PHOENIX -- Mike Moustakas accounted for all of Kansas Citys runs with a long ball, a liner and a bit of hustle after a diving stop by Arizona second baseman Aaron Hill. His hustle play was the one that made all the difference. Moustakas homered and drove in his fourth run by beating a relay throw to first in the ninth inning, helping the Royals beat the Diamondbacks 4-3 Wednesday night to win their fifth straight series. "He (Hill) made a great play on that and Im just running down the line to get to first and get that run, which turned out to be pretty big," Moustakas said. Kansas City rolled over Arizona in the opener and had just enough offence for Yordana Ventura (9-8) to take the second game. Moustakas, who was 1 for 13 to start the six-game road trip, hit a two-run homer off Josh Collmenter (8-6) in the third inning and added a run-scoring single off the right-hander in the fourth. He was initially called out on the groundball in the ninth inning, but a review showed his headfirst dive beat the throw, allowing Billy Butler to score for a 4-2 lead. The Royals needed the extra run, too. Closer Greg Holland gave up a pair of singles and a sacrifice fly to Mark Trumbo in the bottom half before closing out his 32nd save. The scrappy victory was the Royals sixth in seven games, pulling them within 3 1-2 games of Detroit in the AL Central. "This was a big win for us with Detroit losing," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Every game is huge." The Diamondbacks certainly had their chances, particularly against Ventura. Miguel Montero had three of Arizonas 12 hits and Hill had his 1,300th career hit with a run-scoring single in the third inning. The Diamondbacks just couldnt come up with the big hits when they needed them, stranding 11 runners while going 2 for 14 with runners in scoring position. "It was a game we should have done better, a more productive job of taking care of our opportunities," Arizona manager Kirk Gibson said. The Royals turned the series opener into a laugher, scoring 10 runs on three swings. Nori Aoki hit a grand slam, Butler had a three-run homer among his four hits, and Salvador Perez added a three-run shot in the 12-2 rout. Kansas City had another long ball early against Collmenter, this one a two-run shot by Moustakas in the second inning, his team-leading 14th of the season. The Royals tacked on another run in the fourth, going up 3-2 on Moustakas run-scoring single. Collmenter was good against everyone except Moustakas, though, allowing one other hit while striking out six in six innings. "That is the difference: him (Ventura) pitching and getting out of jams and me pitching myself into a jam and not getting out of it," Collmenter said. Ventura had at least seven strikeouts in his previous two starts, including a win over Minnesota after allowing a run in seven innings his last outing. The rookie right-hander kept piling up the Ks against the Diamondbacks, notching eight while working around baserunners nicely. He gave up run-scoring singles to Hill and David Peralta in the third inning, but little else despite struggling with his command on off-speed pitches. Ventura allowed eight hits. PERALTAS YEAR Peralta hasnt stopped hitting since being called up on June 1. The rookie outfielder went 2 for 4 against the Royals for his 23rd multi-hit effort in 53 games. Peralta also is second among rookies in the majors with a .315 average. YOSTS 800th Yost reached a big milestone, notching his 800th victory as a manager. Yost spent his first six years as a manager in Milwaukee, where he played. Hes been in Kansas City for the past five seasons, racking up 343 wins. "You sit back and look at 800 wins, I didnt win any of those games," he said. "Those guys and a lot of guys like them did." TRAINERS ROOM Diamondbacks: RHP Daniel Hudson made his first rehab appearance with Arizonas rookie league team Tuesday night, allowing a run on two hits with two strikeouts in an inning. He had Tommy John surgery for the second time last year and hasnt pitched in the majors since mid-2012. UP NEXT Royals: RHP Jeremy Guthrie had his first scoreless appearance of the season the last time out, holding Oakland to three hits while striking out six in six innings on Saturday. Diamondbacks: LHP Vidal Nuno, Thursdays starter, has yet to win with the Diamondbacks despite pitching decently since being traded from the New York Yankees. Hes 0-2 with a 3.07 ERA in five starts with Arizona and allowed a run in six innings of a no-decision against Pittsburgh his last outing. Kyle Tucker Astros Jersey . The Gatineau Olympiques head coach will lead Canada in its quest to end its gold medal drought at the 2015 world junior hockey championship held in Montreal and Toronto at the end of this year. Brian Hunter Astros Jersey . "We cannot stay the same way the whole season long," said Reyes. "This is not acceptable. Something needs to change because were a better team than what were showing right now. Its a long season and we just need to continue to push." Its been a frustrating week for the ballclub. https://www.cheapastros.com/1873o-ivan-r...astros.html.com) - DAngelo Harrison posted 21 points to guide No. Myles Straw Jersey . George Hill had 13 points