against the Mariners last Saturday. He retired the fir

CINCINNATI, Ohio -- A disputed call went the Bengals way -- not that they absolutely needed it. Getting Andy Dalton back in form was quite enough. Dalton regained his passing touch in time to keep the Bengals perfect at home and in control of the AFC North on Sunday. He threw for three touchdowns and ran for another in a 42-28 victory over Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts. The Bengals (9-4) kept their firm grip on first place, two games ahead of Baltimore with three to play. "Were on a roll," middle linebacker Rey Maualuga said. "At the beginning of the year, we had three goals. We wanted to be undefeated at home, win the AFC North and eventually be world champions. "Were close to the goals we wanted to get to. Weve got to be good from here out." It had been a while since Dalton was this good. He was the AFCs offensive player for October, but hadnt put together a consistent game since. He was as good as ever on Sunday, helping the Bengals improve to 6-0 at Paul Brown Stadium on a cold, windy day -- 28 degrees at kickoff with a wind chill of 19. "We know what were capable of, and weve got some momentum now," said Dalton, who was 24 of 35 for 275 yards without a sack or interception. "But weve got to keep it going." BenJarvus Green-Ellis had a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs -- one of them on a review that overturned a call -- as the Bengals got ahead 21-0 and held on. The Colts (8-5) had another slow start in the cold, falling behind 21-0 before Luck threw four touchdown passes to keep them close. They never caught up as Dalton got the better of a head-to-head matchup of up-and-coming quarterbacks from Texas. Despite the loss, the Colts clinched the AFC South later Sunday when Denver beat Tennessee 51-28. Indianapolis is in the playoffs but has some major concerns. The Colts were drubbed 40-11 in Arizona two games ago and needed Adam Vinatieris five field goals to beat Tennessee 22-14 last week. "Weve got some things to clean up, but we certainly came down here with the mindset that we wanted to win this football game and certainly win the division that way," coach Chuck Pagano said. The Bengals are having their best season at home since 1988, when they won all eight regular-season home games and two playoff games on the way to a second Super Bowl appearance and loss to San Francisco. Theyre in position to clinch their first AFC North title since 2009 with two home games in the last three weeks. Dalton was sharp from the outset, completing 6 of 7 for 81 yards on the Bengals first drive, including a 29-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Jones. The Colts have been outscored 49-9 in the first quarters of their past six games. The Bengals got a pivotal touchdown on a reversed call with 1:06 left in the first half. They went for it on fourth down from the Colts 1-yard line. Green-Ellis took the handoff and appeared to get tripped by nose tackle Josh Chapman, who dived into the backfield and swiped at his feet. "I hit his foot when he came through," said Chapman, who started celebrating his play. Green-Ellis said he felt someone trip him. He stumbled ahead, avoided a couple of defenders, landed at the 1-yard line and slid into the end zone. He was initially ruled down, but the Bengals were awarded a touchdown after a review. The review focused only on whether a defender touched Green-Ellis as he fell near the goal line, not whether Chapman had tripped him in the backfield, referee Jeff Triplette said. "We looked at the goal line, (those) were the shots that we looked at," Triplette said. Trailing 21-0, Luck finally rallied the Colts. He completed a slant pass that DaRick Rogers took 69 yards for a touchdown and another short pass that LaVon Brazill turned into a 19-yard touchdown, slipping through the hands of six defenders. Dalton and the Bengals never let the Colts get closer than seven points. Notes: The Bengals moved 2012 Pro Bowl tackle Andrew Whitworth to left guard, and right guard Kevin Zeitler was out of the lineup for the third straight game because of injury. The Colts were missing guards Hugh Thornton and Jeff Linkenbach. ... Colts RB Chris Rainey will get an MRI on an injured ankle. ... The Bengals have scored 49, 41 and 42 points in their past three home games, the first time theyve scored at least 40 in three straight at home. ... RB Giovani Bernard had 99 yards on 12 carries, coming up a yard short of the first 100-yard rushing game by a Bengal this season. He also had 49 yards on four catches. Jim Kelly Jersey . Today, well look at five frontcourt players today, here from the Bay Area. 1. 