MINNEAPOLIS -- Just when Joe Mauer was getting on a roll, pain forced an early exit. Mauer drove in two runs before leaving with an injury, Eduardo Nunez homered and the Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals 10-2 on Tuesday night. Mauer extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a two-run double down the left-field line in the fourth inning, but was noticeably limping as he ran to second base. The team said he has a strained oblique muscle on his right side and will be evaluated Wednesday. "Ive been kind of battling this area for about a week or so, maybe a little more," Mauer said. "Ive been stiff and getting it loose and everythings been fine, but today on that one swing, ball down the line, it felt like somebody hit me pretty hard right there." Mauer missed almost a week earlier this year with a bad back and sat out the final 39 games last season with concussion-like symptoms. "Ive never had this happen before, so I hope its a lot sooner than what guys in the past have had," Mauer said. "Ive been feeling pretty good and getting some results, so its bad timing." Eric Hosmer had four hits for the Royals. Ricky Nolasco (5-6) earned his first win in five starts, allowing one run and eight hits in six innings. Minnesota signed Nolasco to a $49 million, four-year contract in the off-season, hoping he would help a rotation that had a major league-worst 5.26 ERA last year. Nolasco has struggled, however, posting a 5.49 ERA. He pitched more than six innings just once in his past 11 starts. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said before the game that Nolasco had a good bullpen session last weekend in hopes of improving his mechanics to get better command of his fastball to set up his breaking pitches. Nolasco was better Tuesday, but remained far from dominant. He gave up six hits in the first three innings before settling down and retiring the Royals in order in the fourth and sixth. "I didnt have too many quick innings, but it was just kind of battling and I made some pitches when I had to," Nolasco said. "(My fastball) was better. Just trying not to do too much. Its a step in the right direction." Kansas City starter James Shields (8-4) was hoping a new month would change his fortunes. It didnt. In his shortest outing of the season, Shields allowed nine hits and five runs -- four earned -- in five innings. Although he struck out five, he was constantly behind in the count, leading to a 113-pitch outing. It was his first loss since May 2, a span of 10 starts in which he had five wins and five no-decisions. The right-hander has a 5.66 ERA in his past eight starts, and only twice has he allowed three or fewer runs. "I actually thought I made some pretty good pitches and they just found a lot of holes today," Shields said. "Its definitely frustrating that Im not getting outs. Im not getting my job done." Nunez homered and Sam Fuld had a two-run single as part of a five-run sixth inning for the Twins. Minnesota scored more than five runs for just the third time in 16 games. "We got some breaks," Gardenhire said. "They always say it evens out, so hopefully this is the start of it evening out." A miscue by the Royals gave Minnesota a 2-1 lead in the third. With Nunez on first, Chris Parmelee hit a popup to short left field with two outs. Mike Moustakas backpedaled from third base as left fielder Alex Gordon was coming in. The two nearly collided and the ball bounced off Gordons glove to put runners on second and third. Kendrys Morales drove in Nunez with an infield single. "I think Gordy just thought that he wasnt going to get there, then at the last second realized he had a chance to get there and they both get there at the same time," Royals manager Ned Yost said. An RBI double by Parmelee scored Nunez in the first, but an RBI single by Moustakas evened the score in the second. NOTES: Minnesotas Brian Dozier, who has started 79 of 82 games at second base, got the night off. He is in a 1-for-24 slump, and Gardenhire said he could sense some frustration. ... Raul Ibanez started in right field for Kansas City and went 1 for 4. The 42-year-old was signed Monday after being released by the Angels on June 21. ... Twins 3B Trevor Plouffe hit his career-high 23rd double. ... Twins RHP Kevin Correia (4-9, 5.08 ERA) faces LHP Jason Verges (7-3, 3.53) in Wednesday afternoons series finale. Cheap Shoes Online Free Delivery . The Kings paraded the Stanley Cup through downtown Los Angeles on Monday to celebrate their second NHL title in three seasons. Shoes From China Wholesale . Raonic, the mens No. 8 seed from Thornhill, Ont., needed more than three hours to overcome Frenchman Gilles Simon 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 and become the first Canadian man into the fourth round at Roland Garros. http://www.cheapshoes.us.org/. - Veteran Kings defenceman Robyn Regehr, sidelined since Game 1 of the Anaheim series, says hes close to returning. Wholesale Shoes China Free Shipping . Arsenal had already scored its goals in the third round fixture when the fierce rivalry turned ugly in the final ten minutes as Walcott was being carried off on a stretcher. Cheap Fake Shoes Online . The Cubs made the moves before Thursdays game against Arizona. They promoted left-hander Zac Rosscup and right-hander Neil Ramirez from Triple-A Iowa and optioned righty Blake Parker to their top minor league team.The NBA season gets underway tonight as the defending champion San Antonio Spurs play host to their bitter rivals the Dallas Mavericks followed by a matchup between the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers. You can catch all the action starting at 8pm ET/5pm PT on TSN2. Spurs vs Mavericks - 8pm ET/5pm PT The San Antonio Spurs will begin defense of their NBA title on Tuesday night when they kick off the 2014-15 campaign with a home matchup against bitter rivals, the Dallas Mavericks. The Spurs will receive their championship rings in a pre-game ceremony and, for the fifth time in franchise history, San Antonio will raise a title banner. Its an unbelievable feeling, said All-Star guard Tony Parker. At the same time, its a tough night because you know youre happy and you get a ring, but you have to focus on the game. It is difficult. The Spurs are 4-0 in the previous games they received their