and seven rebounds for the Pacers, who stayed atop the overall NBA standings despite losing twice on their West Coast trip. Los Angeles kept it close into the second half before the Pacers finished an easy win over the injury-riddled Lakers, who have lost five straight. Ken Caminiti Astros Jersey . The future hall of famers stole the show at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night, with Jagr moving into seventh place in all-time goal scoring and Brodeur stopping 29 shots as the Devils downed the Montreal Canadiens 4-1.CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Al Jefferson had a pretty good inkling it was Charlottes night when he banked in a 31-footer from well beyond the top of the key to beat the shot clock midway through the fourth quarter. "I didnt call the bank, but I trusted my right hand," Jefferson said with a laugh. Jefferson scored 34 points and the Bobcats stunned NBA-leading Indiana 109-87 Wednesday night, handing the Pacers just their second two-game skid of the season. Jefferson was 16 of 25 from the field and had eight rebounds for the Bobcats (28-33), who won their fifth straight at home to equal their combined win total from the previous two seasons. "Im not accepting that were a team that guys look at on the schedule anymore and say, OK, we have the Bobcats (so) we can take the night off." Jefferson said. Jefferson, whose 38-point, 19-rebound effort Monday night was overshadowed by LeBron James career-high 61-point outing, has scored at least 20 points in 21 of his last 24 games. "I think everybody needs to question the Eastern Conference voting on why Al Jefferson wasnt on the All-Star team because clearly he is one of the best in the game," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "He showed it tonight. Give him credit." Charlotte was finishing a brutal four-game stretch, becoming the first team since the 2009-10 Knicks to play the NBAs top four teams in consecutive games. They previously lost to San Antonio, Oklahoma City and Miami on the road, but left no doubt about this this one. Charlotte jumped out to a 28-8 lead after the first quarter and never trailed. Kemba Walker added 19 points and nine assists for the Bobcats, who have the seventh-best record in the Eastern Conference. Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said he thought his team played well in the road losses to the Spurs, Thunder and Heat and that it carried over some confidence to Wednesday night. "We played a lot of good basketball and you get nothing for it," Clifford said. "To be honest, we took a day off (on Tuesday) and you could tell from our shootaround, not that we were going to win, but that we were going to play well." Evan Turner had 22 points for the Pacers (46-15), who lost back-to-back games for only the second time this season. Charlottes Michael Kidd-Gilchrist said he was "extra fired up" to deffend All-Star Paul George, two nights after James destroyed the Bobcats by knocking down 8 of 10 3-pointers.dddddddddddd Kidd-Gilchrist did his job, holding George without a field goal. George was 0 for 9 and finished with just two points. Jefferson defended Kidd-Gilchrists effort against Miami, saying he did the job asked of him against James. "Against LeBron, the game plan was we didnt want him to get to the basket," Jefferson said. "We want LeBron to shoot jumpers. If he hits 8 of 10 3-pointers, we can live with that." George said he wasnt at the top of his game against Charlotte. "I was sore," George said. "I tried to play through it thinking it would loosen up. It was a tight night for me." The Pacers had won 14 of their last 15 against the Bobcats coming in, including five straight by an average of nearly 18 points. But Indiana was sluggish from the start, shooting 4 of 20 from the field in the opening quarter and turning the ball over six times, leading to 12 Charlotte points and a 20-point deficit. The Pacers, shooting at the home end of the floor where some of the lights were out, were held to eight points -- the fewest allowed in a quarter this season by the Bobcats. While the Pacers were struggling on offence, Jefferson was at it again on the offensive end. He hit his first six shots and had 20 points at the break. The Pacers would battle back to cut the lead to four in the second quarter, but the Bobcats never surrendered the lead and stretched the lead back to 18 again by the end of the third quarter. The Bobcats shot 51 per cent from the field against the NBAs top defensive team. The 22-point loss was the third-largest of the season for the Pacers. "Charlottes a good basketball team," Vogel said. "Theyre rested. We are coming in here in this situation in their house. We beat them pretty handily the first couple of times. So, we knew they were going to come out and we were going to have to play great and we didnt play great." NOTES: Chris Douglas-Roberts got the start in place of Gerald Henderson, who missed his second straight game with a strained calf. ... The only other time the Pacers lost back-to-back games this season came Dec. 16 and 18 against Detroit and Miami. ... The Bobcats are 14-3 at home when scoring at least 91 points. 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