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Andre Reed Jersey . -- Downcast before the final game of what had been a difficult road trip, the Ottawa Senators found a way to dig out a little momentum in the desert before heading home.CLEVELAND -- Yordano Venturas dominating performance Friday night produced plenty of superaltives. "He was extraordinary," Kansas City manager Ned Yost said after the rookie right-hander pitched 8 1-3 stellar innings in the Royals 7-1 win over the Cleveland Indians. Ventura (6-7) blanked the Indians on four hits until Michael Brantley hit a leadoff homer in the ninth. He was pulled after Jason Kipnis one-out single. Ventura allowed six hits and struck out four in the longest outing of his career. Indians centre fielder Michael Bourn had one of the hits off Ventura, a double in the eighth. "Well he throws 100 (mph), first of all," Bourn said. "He has a good changeup and a good curveball. We had a couple chances but for the most part he was on tonight." Mike Moustakas, who hit a three-run homer in the sixth gave Kansas City a 5-0 lead, was also impressed with Ventura. "Hes got such electric stuff," Moustakas said. "Thats what hes capable of doing." Salvador Perez and Christian Colon, making his first major-league start, had three hits apiece while Lorenzo Cain snapped an 0 for 11 skid with an RBI single in the third and a run-scoring double in the fifth. The Royals, who are a major league-best 11-2 on the road since June 2, rode Ventura to their latest win away from home. He retired the first 10 hitters before Brantley singled with one out in the the fourth. Carlos Santanas single moved Brantley to third, but Kipnis bounced into a double play. Ventura entered the ninth with 103 pitches, making it an easy decision for Yost to let him start the inning. "I wanted to throw the complete game shutout, but I couldnt do it," Ventura said through teammate Bruce Chen, who translated for the pitcher, "I was getting ahead of the hitters early in the game. They made some really good plays behind me and that gave me a lot of energy." Ventura, who finished with 113 pitches, came within two outs of recording Kansas Citys first complete game of the season. "I wasnt going to take him past 120 pitches," Yost said. "After the home run it was like, OK the next guy who gets on thats it. He pitched very well." Josh Tomlin (5-6), coming off a one-hit, no-walk, 11-strikeout performance against Seattle, allowed five runs and 11 hits in 5 2-3 innings. Mousstakas homer to right on a 3-2 pitch broke the game open.ddddddddddddThe rally began on singles by Perez and Alcides Escobar. Colon, a late addtion to the lineup when second baseman Omar Infante was scratched with lower back tightness, was 3 for 4, including a triple in the second for his first major league hit. Colon added a double in the fifth and an RBI double in the ninth. "That was a lot of fun," he said. "I was taking my ground balls (in pregame activities) and was told I was going to play." Ventura has allowed three runs in 21 innings in three career starts against Cleveland. He held the Indians to one run in seven innings in a 4-1 win on June 11 in Kansas City. Ventura gave up two runs and seven hits in four innings Los Angeles Angels in his last start, an outing that was cut short by a four-hour rain delay. He had pitched seven innings in each of his previous three starts. The Royals, who are second in the AL Central, are 3-1 on a nine-game road trip and lead third-place Cleveland by four games. The Indians, who opened a 10-game homestand, have lost four straight at home after winning 11 of 12 at Progressive Field. Cleveland was swept by Detroit in a three-game series June 20-22. Tomlin turned in the best performance of his career against the Mariners last Saturday. He retired the first 12 hitters before allowing a leadoff single to Kyle Seager in the fifth, Seattles only baserunner. Tomlins gem marked the sixth time an Indians pitcher recorded 11 strikeouts with no walks in a shutout over the past 100 years. It was also only the third time since 2002 that a pitcher has recorded a one-hit shutout with at least 11 strikeouts and no walks. Kansas City left fielder Alex Gordon was hitless in four at-bats and is in a 2-for-36 slump. Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera was 0 for 4 and is in a 4 for 35 skid. NOTES: The Indians announced the game as a sellout, their third of the season. ... Indians C Yan Gomes, a native of Brazil, wore his countrys soccer jersey during batting practice. He kept an eye on the scoreboard, which showed Brazils 2-1 win over Colombia in the World Cup. ... Raul Ibanez, signed by the Royals on Monday, started in right field. He made an awkward sliding catch on Gomes line drive in the fifth. ... Royals RHP Jeremy Guthrie (5-6) faces LHP T.J. House (0-2) on Saturday. ' ' '