championship rings. The Spurs cruised to a fifth title in the Tim Duncan/Gregg Popovich era in June, dismantling the Miami Heat in more ways than one. San Antonio cruised to a five-game NBA Finals victory, and LeBron James bolted South Beach, thus ending the Big Three incarnation in Miami. And, basically, the Spurs returned everyone from that title roster. Not everyone will play in the season-opener. Kawhi Leonard, the Finals MVP, will miss the game with a right eye infection, Tiago Splitter has a calf injury, and Patty Mills will miss the first few months after shoulder surgery. But Duncan, Parker, Manu Ginobili and Pop are back. The Spurs only additions this offseason were first-round pick Kyle Anderson and Becky Hammond, the first female assistant coach to start a season in the NBA. San Antonio, despite its great record in ring games, will need all hands on deck Tuesday night. The Spurs open with their inter-state rivals, a Mavericks team that gave them their most difficult challenge last postseason. Dallas took the Spurs to seven games, a feat the Portland Trail Blazers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Heat all failed to reach. San Antonio gained confidence from its thrilling first-round escape. Game 7 was definitely a big one win for us, got us focused, said Parker. Then, we started rolling after that. Theres a fine line between winning and losing. The Mavericks improved this offseason with the signings of Chandler Parsons and Jameer Nelson, coupled with the trade for Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton. Chandler returns after anchoring the defense that helped Dallas win the NBA title in 2011. However, the Mavericks are still led by Dirk Nowitzki, a 12-time All-Star. The future Hall of Famer returned to the midseason classic last season, and, while excited to have his fellow big man back in Big D, Nowitzki cautioned about returning to the past. Weve got a good and deep team now, and we just want to make our own destiny, Nowitzki said. We cant always live in 2010-11. That was a great year for us, but this is almost a completely new team. But, you know, were very deep. Weve got a lot of scorers on this team and weve got a lot of playmakers. Its fun to play that way, and offensively were just sharing the ball. Hopefully, we can keep it going. The Mavs improved, but lost several solid veterans like Shawn Marion, Vince Carter, Jose Calderon and Samuel Dalembert. With Nowitzki at the helm, Monta Ellis manning a wing and head coach Rick Carlisle pacing the sidelines, the Mavs should be in the thick of things come playoff time. Despite the epic seven-game Western Conference semifinal series, the Spurs have owned the Mavericks in the regular season. San Antonio has taken nine sttraight regular-season meetings, including seven consecutive in the AT&T Center.dddddddddddd Lakers vs Rockets - 10:30pm ET/7:30pm PT Kobe Bryant returns to the Los Angeles Lakers lineup Tuesday night as they open the season at the Staples Center against the Houston Rockets. Bryant played just six games last season after starting the campaign recovering from a torn left Achilles tendon. He then hurt his left knee and was shut down for the season. The 36-year-old future Hall of Famer will begin his 19th season, all with the Lakers, with the added significance, even if Bryant wants to downplay it to some degree, of returning from injury. Its step one of a long journey, said Bryant. Im excited to get back out there and I cant say I havent missed the game. I missed it so much. Im just happy to be playing. The Lakers have to be happy as well. The team endured a 27-55 campaign, the franchises worst mark in the 82-game schedule era, and only the second season under .500 since Bryant joined the NBA. Things didnt get much better in the offseason, excluding Bryants return to the lineup. Pau Gasol left the team via free agency, deciding to sign with the Chicago Bulls. Steve Nashs tenure with the team will end with a missed season due to a back injury. Mike DAntoni resigned as head coach and the Lakers, very late in the hiring process, brought back former player, Byron Scott. Hes been very successful in stops in New Orleans and with the Nets, but his recent run with the Cleveland Cavaliers was less than memorable. Jeremy Lin was acquired from the Houston Rockets, Carlos Boozer was claimed after the Bulls amnestied him and the team selected Julius Randle with its first-round pick. Nick Young, the teams leading scorer last season, will miss time at the start of the season thanks to a torn radial collateral ligament in his right thumb. The Rockets are coming off an impressive 54-28 2013-14 season, but were bounced in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs by the Portland Trail Blazers. Houston held the homecourt advantage in the series, but it didnt matter. Needing to improve, the Rockets went in the opposite direction. They lost key personnel and failed to land the big free-agent prize in the summer, despite sending rotation players packing in order to free up cap space. The Rockets shipped Lin to the Lakers and packaged Omer Asik to the New Orleans Pelicans. These moves were done with the intention of prying Chris Bosh from the Miami Heat. Seemed like the Rockets were in a good position to do that when LeBron James left the Heat for the Cavs, but Bosh re-upped with the Heat. Then, Chandler Parsons, the teams third-leading scorer last season, signed an offer sheet with the Dallas Mavericks. Houston opted not to match, so Trevor Ariza was brought in as his replacement. Houston lost three key players, failed to get Bosh and has taken steps backward in the ultra-competitive Western Conference. Game starts tomorrow, so were going to have to be ready, head coach Kevin McHale said Monday. Were ready to get going and find out where were at. The Rockets still have All-NBA performers in shooting guard James Harden and center Dwight Howard. McHales squad needs to improve its rebounding, especially on the defensive side, and defense in general. Ariza is a massive upgrade defensively over Parsons, point guard Patrick Beverley made the All- Defensive second team and Howard was the Defensive Player of the Year four times. The Rockets won three of four against the Lakers last season, but are 3-6 in the last nine as the visitor in this series. ' ' '