed him with a pair of home runs in a 3-0 victory over Danny Salazar and the Cleveland Indians. Salazar is the prized prospect with the exploding fastball and knee-buckling changeup that has been blowing hitters away ever since the 23-year-old joined the organization. Albers is a soft-tossing, 27-year-old from North Battleford, Sask., who never met a radar gun that didnt snicker at his 86-mph heat. The matchup sure was lopsided -- for Albers. Albers (2-0) allowed two singles, struck out two and walked none. Hes thrown 17 1-3 straight scoreless innings in a start to his career that grows more improbable each time he takes the mound. "Im not a prototypical prospect," said Albers, who had Tommy John surgery in 2009, was released by the Padres and was playing independent ball in Quebec in 2010. "Im not a guy that goes out there and lights up a radar gun or throws devastating secondary stuff. But I can pitch a little bit and so far Ive been having a little bit of success." Brian Dozier and Trevor Plouffe homered to help the Twins win for the eighth time in 11 games. Salazar (1-1) gave up three runs and three hits, struck out five and walked three in four innings. The slumping Indians have lost seven of eight and are in danger of sliding out of the playoff chase. Jason Kipnis and Yan Gomes had the only hits for Cleveland. "He doesnt miss very many spots, and thats the key," Clevelands Michael Brantley said. "He kept us off balance. He threw the ball well tonight." Albers finally was called up to start in Kansas City on Aug. 6 and threw 8 1-3 scoreless innings. Mixing a fastball that topped out at 88 with a slow curveball that grazed 67, he flustered the Cleveland hitters all night and outshined the overpowering Salazar. "Its pretty unbelievable," Albers said. "I didnt think it could get any better than the last start. Now here we are and it did. It got a little bit better." The 23-year-old Salazar blazed through Clevelands minor league system, striking out 129 in 21 outings. That didnt stop when he got called up. A fastball in the high 90s, a superb changeup and the benefit of facing hitters who have never seen him before helped him rack up 17 strikeouts and only two walks in his first two starts. The velocity was there in start No. 3, but the command wasnt. Dozier hit Salazars second pitch of the game out of the park and Plouffe hit a 96-mph fastball out for a two-run homer in the second. Just when Salazar appeared to be settling in, he walked the bases loaded with one out in the fourth. He was able to wiggle out of the jam without allowing any runs, but with so much on the line for the Indians as September approaches, manager Terry Francona didnt leave him out there. Albers was ahead 0-2 on 10 of the first 20 batters he faced. He had a perfect game going until Kipnis blooped a soft single to centre field with two outs in the fourth and got some help from some spectacular defence along the way. Dozier laid out and hauled in a pop fly over his shoulder to get Carlos Santana in the fifth and shortstop Pedro Florimon made a brilliant sliding stop of a grounder up the middle in the seventh, then threw out Nick Swisher from his knees. "We saw how pitching is supposed to be done," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. NOTES: The Twins have scored their last 22 runs off home runs. ... The Indians placed INF Mark Reynolds on release waivers. ... Francona said LHP Scott Kazmir "is doing really well" after saying he had a "dead arm" in his previous start. The plan is for him to get an extra three days rest and start on Aug. 18 at Oakland. ... Twins press box attendant Peg Imhoff celebrated her 75th birthday on Monday night. Imhoff has worked for the Twins for 38 seasons. ... RHP Zach McAllister (4-7, 4.01 ERA) is scheduled to pitch for the Indians on Tuesday night against Twins RHP Samuel Deduno (7-5, 3.38 ERA).Pirates Jerseys 2020 . Mitch Holmberg added a goal and three assists. Connor Chartier also scored for the Chiefs (3-0-0). Luke Harrison spoiled Garrett Hughsons shutout bid with a power-play goal at 13:17 of the third period. The Spokane goaltender finished with 28 saves, including a Brandon Fushimi penalty shot in the second period that would have tied the game 1-1. Wholesale Pirates Jerseys .In my heart and mind Im competing for India, luge competitor Shiva Keshavan told The Associated Press in an email interview. Every day Im flooded with messages from Indians all over the world telling me they are supporting me. https://www.cheappiratesjerseys.us/ . -- Aldon Smith believes he is on the path to being sober for good. Pittsburgh Pirates Store . One game after a miserable showing in Oklahoma City, Gay tied a career high with 41 points and the Sacramento Kings cruised to a 114-97 victory at the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. Stitched Pirates Jerseys . