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PITTSBURGH -- Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has a chance to play Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, even as a backup quarterback.Coach Mike Tomlin was asked Tuesday whether Roethlisberger -- who underwent torn left meniscus surgery Oct. 17 -- could dress but not start in Week 9.All the cards are on the table, said Tomlin about Roethlisberger and all his injured players.In Week 10 last season against the Cleveland Browns, Roethlisberger was the backup to Landry Jones while nursing a foot injury but threw for 379 yards in relief to guide a 30-9 Steelers win.Jones might make his second consecutive start after throwing for 281 yards in Week 7 against the New England Patriots. The Steelers and Ravens are both coming off bye weeks.The Steelers are looking to get several key players back, including right tackle Marcus Gilbert (foot, ankle), defensive end Cameron Heyward (hamstring), running back DeAngelo Williams (knee) and safety Shamarko Thomas (groin). Those players have a chance for Sunday, depending on their reaction to work in practice and the quality of that work.Roethlisberger ran some first-team reps in Mondays practice, which Gilbert considers very encouraging for a potential return, though adding the Steelers want Big Ben at full strength without risking long-term health.ESPNs Chris Mortensen reported Roethlisberger could be out up to four to six weeks with his injury. The Steelers have remained hopeful Roethlisberger could return for the game against the Ravens, who have defeated the Steelers in five of the last six matchups.I thought it was generally positive, said Tomlin about Roethlisbergers practice work Monday. We hadnt spent a lot of time analyzing it. Its just been giving him the work and him taking the work and hes done a really good job with it.Ravens coach John Harbaugh said Monday that his team expects Roethlisberger to play Sunday.Well prepare as if hes going to play, Harbaugh said Monday. Well operate under that assumption.Since Roethlisberger entered the league in 2004, the Ravens are 6-1 against the Steelers in the regular season when Roethlisberger doesnt play and 8-9 when he does.ESPNs Jamison Hensley contributed to this report. Cheap Washington Redskins Jerseys .05 million next season unless Graham and the Saints subsequently agree on a long-term deal. The designation was released Monday after the deadline passed for NFL teams to use franchise or transition tags on players becoming free agents. Wholesale Redskins Jerseys . The parade and rally were held to celebrate the Saskatchewan Roughriders 45-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday in the CFLs championship game. http://www.cheapredskinsjerseysauthentic.com/ . The Islanders dealt Thomas Vanek to the Montreal Canadiens after less than a year on Long Island. 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MINNEAPOLIS -- Like the rest of the Kansas City Royals, this season has not been a smooth one for Yordano Ventura.They started a series at Minnesota by winning the way theyre designed to.Ventura won consecutive starts for the first time in two months, Kendrys Morales homered in his return from a one-game suspension and the Royals beat the Twins 7-3 Friday night.Ventura (8-9) struck out nine in seven innings, allowing four hits, one walk and three runs, throwing 105 pitches.He pitched a pretty good game, catcher Salvador Perez said. I think he just left a couple of pitches up.Ventura led the Royals to their fifth win in the last six games with a well-located fastball and a sharp curveball.Just focus and concentrate on making every single pitch, said Ventura, who posted a 5.15 ERA in the first half and has a 3.26 ERA after the All-Star break.Miguel Sano homered for the fifth time in the last seven games and Brian Dozier hit a two-run shot, giving Twins starter Kyle Gibson (4-7) a one-run lead he took into the fifth inning. The Royals hit the ball plenty hard, but the softest one made the biggest impact.Perezs bat broke on a two-strike, two-out, two-run bloop single with the bases loaded the gave the Royals a 4-3 lead.I hit it pretty good, Perez said, laughing.Third baseman Trevor Plouffe awkwardly backpedaled for the slow-rising ball, but it cleared his head and landed in front of diving shortstop Jorge Polanco. Perez leads the team with 27 two-out RBI.Those are the kind of breaks that have been going against us here a little bit, manager Ned Yost said. Doesnt have to be pretty. It just has to be effective.Eric Hosmer and Raul Mondesi hit RBI doubles for the Royals, and Paulo Orlando combined an RBI single with two lunging catches in center field to take hits from the Twins, who have lost four straight games after winning nine of 12 prior to the streak.They can play defense. We know that. That hasnt changed, manager Paul Molitor said.The Royals are 6-1 against the Twins this season, with 12 games left between them. After a rough July that all but dashed their dream of returning to the playoffs and defending their World Series title, the Royals are 7-4 in August. Their starting pitchers have a 3.01 ERA.After using eight pitchers, includinng utility infielder Eduardo Escobar, and giving up 25 runs to Houston while being swept Thursday in a doubleheader, the Twins needed Gibson to go deep into the game.dddddddddddd He was removed two batters into the sixth.The right-hander hasnt been able to get in a groove this season, though. His first-inning ERA is 9.00, and he has recorded quality starts of six innings or more and three runs or fewer only six times in 16 turns. Lefties are hitting .330 in 188 at-bats against Gibson.They put the bat on the ball. Thats what theyre known for, Gibson said.Orlando is hitting .340 in 25 games since the All-Star break.SUMMER SWATSThe Twins have a major league-most 63 home runs in 42 games since June 26, and Dozier leads both leagues in that span with 15 of his 24 homers.WET WEATHERThe game started 50 minutes late because of steady rain that wiped out batting practice and lasted into the evening. This was the ninth weather-related delay at Target Field this year, a total of 11 hours and 54 minutes of waiting, plus a pair of postponed games including Wednesday.In seven seasons at the ballpark, the Twins have had 30 games delayed and 14 games postponed.TRAINERS ROOMRoyals: Morales returned from a one-game suspension served Thursday following his dropped appeal to Major League Baseball. Kansas Citys home run leader was punished for returning to the dugout following his ejection for arguing Aug. 2 at Tampa Bay about the strike zone.Twins: LH Tommy Milone was placed on the DL with left biceps tendinitis, the third pitcher shelved for injury in three days. LH Andrew Albers was designated for assignment after the game so the team could call up another reliever for the game Saturday.UP NEXTRoyals: Will keep RHP Dillon Gee (4-5, 4.54 ERA) in the rotation and start him Saturday, despite needing him in relief Wednesday in their 14-inning victory over Chicago. Gee struck out three in two perfect innings for the win.Twins: Will send RHP Tyler Duffey (7-8, 5.93 ERA) to the mound for the second game of the series, his 20th start of the season. He struck out eight in six innings for the victory in his last turn, against Houston. ' ' '