MINNEAPOLIS -- Jason Vargas threw seven scoreless innings, Raul Ibanez homered in his second game for Kansas City and the Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 4-0 Wednesday. Vargas (8-3) allowed four singles and two walks while striking out five, allowing only two runners from a diluted Twins lineup to reach second base. Mike Moustakas and Jarrod Dyson hit RBI singles in the second inning against Kevin Correia (4-10), and that was all Vargas needed. With Joe Mauer missing, placed on the disabled list before the game because of a strained muscle on his right side, the Twins didnt cause Vargas any trouble. They were shut out for the sixth time this season and lost for the seventh time in their last nine games. The 42-year-old Ibanez signed Monday with the Royals, the team that first gave him a regular spot in the lineup all the way back in 2001. He had two hits and two runs in this game, including the solo shot to right field in the eighth. Ibanez was released by the Los Angeles Angels last month. Eric Hosmer, who walked three times, added an RBI single in the ninth inning for insurance. With rookie Yordano Ventura and now Danny Duffy joining the veteran trio of Vargas, James Shields and Jeremy Guthrie, who are all in the top 10 in the league in innings pitched, the Royals have a deep rotation that can keep them in the post-season chase all summer. Vargas improved to 4-1 in his last eight starts, seven of which have counted as quality: six innings or more and three runs or less. Vargas also became the first Royals left-hander to win eight games or more before the All-Star break since Chris George in 2003. Correia lowered his ERA to 4.95, the only time hes had that mark under 5.00 since his first start of the year, after surrendering six hits and two walks in six innings while striking out three. The right-hander completed exactly six innings for the fifth consecutive turn, and he has allowed two runs or fewer in four of those starts. But the second inning was the one that hurt, when five batters reached. He struck out Billy Butler to finish the frame with the bases loaded. NOTES: The Royals swapped RH relievers Wednesday, calling up Casey Coleman from Triple-A Omaha and sending down rookie Michael Mariot, who gave up five runs Tuesday in his second appearance in as many days. ... Chris Parmelee played 1B and batted third for Mauer. He had two hits and stretched his hitting streak to a career-long 12 straight games. ... One of the runners to reach second base for the Twins was Sam Fuld, who was originally ruled out on a steal attempt to end the fifth inning. Manager Ron Gardenhire challenged the call, which was overturned. Gardenhire is 9 for 19 on challenges this season. ... With a rest day for Royals CF Lorenzo Cain, SS Alcides Escobar batted leadoff for the first time this season. Discount Houston Texans Jerseys . - Frankie (The Answer) Edgar dominated B. Cheap Houston Texans Jerseys Online . On Thursday theyll learn even more. Despite the cloud of uncertainty that has followed them around from the moment general manager Masai Ujiri was brought in to put his stamp on the franchise, the Raptors have surpassed all pre-season expectations. http://www.cheaptexans.com/. Andrew Luck couldnt believe his ears. Colts fans couldnt believe the scoreboard, and the Kansas City Chiefs couldnt believe their incredibly bad luck. Wholesale Houston Texans Jerseys .ca presents its latest weekly power rankings for the 2013-14 Barclays Premier League season. Custom Texans Jerseys . The team said Saturday that the 36-year-old Robidas is expected to miss four to six months, jeopardizing his return this season. He was injured when he slid hard into the boards in the second period of a 2-1 shootout loss to Chicago on Friday.WASHINGTON - Fresh off his first All-Star Game appearance, DeMar DeRozan - heading into uncharted waters as the Raptors ready for a rare playoff push - addressed his teammates following Tuesday morning shoot around. "Each and every single game matters from here on out, especially if we want to do something special," he told them, as the third-seeded Raptors prepared to begin the unofficial second half of their season against the sixth place Washington Wizards. "We cant take [any] nights off," he stressed. "These 30 games are going to be big and weve got to start tonight." Message received, at least in the first of those final 30 games. It took just over four minutes for all five Raptors starters to get on the board. In the end, six players scored in double figures and the teams bench totaled 43 points on an impressive 18-for-26 shooting, as Toronto came away