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday.CALGARY, Alberta -- David Perron had nothing to show for his hard work during St. Louis first five games of the season. That changed with a big night against Calgary.Perron had three goals and an assist to lead the Blues to a 6-4 win over the Flames on Saturday night.I feel like Ive played some good hockey, said Perron, who signed with the Blues as a free agent in the offseason. It didnt materialize into points or goals, but tonight it did.Ive got to keep working hard. I was just staying in the moment and concentrating on making sure the next shift was going to be a good one and it was a good one tonight.Paul Stastny, Patrik Berglund and Alexander Steen also scored for the Blues, while defenseman Alex Pietrangelo had two assists. Jake Allen made 23 saves to improve to 3-1-1.Stastny had no doubt that Perron was on the verge of a breakout game.Hes the reason basically we won, but I think more importantly its good for his confidence, said Stastny, who scored his third goal of the season in the second period. As a team, we saw it coming for the last couple games, which is good.Kris Versteeg scored his first two goals of the season for the Flames, who lost their second straight at home. Micheal Ferland and Mark Giordano also scored, while Chad Johnson stopped 34 shots.Were working hard, were just not working smart if were going to be blatantly honest, Versteeg said. Were going to have to be better next game. Its about puck management for us. Were a growing team, learning new things. But, were going to get better.Flames coach Glen Gulutzan didnt have any complaints about Johnsons play.I thought he gave us a chance and made some saves, Gulutzan said. We hung him out to dry, pretty simple.Calgary took a 2-1 just 3 minutes into the second thanks to two quick goals by Versteeg and Ferland.The Blues then scored the next four goals, including two by Perron, to take control.Perron tied it as he flipped his own rebound up and over Johnsons pad at 6:22. Stastny put St. Louis back ahead with just under eight minutes to go in the period during another power play wheen he tipped Steens slap shot past Johnson.dddddddddddderglund was the beneficiary of a nice setup by Nail Yakupov for an easy tap-in goal with 1:44 left in the second.Perron then finished off his hat trick at 6:50 of the third when he took a breakaway pass from Vladimir Tarasenko and made a couple quick moves before lifting a backhand shot over Johnsons right pad to make it 5-2.Giordano fired a slap shot from the high slot past Allen at 9:31 of the third before Versteegs point shot through traffic got past the St. Louis goalie with just under five minutes to go to pull the Flames within one.Steen then scored into an empty net with 39 seconds left to seal the victory.Allen had to be sharp to get a shoulder on a point shot fired his way by defenseman Deryk Engelland early in the game. At the other end of the ice, Johnson stood his ground to stop a puck that was redirected on net by Kyle Brodziak.Perron opened the scoring for St. Louis at 6:04 of the first period with a power-play goal when he tapped a nice pass from Robby Fabbri past Johnson.Versteeg converted a feed from Troy Brouwer at 2:21 of the second to tie the score. Ferland backhanded a harmless-looking shot on net 35 seconds later that squeezed under Allens glove and into the net to put the Flames ahead.Game notesFlames D Dennis Wideman returned to the lineup after sitting out the past three games as a healthy scratch and had two assists in his return. ... C Freddie Hamilton made his season debut for the Flames in place of rookie LW Matthew Tkachuk. Freddie, the older brother of D Dougie Hamilton, now has 34 games of NHL experience, five of them with the Flames. Dougie Hamilton has played in 266 NHL games, 88 with the Flames. ... Blues LW Jaden Schwartz played in his second straight game after missing the first four contests with an elbow injuryUP NEXTBlues: Host Calgary on Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game homestand.Flames: At Chicago on Monday night. ' ' '