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 you a glimpse of what he could be like every time out." 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. Russell Bodine Bills Jersey . Johns IceCaps erased an early two-goal deficit to come from behind and defeat the host Portland Pirates 5-4 on Saturday in American Hockey League action. Jeremy Kerley Bills Jersey .Mihajlovic was sent off minutes from the end of Thursdays 2-0 win over Brescia and has been punished for using a disrespectful expression toward the fourth official and throwing the contents of a bottle of water at him, thus assuming an intimidating attitude. http://www.billsauthoritystore.com/Authe...e-Bills-Jersey/. Brassard and Coyotes defenceman Derek Morris were battling for position in the crease when a nudge from Morris sent Brassard on top of Smith late in the third period. Eddie Yarbrough Jersey . -- Kenneth Faried made a turnaround hook shot over Draymond Green with a half-second remaining, and the Denver Nuggets made Golden State wait at least one more game to secure a playoff berth with a stunning 100-99 win over the Warriors on Thursday night. Jeremy Kerley Jersey . He was 40. Firefighters were called about 11 a.m. Friday because Brown was unresponsive at his home near the Inner Harbor, fire spokesman Battalion Chief Kevin Cartwright said. He said Brown was dead when firefighters arrived.WASHINGTON - Dont leave it to Beaver. Leave it to Matt Niskanen, the newly proclaimed Eddie Haskell of the Washington Capitals.Niskanen, the defenceman with the low-key public persona, levelled Scott Laughton with a clean, open-ice hit that sent the forward flying backward with helmet off, a defining moment late in the second period of the Capitals 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night.Hes like Eddie Haskell, Washington coach Barry Trotz said. Hes got the young face and all that, but hell run into you, hell give you the stick.Trotz then realized that some of the younger reporters would have no clue about Eddie Haskell, the teenager who would take politeness to the extreme with adults to cover up his scheming ways in the long-ago comedy Leave It To Beaver.Black and white TV, Trotz added with a chuckle. Im showing my age now.Laughs aside, the hit knocked Laughton out of the game. He didnt return for the third period, and neither coach Craig Berube nor Flyers general manager Ron Hextall would categorize the injury as anything other than upper-body. They wouldnt say whether Laughton will play in Thursday nights home game against the Vancouver Canucks.For Trotz, the knockdown came at the right time.It actually energized us. I thought we were sort of flat in the second, and they sort of had a little push on, and a lot of urgency, Trotz said. I thought it changed us. It gave us some momentum.Enough momentum to finish another shutout in Braden Holtbys iron-man run. The goalie made 21 saves in his 20th consecutive start. It wwas his fourth blank slate of the season, including three since he became too hot to rest.ddddddddddddHoltby is 14-2-4 during his starting streak, and he hasnt allowed more than one goal in his last three games. He also played in his 26th consecutive game, extending his franchise record. He has rediscovered his form under new goaltending coach Mitch Korn.Hes very calm in the net. Theres no panic. Theres no extra movement, Trotz said. Hes made a transformation.Jason Chimeras first-period goal was all the Capitals needed as they won for the 14th time in 19 games overall and for the seventh straight home game. Chimeras face was bloody after the game, the remnants of a gash to the face that required stitches.Holtby was nearly matched by Flyers goalie Rob Zepp, the 33-year-old rookie who filled in for the second straight game while Steve Mason is out because of an upper-body injury. Zepp made 25 saves, including a terrific left pad stop on Eric Fehr late in the second period.But Zepp never had a chance when Chimera redirected the puck after Niskanen flung it toward the net from the blue line 3:13 into the game.We played well, but we dont deserve a point, Berube said. We missed some opportunities offensively.NOTES: Flyers D Carlo Colaiacovo returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the previous 26 games. He replaced Braydon Coburn, who could be sidelined for four weeks with a lower-body injury. ... Philadelphia has lost six consecutive road games.___Follow Joseph White on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale NFL Camo Jerseys NFL Jerseys From China China NFL Gear Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Stitched NFL Jerseys ' ' '