with a 103-93 win, its third in three games against the Wizards this season. "Thats whats great about our team, everybody understands their role and thats real big," said DeRozan, who had a quiet night by his recent standards, scoring 14 points. "We have anybody that can [step up], it can be anybody. If one guys not playing well, somebody else always picks it up." DeRozans uplifting words were not a surprise to Dwane Casey. The Raptors leading scorer had told his coach that he intended to make the speech on the flight to Washington the day prior. "[I] sat with him and talked about the second half of the season, what to expect, and he said he was going to do that," Casey said. "We talked [Monday] night as a team, talked about the next 30 games, what to expect as a team. Now weve got to follow it up with action. Every team coming out is going to be gunning for him - hes achieved All-Star status - and us as a team, were in the playoff hunt. So weve got to meet those expectations." As a team, the Raptors were expectedly rusty early on, specifically on defence. Washington scored 27 first-quarter points, shooting 57 per cent in the frame, while Wizards All-Star John Wall had 11, matching his game total from the Raptors last visit to Verizon Center, Torontos 101-88 win to begin the month of January. "Its always tough to find a rhythm when youre coming off the All-Star break," said Kyle Lowry, who vacationed in an undisclosed location this past weekend after being passed up for the All-Star Game. "Its always tough but we figured it out in the second half and third quarter, for me especially to get going a little bit." In a matchup between two of the best point guards in the Eastern Conference - arguably the two best - Lowry connected on just two of his eight first-half attempts, scoring six points as Wall exploded for 19, making nine of 12 shots. The Raptors lead guard came out of intermission looking like a man on a mission,, scoring 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting in the third, draining long jumpers, getting into the paint at will and knocking down a series of tricky step backs.dddddddddddd Lowry finished with a double-double, leading his team with 24 points and 10 assists and Wall was held to three points, without a single field goal, in the second half. "I was trying to attack a little bit more," Lowry, the scorned should-be-All-Star, said of his third-quarter clinic. "That first game out of the break is always tough and I didnt want to let that be an excuse for us to lose this game." "He took the game over in the third quarter and willed us to a win," Casey said of his point guard. "Just his aggressiveness. He attacked their feet, didnt settle for the three, got into the paint and kept attacking." The Raptors recorded 25 assists, 17 from their point guards - Lowry and Greivis Vasquez - and shot 57 per cent on the night, holding Washington, one of the better three-point shooting teams, to 4-of-15 from beyond the arch. Although it looked like it was going to be smooth sailing for Toronto in the third quarter, leading by as much as 20, things got interesting down the stretch when Washington turned up its defensive intensity and the Raptors quickly went ice cold. Toronto was held without a field goal in the final 7:35 of the game, as the Wizards cut their deficit to six down but were unable to get any closer. "We just turned the ball over way too many times against their pressure," Casey said after this team committed eight of their 15 miscues in the final frame. "Thats just from rust and time off, timing, speed of the game." The rest seemed to do wonders for the Raptors, winners of their last three games, specifically Amir Johnson, who has had over 10 days off after missing two contests with a sore right ankle. The Raptors forward made his return off the bench, scoring 14 points and grabbing five rebounds in a spirited 25 minutes of action. Patrick Patterson made his third straight start - scoring 10 points in 34 minutes - and should stick with the first unit for the time being as Johnson works his way back to full health, though Casey wouldnt commit to the lineup change. The Raptors will go for the four-game sweep of Washington when the Wizards visit Toronto next week. They are now four games ahead of the Wizards and a game and a half in front of the fourth-place Chicago Bulls, Torontos Wednesday opponent at the Air Canada Centre. "Thats a tough team," Lowry said of the Bulls, who will be well rested having arrived in Toronto Tuesday, getting the night off. "A different type of game tomorrow night. 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