MINNEAPOLIS -- The script for Glen Perkins hasnt always gone so smoothly. Dikembe Mutombo Nuggets Jersey . Sure, there have been hiccups. Life is never perfect. Rare, though, are the occurrences in sports that come together as marvelously as this for the Minnesota closer: taking the mound for the American League All-Star team and pitching a 1-2-3 ninth inning in front of his roaring, adoring home fans. When Perkins jogged out of the bullpen on Tuesday night at Target Field, he was taken aback by how loud the crowd became. "I wasnt fighting back tears, but it was an overwhelming moment to hear," Perkins said. "It was a moment like that where you realize why you play the game and what makes the game so fun, and its the fans in the stands." His All-Star status and salary of more than $4 million this season put him in the societal elite, but in many ways Perkins is a lot alike many of those fans in the stands. He grew up in a Twin Cities suburb, Stillwater, and lives year-round in Minnesota, a rarity for Twins players. Boating and fishing are two of his favourite pastimes. Hes regularly on social media, with a sharp sense of humour and down-to-earth perspective that further endear him to the masses. Minutes after finishing one of his shakiest saves of the season, at Milwaukee last month, Perkins posted on Twitter: "I just did my best Ron Davis impression," alluding to the Twins closer of the mid-1980s prone to wild pitches and blown leads. Perkins has proven to be far more effective than Davis, though, putting himself on track to approach Joe Nathan franchise-leading all-time saves total. At age 31, under contract through at least 2017, Perkins isnt going anywhere. The Twins have an option on his deal for 2018 that would be a market bargain at $6.5 million if he stays healthy and productive. Perkins was the one who approached the front office during spring training about an extension, willing to take a contract that couldve been richer. He started the year as the 17th-highest paid closer in the majors. Thats fine by him. Becoming an All-Star for his hometown Twins has been beyond his grandest goals. "Hearing how loud the fans were, it makes me want to get to the playoffs," said Perkins, who made one appearance in the 2006 first-round series as a rookie but wasnt on the post-season roster in either 2009 or 2010. The Twins went 5-2 on their road trip before the All-Star break and have generally been more competent and competitive than their last three teams that each lost 96 games or more. Still, theyre 10 1-2 games out of first place. Their starting pitchers, despite progress by Kyle Gibson and the upgrade with Phil Hughes, have a 4.86 ERA, the third-worst mark in the majors. Veterans on expiring contracts like Suzuki, left fielder Josh Willingham and starting pitcher Kevin Correia could be traded in the coming weeks. The players, of course, are opposed. "I know how the business side of it is, the long-term stuff," second baseman Brian Dozier said. "But its our job to make those decisions hard for them. To be honest with you, I want to contend. I believe we can. Weve got the people to do it. Im not saying we dont need a couple of extra pieces, but I think were going to be just fine. We just have to get on a roll." The Twins start their post-break schedule with 10 straight games at Target Field. Manager Ron Gardenhire joked last week about being home enough to actually help his wife, Carol, mow the lawn. Danny Santana will come off the disabled list Friday, and ideally Joe Mauer will join him soon after. Perhaps prospects Trevor May or Alex Meyer will get a promotion from Triple-A to boost the rotation. "We think if we can get healthy and pitching again, thats pretty good. We still have to find some consistency there. Our offence, I think that will come if we get all the pieces back we hope for," Gardenhire said. One place the manager isnt worried about is the back of the bullpen. Perkins has that taken care of. Thomas Welsh Jersey . The 24-year-old Raley was 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA for Chicago in his first two career starts after being called up from Iowa on Aug. 7. He was optioned to Iowa on Monday after losing 3-0 to Cincinnati in Chicago on Sunday. Will Barton Jersey . Funny, they looked like longtime friends during Pittsburghs 5-1 demolition of Dallas on Tuesday night. Quick to the puck and even quicker to the net, the Penguins top line overwhelmed the suddenly struggling Stars as Pittsburgh bounced back from a dismal weekend sweep at the hands of Philadelphia by jumping on Dallas early. http://www.nuggetsproshop.com/Allen-Iverson-Nuggets-Jersey/ . -- Novak Djokovic benefited from an erroneous call and claimed he didnt realize he had broken the rules.WINNIPEG -- No one was saying it was more than one or two lucky bounces. But St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said his team definitely earned Kevin Shattenkirks power-play goal late in the third period that let them leave Winnipeg with a 2-1 win Tuesday. "It was a seeing-eye shot but, if you look at the shift, we out-fought for three pucks just to get that opportunity, which is what happened for the whole third period, which was really impressive," said Hitchcock. The win over the Jets at least helps make up for the three out of four the Blues (20-6-3) lost coming into Winnipeg. "As the game wore on, our confidence came back to fight for pucks and to battle," said Hitchcock. "I thought the debris from what happened here in the last week or so started to eliminate and we just started to get our spirit back." Bryan Little scored for the Jets (14-14-4), who started a little slow but more than held their own in the first period, outshooting the Blues by an 8-2 margin. It looked like Shattenkirks shot may have glanced off Little, among others, on the way into the Jets net. "It was disappointing, just because we worked to get back in the game and tied it up and then they get one that bounces off a couple of things and goes in . . . right at the end of the game," said Little, Winnipegs leading scorer with 13 goals and 28 points. "To lose that way is definitely frustrating." Alex Steen got things started in the second with the Blues first goal. He was behind the Winnipeg goal-line midway between the net and the boards at 4:44 when he slid a puck behind Ondrej Pavelec that banked off the Winnipeg goalie to put the Blues ahead 1-0. Pavelec was focusing on those in front of the net rather than the Blues leading sniper to his right. It was Steens 21st goal of the season. "It was a hard-fought game today, really tight net, both teams clogged neutral zones and D-zones," said Steen, who was born in Winnipeg and is the son oof original Jet Thomas Steen, now a city councillor in his adopted hometown. Gary Harris Jersey. "Both goalies played really well, it was a good game today, a fun game," said Steen. As for his shot, he shrugged it off. "I dont know. I try it every now and then in practice. Ive tried it a couple of times in games" Jets coach Claude Noel was disappointed with the loss but not unhappy with the way his team played the Blues. "I thought the game was a game that was chess-match played game really," he said. "Both teams were being patient, playing kind of the same way, knowing that one goal or two goals could win it. I thought we played a pretty good game other than the fact that we didnt finish the game the right way. They scored a seeing-eye power-play goal, what can you do?" Little evened things up just three minutes into the third period as he won a faceoff and then snapped a pass from linemate Andrew Ladd past Brian Elliott on a power-play, thanks to a tripping call against Vladimir Sobotka. Jets defenceman Dustin Byfuglien was sent off with just over three minutes left in the game for hooking, which gave Shattenkirk his chance to score his third goal of the season. St. Louis was coming off a 5-2 home-ice loss to Anaheim. The Jets hadnt played at home since Nov. 23 but were 4-2 on an Eastern road swing, although this was their fourth straight loss at home. "I thought we did the necessary things to win the game, possibly 2-1, that was the game that was going to get played out and it did get played out," said Noel. Notes: Jets Mark Stuart left in the third bleeding profusely from the mouth after a goalmouth scramble. ... Wheeler had been on a three-game point streak going into the game. ... The Jets are still the only team in the Central that has managed to beat the Blues this season, 4-3 in a shootout Oct. 18. ... St. Louis went into Tuesdays came with an impressive 9-0-1 record against division opponents. ' ' '